Daylily Road Trip

Two days ago I went to a daylily farm with 2 friends in Medina, NY. I was told by some people from the daylily society this was the place to go. I looked up "Cottage Gardens" online and saw they had over 2000 kinds of daylilies. I was not disappointed. The prices ranged from $5 - $200. The ones I purchased only ranged from $5 - $10.

I bought 1 Southern Coral and 1 Bologongo to go in the backyard circle with my Irises

                                 I got 2 Matchmaking Miss to plant on either side of my arbor

           I bought 3 Eric Junior to plant in the circles by the side of my house

Kathleen got a few free clippings from that giant Scottish Thistle you see in the background. This is 1 year old. I was too afraid to take any.

Here is the young worker bee digging up my purchases

Kathleen and Angel taking a nice shady break. It has been in the 90s without any rain for awhile now

Galvanized Tub and Chicken Feeder

I was out with Mom the other day doing errands and such. All of a sudden I turned the car around in the middle of the street because I saw my favorite sign; "Free Take Me"
There by the side of the road were 3 galvanized tubs. I was thrilled. This made my whole week better.
I knew right away I needed to plant these. I have one to use for extra tomato plants that grew up wild from last year. The other was just sitting next to the garden screaming to be planted with herbs. I went to a garden and craft show at Delware Park and received a free plant called Golden Feverfew and then I had a nursery groupon I needed to use, so I went out and got some other herbs. Going clockwise from the upper right corner I have Silver Thyme, Dwarf Lavander, Cuban Oregeno and Sweet Basil with the Feverfew in the middle.

I also could not resist this cool looking plant, even though it is an annual. The nursery guy said I can bring it in the house for the winter. I placed it in this chicken feeder (that's is what some farm kid told me it was) I got from a Farmer's Market for $1. It is called "Mezoo Trailing Red".

Vacation in Ocean City, Maryland

I just thought I would share some vacation photos

Springtime in the Dirt

Let the digging begin.
I started out with a completely overgrown rock garden. It looks like weeds, but it is actually the peach primrose that has taken over (with perhaps a few weeds in between)

 Nine hours later....I think it will look good when the begonias start to fill in.

The Utility Company was also kind enough to place a new pole in my backyard.
They tried to convince me to keep some of this lovely soil
I made them haul it away

So of course I decided to expand just a little
I could not plant completely, because they still have to remove the old pole. I was told it would be some time in August. I tried to place things that could be easily removed in front of it. I hope the Tiger Lillies come back, but probably not his year. I am waiting for a friend to remove and give me some peach and purple daylillies. Last time I heard, she had only removed 1. I may have to go to  plan B.

New Favorite Corner

This is my current favorite corner. The step stool and the watering can I got at the curb last year. I spotted the step stool and had to have it. When I grabbed the stool I saw the watering can. My lucky day. I liked the stool color and rust as is, so it needed no work except for plastic feet to keep the patio sealant nice and fresh. The flower pots were free from the cemetary at the end of the season. I got a free bowling ball at the bowling alley (just ask). I had seen other people cover them in pennies and I really liked them. This is probably the most expensive thing in the corner because it took about $3 in pennies to cover. I didn't cover the bottom completely because I didn't see the point. Earlier this year I went to the designer house with my friend Cary and they had a bedroom and bathroom done with penny accessories. They had a penny bath mat, picture frame, and my favorite was a penny valance.
Back to my corner. I switched up my usual totem and made this teapot totem. The total cost for the totem was about $1.50 and that included the plant that was on the .50 table at my new favorite nursery. The brown teapot with green plates has a really cute retro look. My husband actually noticed it and made a pleasant comment. Usually he just tolerates me so this is a winner.

Digging Week or maybe Weak

Here is a before and after section of my backyard. First I needed to expand the daylily area around my arbor.

Before

During

After

Now they are all thinned out and ready to spread again.

Concrete Leaf Birdbaths

Last fall I decided to try my hand at making some concrete birdbaths. I used zucchini leaves from the garden. My first attempt was with a hosta leaf, but I really didn't like the look. I let them sit for quite a while to fully dry and then I sparay painted them. That seemed boring too, so this year I took them outside and played with some diluted paints until I got the look I liked.

Here is the results.