THE FLOWERS IN FRONT ARE BLOOMING

The front yard where I live is in full bloom. We mostly have hydrangeas, agapanthus and roses.

The photo above shows one of the lace cap deep pink hydrangeas in the front.

We have 9 different hydrangea plants out front.

I love the way the bright purple agapanthus look next to the hydrangeas and against our pale yellow house.

The white ones are very pretty too. We have pink, white and purple flowers in the front.

This is one corner of our house. You can see a big pink hydrangea, some of the purple agapanthus and some very different white hydrangeas we have.

The hydrangeas in the corner of our house produces so many blooms. I just love it this time of year.

I remember as a kid, we had a big pink hydrangea plant in our front yard too. I used to pick the biggest blooms off and then pretend I was bride and it was my bouquet.

I think I first fell in love with hydrangeas way back then. Now I buy them all the time.

We often buy them and put them in our house to enjoy the blooms inside. Then once the flowers start to die off we plant it outside. It never fails, next year we have a new blooming hydrangea bush growing.

I told you we have a strange white hydrangea plant. Well, it's strange because it starts out with bright white blooms.

Did you know you can change the color of your hydrangea plant depending on what you put in the soil? That's right, you can turn your pinks to purples and purples to pink.

But whites will always stay white no matter what is in the soil. Or at least they say they do.

When we first planted this white one it was your normal white hydrangea. The blooms came every year. Nice pretty white blooms.

But now, they go from pure white to white with pink blotches in them. I've never seen this before. Have you?

I've read up about it. Or at least I tried and couldn't find anything that would cause this to happen.

So now, we have speckled hydrangeas.

Then next to that speckled one is another deep pink one. This year we have had huge blooms. The one on the left doesn't look that big in the picture but it's is giant. You can see what looks like smaller blooms on the bush with these large ones.

Those are normal size blooms. So the big ones are about 6 times bigger. I've never seen any this big before.

We must have something strange in the soil in this area for these strange things to happen.

The white rose bush is blooming and is very pretty out there.

I think the roses look so pretty next to the lace cap hydrangeas.

I think I need to get out front and start cutting some of those beautiful flowers and bring them inside. There is enough to have a big vase of flowers in every room.

Tomorrow I'll show you how the flowers in my back yard are doing. Wait until you see what is going on inside my bird cage garden.

So tell me, how are your flowers doing? I would love you to share them with me and post about them on your blog.

MAKING FLOWERS & PICKING FRUIT AND VEGGIES!

Today was a fun day! I went to my friend, John's, house and he taught me how to make sweet-peas and wild roses out of gumpaste.
Here is what I made.

Here is a close up of the wild roses.

*** UPDATE: I've had several of you asking how to make these, where to get gumpaste, what is gumpaste and so on. So I've decided to do a post in the next week or so to answer all the questions and give a lesson on how to make a gumpaste flower. So if interested, check back soon.

We took a break and went outside so we could pick some of his wonderful blackberries. I'm going to make jam with these.

While he was picking the blackberries for me John said I could save my fingers from getting pricked by the thorns and pick tomatoes and basil. I quickly said OK. Those blackberry thorns hurt!

I'm going to make some pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, garlic and olive oil!

From there we went to the cucumber plants, yellow peppers and zucchini plants. I don't think I've ever seen a bigger zucchini. I know they should be picked way before they get this big...shouldn't they?

Looks like I'll be making more zucchini bread.

I had a great time. Always do when I go to John's house. He is a great guy.

Don't forget...if you have not yet signed up for my giveaway there is still time. Click the link on the right side of my blog to go add your name.

Hugs,

Joanne

PLANTING FLOWERS TODAY

I finally got around to planting the flowers I bought awhile ago. Here they are.
The begonias are planted with impatiens and then down below are double impatiens with a pretty little ivy. I put these next to the front in the area next to the fountain I wrote about before. That little area is almost finished and when it is I will show it to you.

Just a close up of the begonias. I think they are so pretty.

We have had this pot with plants by our front door but some of the flowers died so I replanted 1/2 the pot with the hanging purple flowers. I have no idea what they are called.

This is another dainty purple flower that I loved but am not sure what it is called.

I love petunias that hang. Plus I didn't even have to replant these. Just hung them up in the back. My kind of gardening. Fast and easy.

I got some more fuchsias. I just love them. They bring me back to when I was a kid and would pop them in our yard. Of course I got yelled at every time I did it. There is just something about those buds that make me want to give them a little squeeze and here that little pop!

I put some new flowers in our little wishing well. My wish is that my flowers live a long long time.

Then of course my roses. I just love these roses! These are the first roses I've ever bought. I've always be scared to try and grow them. I have no idea how to take care of them so if you do please give me some tips. Like when to prune them, feed them and so on. Do they bloom all summer?

My sister, Patty, got this pretty pot/urn for me to plant them in. You can't really tell from the picture but there is a hint of pink brushed into the color. But don't look to close because you will see a brick I forgot to move.

I feel like I've been spending a lot of time in the backyard lately but when I look around it looks like I have not done anything! Why is that?

I still have a lot I want to do. I plan on painting the swing on Thurs. Maybe that will help.

I had fun spending time getting my hands dirty and playing with the flowers. Hope you all had a nice day too.

Hugs,
Joanne

COME WITH ME TO BUY FLOWERS!

It was such a pretty day today. The heat is gone and we are now having beautiful weather. Not hot but, not cold either. Just a perfect nice sunny day.

My sister, Maureen, came over and we decided to go to Roger's Gardens in Newport Beach.

I thought it would be fun if you came along with us. If you have never been to Roger's Gardens you are in for a nice surprise. It has to be one of prettiest gardens.

The best thing is it's not just a garden you walk through. You can buy everything you see. So come on, let's take a look around.

The place is full of color! The flowers are all top quality.

The way things are set up is so pretty. Sometimes they put the same colors together. Other times they will go with a theme. Here they have all white flowers. So pretty. I hear white flowers are a great way to enjoy your garden at night because the white shows up nicely under the moon shine.

Roger's Garden also has a lot of outdoor furniture. I love this cute table setting. It looks so inviting to me.

I love the way they did this bird bath up with purple flowers. I think this would be a wonderful way to use those birdbaths or fountains that are old and can no longer hold water.

When you walk through this beautiful arch that is covered with climbing roses the first thing you notice is the smell. It's the entrance to the rose garden.

We spent about 1/2 hour in this area. I was looking for pretty pink roses to buy. I wanted the climbing roses but there was so many to choose from I had no idea which one to go with.

Don't you just adore this wreath! I would love to have this but the price was way out of my budget. Maybe I can make something close to it. I would like to hang it on our gate.

Look at this pop of yellow! I was thrilled with out pretty this photo came out. I think these flowers look fake. They are just so perfect looking. But trust me, they are real.

The gazebo is a favorite spot of mine. It's always done up with decorations of the next holiday coming up. At Christmas Santa is here and is always happy to listen to the children's wishes. He will even take photos with them. When I say children I mean children of all ages from 1-100. Santa doesn't care how old you are. He will let you sit on his lap and whisper your Christmas wishes in his ear.

This rose bush is called 4th of July Roses. They almost look like a firework bursting open in the night sky.

They have the best hanging baskets of any place I've seen before.

This urn is just breath taking. It's so big and full of color.

I just had to take this photo. I'm taking classes on how to make different flowers out of sugar paste and this is one of the flowers I'm going to learn. I love the bright purple color.

There is even a waterfall at Roger's Gardens. Look at the turtles on the rocks. They are saying hi to everyone that walks by. OK, so they aren't real turtles and they don't really say hi, but in my mind they do.

Here is an easy way to decorate your outside for the up coming 4th of July. Just tie a big bow out of flag ribbon and have a pot of flags sitting near the pot.

They really do sell just about everything at Roger's Garden. They not only have the best plants and flowers, but, they sell table clothes, napkins, dishes and just about anything you would need for your outdoor entertaining.

These are the roses I ended up getting. The pink is so pretty.

I think the roses are going to be perfect for my back yard. Don't you?

Here are all the plants I ended up getting. Now I need to get them planted.

Well, I hope you enjoyed coming along with us to Roger's Gardens. If you are ever in the area please be sure to make time to stop there. Even if you don't buy a thing you will love walking around and seeing all the beautiful things.

I thought I would leave you with a photo I took last night of the sun setting. The sun was a beautiful reddish color.

Don't forget, I'm having a Giveaway. If you have not signed up scroll down or click on the link on the right of my blog and put your name down. Never know if it's going to be your lucky day.

Hugs,

Joanne