Earth Day and Spring Blooms

In honor of Earth Day, April 22, I'm sharing some blooms from my yard. My Irises have just started blooming this week and I simply love them. Who could resist their dark purple color!

Earth Day is celebrated every April 22 and we celebrate our planet and how to take better care of it. 

We have pink dogwood and white dogwood trees in our yard. 

Azaleas in my yard are just budding and will soon be in full bloom. The cold weather we have been experiencing had set them back a week or two.

Tulips are just starting to bloom. 

Creeping phlox are blooming. They have five-star blooms that can reach an inch across.

I'm planting a Blooming Cherry tree in my yard to celebrate Earth Day this year.

Hope you can plant a tree, or just take time to pick up some trash you see on the street or along the road. Be sure to wear some gloves. Let me know your plans for Earth Day. 

Thanks for stopping by for Earth Day - Judy.

Linking to:

Fabulous Link Party @ Peacock Ridge Farm on Friday 8am

Home Matters Link Party on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Pieced Pastimes – Saturday Sparks

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy on Sunday

Happiness is Homemade @ Ducks in A Row on Sunday

Met Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Astilbe and The Shade Garden

This week in our shade garden, the white Astilbe is just stunning. This Astilbe is in its fifth season.

Wow, don't you just love this plant? The feathery blooms bring great color and texture to this garden.

Other shade loving plants surround the Astilbe in the garden. You can see several varieties of hosta, winter hardy ferns and autumn ferns 

This shade-loving garden has been a work in progress over six years. I just kept expanding it until finally I decided to surround it with garden stones to keep its size in check. 

A new Hosta to our garden this spring is named Bedazzled Plantain Lily. The tag says is should get 7" H x 21" W. 

Spiderwort was added to the garden last fall and I'm happy that it is blooming. It is known for its long bloom period. Each bloom only lasts one day but each plant produces many blooms. I read that it is invasive but who could refuse a free plant from a friend. 

Hardy ferns were added each year except this year. This garden is usually my last one to work in each spring because new hardy ferns pop up and I don't want to destroy them. 

Hince, I'm still working in here to get rid of some unwanted guests. 

The Autumn Ferns were the first ferns added to our shade garden. They are so beautiful throughout the growing season. They emerge as coppery red in the spring then turn to a bright, glossy, kelly green in summer. 

I hope you can image how gorgeous they are when the wind is lightly blowing and their fronds (leaves) are moving. Awwwe!

Here is a short video of my Autumn Ferns. Hope it plays. Let me know!

One new Astilbe was added to the shade garden this spring. It is the Country & Western Astilbe with salmon pink blooms. Next year, it should be much larger.

Heucheras (Cora Bells) are also planted in the shade garden. The one below was  planted about five years ago. 

A new Heuchera was added this year named Marvelous Marble.

I recently found a video channel that is fabulous. The channel is Garden Answer. Here is the link. She has great videos on gardening. You can also find her on Instagram under Garden Answer. 

That's it for our Shade Garden, thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:

Our World @ Our World Tuesday on Monday

Nature Notes @ Rambling Woods on Monday pm 

MET Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Wonderful Wednesday @ Oh My Heartsie Girl on Monday

All About Home @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home on Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Tuesday Turn About Link Party @ Thistle Key Lane at 5 pm on Tuesday

Wonderful Wednesday @ Ducks in a Row on Tuesday evening

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday

Share Your Style @ French Ethereal on Wednesday at 6 pm

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet

Thursday Favorite Things @ Katherine's Corner

Flaunt It Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring 

Grace at Home @ The Charm of Home on Thursday 

Floral Friday @ Floral Friday Foto

A Morning Cup of Joe @ The Cottage Market on Friday

Farm House Friday @ County Road 407

Friday With Friends @ My Hubbard Home

Saturday Sparks @ Pieced Pastimes on Friday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Garden Affair @ Jaipur Garden 

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Saturday Spotlight @ Calypso in the Country

Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate & Decorate on Sunday

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Love Your Creativity Link Party @ Life and Linda on Sunday at 2pm

Hearth and Soul Link Party @ April J. Harris on Sunday

Sunday Link Party @ Finding Silver Pennies

Sundays on Silverado @ The House on Silverado

Party in Your PJ's @ The Apple Street Cottage on Sunday

Busy Monday @ A Pinch of Joy on Sundays at 5pm

Our Garden Is Growing - Thankful Thursday

We planted a small garden this year and I am thankful the plants are growing.

You can see we did put a fence around the garden to keep those nibbling little guys out.

We have planted tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers, zucchini, and yellow straight neck squash.

We do work a little each day in the garden, checking the plants, and have been doing some spraying for bugs.

The tomatoes are flowering so that is a great sign, and the cucumbers are growing by leaps and bounds daily. 

The garden is close to the back of our property and gets at least 6-8 hours of sun. 

Last year, I asked my husband to build a heavy duty trellis for honeysuckle. I wanted it to be rustic so he used some fallen tree limbs and trees for the structure.

We planted one plant last year late in the season. It is just starting to take off along with the two additional new honeysuckle plants. 

 

We do have wild honeysuckle in this area of our property so we should have lots of sweet aroma over time.

I'll keep you posted on our garden this summer. Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet

Pollinators - Bees and Butterflies in the Garden

As our gardens come to life, we begin to see the beauty of our summer flowers.

Butterflies also begin to visit our gardens. The yellow swallowtail and the zebra swallowtail are attracted to the colorful flowers in my garden.

Butterflies are attracted to the colorful fragrant flowers in our gardens.  They feed on the nectar produced by the flowers. As they move from flower to flower, they pollinate the plants. 

Another pollinator that we see in our gardens are bees. 

Just as we need butterflies to pollinate, we need the bees to carry pollen from one flower to the next.

Thanks to these pollinators, our gardens end up with more plants and flowers. Thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:

Saturday's Critters @ Viewing Nature with Eileen on Saturdays
Camera Critters on Saturday
I'd Rather Be Birdin' on Saturday at noon

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sunday

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sunday 

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings 
MET Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch
Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate & Decorate on Monday

Inspiration Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life
Talk of the Town @ Kick of Time on Tuesday

My Corner of the World @ Photographing New Zealand on Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop @ Claire Justine

Share Your Style Link Party @ White Arrows Home 

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet

Thursday Favorite Things @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound on Friday

Sundays at Home @ Little Farmstead on Saturday

Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate & Decorate on Sunday

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sunday 

Springtime in Our Gardens

Nothing is more welcome than when spring arrives in our gardens. The azaleas are blooming and their color is just stunning in our landscaping project from last year.

I was surprised when I took the picture below that a Yellow Swallowtail Butterfly was fluttering around the azaleas sipping the nectar. 

New Dimension Blue Salvia is in bloom. I'm hoping I will have success in trimming the tops after they finish bloom for rebloom in the fall.

Vernique Blue Speedwell is also blooming in the front bed.

I'm not sure about my iris plants.  I cut the fans and replanted them last fall during our big landscaping project.  

They produced beautiful foliage, but only one iris bloomed. I'm thinking they have not been getting enough sun in this location.

Our Redbud trees are starting their third year and presented beautiful blooms this year.

This yellow flower may be just a weed or a wildflower, but I've been enjoying it's brilliant color.

In the backyard gardens, Daylilies are growing but it's too early to see any blooms. Hubby bought me a sweet little rabbit for Easter to sit in the gardens.

One of the beds in our backyard is around a tree and is in the shade the biggest part of the day. It's perfect for hostas, ferns, astilbe and columbine.

You can see hostas, garden ferns, cinnamon ferns, and coral bells (heuchera) in the pic below.

Little Lantern Columbine is presenting showy blooms of red and yellow. 

The blooms on the columbine are so delicate that I try to never touch them. Wild blue violets have popped up by the Columbine. 

The columbine grows near hostas and garden ferns.

Astilbe plants are up and will soon produce beautiful showy flowers. (check back later for blooms)

Although it can be a bit overwhelming this time of the year, I love working in the flower beds . I'll keep plugging away at the weeds; thanks for stopping by - Judy.

Linking to:

Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sundays

Dishing It and Digging It @ The Freckled Rose on Sundays

Sundays at Home @ Little Farmstead

Mosaic Monday @ Letting Go of the Bay Leaf on Sundays

Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate & Decorate on Monday

Amaze Me Monday @ Dwellings 
Creative Mondays @ Claire Justine
MET Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday's At Our House @ Our Home Away From Home
Reader Tip Tuesday with this week's Craft & Recipe Party @ Jodie Fitz
Tutorials & Tips @ Home Stories A-Z

The Scoop @ Stone Gable Blog

Inspiration Tuesday @ A Stroll Thru Life

Talk of the Town @ Kick of Time on Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop @ Claire Justine

Share Your Style Link Party @ White Arrows Home 

Home and Garden Thursday @ A Delightsome Life on Wednesday evening

Thankful Thursday @ It's a Small Town Life

Little Things Thursday @ Random-osity

Friday Photo Journal @ Serendipity is Sweet

Thursday Favorite Things @ Follow the Yellow Brick Home

Pretty Things @ Calypso in the Country on Fridays

Sundays at Home @ My Soulful Home on Saturday

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Celebrate Your Story @ Celebrate & Decorate on Sunday
Dishing It and Digging It @ Rustic & Refined on Sunday