SquirrelGirl, you have to put on your shoes, sorry. There are dreadful goatshead stickers here. Many of the wild plants are prickly, or have burrs.

Let's go around to the back of the house. This is a Scentsational rose. I have no idea how it earned that name, because I don't find the scent impressive. Now if you want to experience a really impressive fragrance, let's go over to the Blanc Double de Coubert. It is a rugosa. Isn't that something?! Go ahead, pick one and take it with you. The scent of one bloom will pervade your car. Sometimes I put one on my dashboard and let it dry in the sun. The sweet scent lingers in my car for up to three days.

Those are yuccas over there. The yucca flowers have a wonderful scent, too. But watch out for those leaves, they are like swords. Yuccas self-seed like crazy, so it is best to burn the spent flower stalks. I wish you could see the prickly pears in bloom. It is a little too early for them right now.

Whoops, look out for that dog log. I cleaned up this morning, but... Oh, look at that blue belly. Aren't they pretty? A roadrunner comes hunting here every morning, because there are so many lizards. Those birds over there in the poplar, they are orioles.

Have you ever tasted arugula? It has a smoky flavor. Here, sample a leaf. What do you think, do you like it? These bean seedlings are limas. Yes, there are a lot of onions. They do well here. There are shallots and garlic, too. You ask about melons, yes, they do very well in this climate. I have grown watermelons and cantaloupes. I'm going to add honeydews this year.

That is a germander. I thought it was going to grow into a bush. But maybe there are two types, because this one is behaving like a ground cover. I'd like to try some woolley thyme this year. I think it would be nice to cover this little slope with thyme and Veronica. I have a type of Veronica over there in the rock garden, it is called Speedwell. I plan to do some transplanting.

The sun is beginning to set. Let's go by the lilac trees. Maybe we'll see some of those amazing hummingbird moths. They feed on the lilac flowers at dusk.

Lorna

I don't like the idea of summer coming, as it is too long, too dang hot and humid. I understand where northern gardeners are looking forward to it, but not this girl or her DH. Besides the heat and humidity, the sun's blasting down from overhead, we have 6 months of hurricane season.

A.C. is on all the time. You feel sick and you dream of the cooler weather that is all too short here. I drink lots of water, sweat lots too. I try to get out and garden early. Evenings there are too many skeeters out to do anything.

Somehow the gardens still survive in spite of drought, or hurricanes, and lack of the gardner's involvement. I do as little as I can, basically doing what is necessary.

That's how it is in our tropical gardens in the summer.

FlowerLady

Well if you could see my garden at this moment all shriveled up with dead bits sticking out from under a light skimming of snow you'd understand why I can't even visualize anything at the moment sooo I went back to something I posted after spring finally arrived here last year and my garden and I were one so to speak.

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Reflections

I'll play.
We start by going out the back door. We take a moment to sit in the purple porch swing and enjoy the view. {{gwi:633838}}
Behind us a Duchess de Brabant blooms in soft pink. A morning glory crawls up the porchpost to our left. Pots of various herbs and flowers litter the porch. As we swing we admire the rose garden, and soon the temptation of a sniff of one of those roses lures us out.
As we stroll around the rose garden we take a deep sniff of honeysuckle and stop to admire the various daylilies. A bunny or two shoots out from cover and the dog ignores it. A mockingbird scolds us from nearby. I suspect she has a nest in the honeysuckle on the corner.

Soon we wander out towards ds's baseball garden. You will love the baseball guy wire topiary form in the center. Yeah, the batter never stands in the center of the field in real life, but hey, its a garden.

You admire the brillant orange mexican petunias and lantana.
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I point out that ds loves the color orange and the butterflies love the flowers. I also point out the fabulous deep purple crepe myrtles and mexican bush sage that completes his garden.

We head across the part of the yard we call the pasture to Amy's garden, my all white garden named after my horse, who used to live in that space. We have to touch the rosemary planted there, and take a sniff from the shasta daisies and Ducher rose.
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We settle for a moment in the swing there and admire the view from that vantage point. It is quiet and peaceful there.

Before going in we'd head to the veggie garden, to collect fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, squash, and peppers for our lunch.
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Around front, we can tour the rest of the daylilies, summer annuals, and beds. I'm sure we will spend time discussing some bed expansions I want to do. ;0)

Then we'll sit on the wicker bench on the front porch and enjoy the fountain for a while.

Because you are with me I won't be weeding, digging, or watering, but I'll be wanting to. GRIN

Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul

We jump from mild temps to blazing hot at the end of May here in Minnesota, so I have to adjust my watering.
Getting outside before work at 6:30a.m., walking around to check on the peonies to see how they're doing.Oh, it's a thrill to finally see flowers on them. They smell wonderful.
The spireas are getting little flowers, the sedum are growing up, no flowers, but still neat.
Next, I check my "Grandmothers' Blessings" roses. I am ticked at the green caterpillars that wreak havoc on them daily, I spend 20-30 mn picking them off and disposing.
I check the other roses in the garden, they are all unaffected by the little buggers, I am still annoyed.
The gallardia and scabiosas, are starting to bloom, I have to beer bait for slugs and snails, that seem to love my gallardias, dump them out and reload.
Picking weeds,deadheading as I go, the liatrus are attracting tons of bumblebees, I hear their happy buzzing. The Monarda and Anise Hyssop are full as well.
See the birds looking for a free meal,and our little hummer is at the dianthus making his rounds.
This year I'm excited to see what will play out in the back yard, as we planted ALOT of things that were past bloom times. Can't wait.
I don't want to rush spring though, because I love to see my tulips,hyacinths,crocus,and daffodils give their amazing shows,also the earlier peonies.There's a Dwarf Korean Lilac that I'm anxious to see perform,as well as different hydrangeas.
I long to get out each day again to watch things change, it's truly a gift God gave this world, all the amazing things he created, I'm at total calm when I'm in my garden, on my knees talking to him,thanking him for all the blessings he's bestowed on me and my family. I do it every day, but it's more special in the garden.
I have alot to do this year, but I'm looking foward to it all, so it will be a good time.

Annette, are you living on Victoria Island? Isn't that reputed to be one of THE garden spots in the world? I saw a Web site for V.I. years ago, which showed scads of beautifully maintained old Victorian houses with lots of gingerbread. There were also many photos of glorious gardens.

Lorna

Lorna, I'm in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island about 68 miles north of Victoria, which is much warmer in the winter than we are. We are in south Nanaimo and as a rule we don't get as much snow as the north side of the city and on it goes. In Victoria they can get away with growing some pretty tender things that would just croak here. Most years of late we have had almost snowless winters with the coldest period being between the last two weeks in January and the first two weeks in February. This year we are actually having a real winter. I've seen winters here where the temp has hit 0 and I've seen Februarys that have given us temps in the unbelievable 70's we never know what our winter is going to be like until it actually gets here. One of the problems we have to deal with here is the winter is so mild things start to break early then the temp goes in the basement we get a lot of die back when this happens, some things don't make it. Yes, Victoria is known as the garden city as a rule they have very mild winters but they also had a real dandy a couple of years back. Weather is so darn unpredictable these days.

Annette

Lorna

I live in Victoria .....aka.....The City of Gardens

Libby

Hello, Annette!

Winters here are generally fairly mild. This year the temps are bouncing around quite a bit. Yes, it certainly does confuse the plants and cause problems.

Yesterday there was a light blanket of snow. Today we've got brutal 50mph winds, and a possibility of snow flurries. Friday is predicted to be warm and pleasant.

Is Victoria Island part of the B. C. province? I've heard that Vancouver is quite nice, too.

Lorna

Lorna, it's Vancouver Island and Victoria is situated on the southern tip of the Island, it is also B.C.'s capital city. The city of Vancouver is on the mainland, if we want to go to Vancouver we have to take a ferry or fly. I know it can be confusing to those who are not familiar with the area. Right now Vancouver is worse off than we are weather-wise, everything seems to have screeched to a halt over there because of the last snow dump they had.

Libby, yes, Victoria is known as "The City of Gardens" not the garden city it's that darn Ziva thing again, at least that's the excuse I'm using this week LOL.

Annette

Thanks for that clarification, Annette. I hadn't made the connection that you are in Canada, Libby. There it is in your address, but I hadn't noticed. What is Ziva?
Lorna

Lorna, you will have to watch N.C.I.S. to find out :o).

Annette

Fantastic Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And perfect timing..some fierce weather here yesterday. It went from the mid 40's to minus 1 in about 6 hours. Rain, and snow, and forty mile winds. A tornado struck the apartment complex across from my daughters...not a pretty day so this post is much needed. Love reading everyones routines.

Let's see...morning routine, drag out of bed, put on the coffee or tea, let the dogs out for a morning romp. Then follow them out in my jamies, slip on some crocs and wander out into the fresh air while the dogs explore the yard to be sure no strange occurances happened while they slept. Interuppting the morning feeding at the feeder, my feathered friends would sit up in the trees surrounding the feeder and complain at me to get away, or some mornings to refill with fresh. Checking for new buds, or growth, and even those darn dreaded slugs sometimes to. Sometimes stopping to pull a weed or two, tossing them on the ground as I go..no real work tho, just leisure weed pulling. By now, the dogs have assured the yard is safe and secure and are padding about at my feet. The three of us wander to my tiny fish pond and count heads to be sure all are safe and sound there (yep I am a worry wort). I feed them breakfast and then go for a plastic grocery bag, (yep, this is the best part of each morning) and begin the dreaded poop pick up rountine!! :) Not a good way to begin the day, but it assures that the rest of the day will be danger free when I pad thru the yard barefoot! Now who would dream I would miss picking up dog doo doo in my jamies in the middle of winter.. :) Yep, I am one of those crazy ladies who goes out in her jamies each morning without combing her hair or putting on her makeup. I am SURE my neighbors think I am hopeless! And they are most likely correct...

I'll post some photos...a tour of my garden in the gallery so I don't slow down this thread.

Sierra

Hello cottage friends. I'm back after losing power for a few days.

Keesha, I think we must live close together. We had similar weather. I'm glad your daughter is OK. I hope the people across the street from her were fine as well. I'll skip the details of the experience here, but at least all is back to normal now. It is good to be able to visit again.

Annette-I wish I could see your Gurnsey Cream Clematis. The name reminds me of my favorite creamery here in Michigan. Ice cream as smooth as butter. Mmmmmm. Your pond sounds lovely. I would love to have some fish to feed.

Happy in Texas- I don't think I would get up from that purple swing. With the flowers and vines around, it is the perfect setting. I've been looking for oranges for my font bed. The Mexican Petunias would be fun there. I love the idea of a boy's themed garden. I bet it is fun coming up with plants for that garden. Thank you for lunch and the tour of Amy's bed. If you point me in the right direction, I'll do some digging for you while you plant.

Lorna, Thank you for the rose. Maybe now the car dealership won't notice the spilled milk smell when I turn my lease in this month. On second thought, I'll put the rose by my bedside table. Maybe one day my garden will grow some roses as wonderful. I'm happy to just see your prickly pears. Those are not something that would do well with my snow. The herbs must be very happy at your house, because they have intense flavor. I'm glad I'm started some arugula for next summer. Maybe it is from your garden. I got it in the seed swap. It is Rocket Eruca. I've never seen hummingbird moths. I hope there are some waiting at the lilac bush. This has been a breath taking visit. Thank you.

Primgal: I LOVE peony's. They are on the to plant list this year. After a trip through your garden, I am considering a few extra plants to attract the hummers. When you are done with your yard, will you come squish some of my creepie crawlies? I can't get over the ick factor of squishing bugs. Jap Beetles are monsters, not bugs. They get whacked or chopped with a shovel. It is wonderful that your garden enhances your spirituality.

Flower lady- Would you share the senses of your winter garden with us?

Now I know one of Libby's gardening secrets. I've not heard of the City of Gardens, so I will have to do some googling.

Sierra, I'm going to your post next. I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish in such cold temperatures.

Thank you all for taking me to your gardens. I feel summer is a little closer already.

Squirrel Girl