Wishing all my family & friends a safe and happy holiday!
Happy Fourth of July
All posts by Lillian Davis
Blooms & Barrels
As summer carries on…
the Daylillys are popping
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| Double Old Orange Lily ( Hemerocallis fulva ) |
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| The label said Stella D’ Oro when I bought this lily, but it’s a little more orange than it should be |
The Butterfly weed has finally bloomed
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| Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) |
The Foxglove is Foxy
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| Digitalis |
The Tick Seed is ticking
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| Coreopsis |
And the Arrowood has Berries
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Arrowood Viburnum ( Viburnum dentatum )
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My Barrel ( container ) gardens are doing great too!
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| Catmint, Coreopsis, & Obedient plant ~ there is a barrel under there somewhere, Honest! |
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| The herb gardens (notice the wire around the strawberries? Annie ate last years plants! Wire seems to be working!) |
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| Purple Ruffles Basil from seed~ really easy, get soil wet, sprinkle seeds, lightly press in with fingers and don’t cover seeds. It needs light to germinate. If the soil is warm enough, Basil seed will swell and sprout within 24-48 hours! |
And my Newest project!
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| Red Japanese maple |
Daisy Says~ “Don’t miss next week’s episode to find out what Mom does with the Maple!”
White & Fuzzy Progress
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| I’m really pleased with how this is turning out! The only thing I’m disappointed with is that the Yarrow in the back isn’t keeping up like I hoped. |
Sunday Driving
This Sunday our drive took us north for a visit with a good friend.
The day was bright and beautiful.
Sunny blue sky dotted with lazy summer clouds.
Not too hot and not too cool.
Just a perfect day.
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Central Illinios is typically a flat place, full of corn and soybeans
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With a few rolling hills here and there, just to keep it interesting.
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We drove most of the way on 251, a nice stretch of highway that used to be a main north and south route before interstate 39 was built.
Anyway, besides the endless sea of corn and beans,
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There is also the wind farms
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dotting the landscape here and there
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We didn’t stop and stand under any this time. It was enough to just look at them today
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Fun with Bricks, Plants & Mulch…. and a Photo Shoot?
For about four years running now, I’ve designed and built plant displays for the Garden Center I work at.
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| 2010’s design |
Today, as I was leaving for the day, a nicely dressed gentleman came in to the garden center and asked if he could take a couple of pictures of my display. He said he was trying to get ideas for his own garden.
I didn’t see any harm in it so I said “Sure”…
Next thing I know, he whips out this big camera from it’s case~ one with all the lenses etc. and proceeds to shoot pictures.
Hmmm. Wasn’t expecting that.
Made me wonder if he really did just want ideas or if he had an ulterior motive
Made me wonder if he really did just want ideas or if he had an ulterior motive
and this was the only excuse he came up with…. who knows.
It’s not at all uncommon for us to see other companies walking around with little clipboards, jotting down our prices, but this was the first photo request I’ve ever had!
Should I be flattered?
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Anyway, here are some photos of last years and this years designs.
I design them on the fly, not knowing what they are going to look like until I’m halfway done.
It’s a lot of fun, and even more fun filling them with lot’s of beautiful plants from my favorite greenhouse!
~Enjoy~
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| Before~ In front of the Sales Hut ~ 2010’s design |
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| After |
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| I love working with perennials more than anything~ so many interesting leaf colors and textures |
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| Before ~ Main Display ~ 2010 Design |
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| After ~ the theme was angels and woodland creatures last year! |
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| Before ~ patio display ~ 2010 design |
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| After ~ My fellow co-worker and friend planted this one ~ very nice! |
This last set is this years designs but I didn’t have the plants available yet when I took these photos….
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| Main display is a little bigger and shorter then last year |
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| The structure on this one tends to stay the same from year to year. |
In the 2007 season, my first year, I had the opportunity to work with a Merchandiser who was also a landscaper. It is his designs that inspired mine~ though I could never come close to his expertise!
Here is some of his designs of that year!
Thanks Jeff!
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"Gimmie More Flowers!"
Here’s the latest round of summer blooms
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| Tall Phlox ~ can’t remember the name right now… of course! |
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| close up of Phlox flowers |
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| Penstemon ‘Lilac Frost’ ~ Did you know there was an American Penstemon Society? I didn’t. Here’s a link to that too ~> http://www.apsdev.org/ |
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| close up of Annabell Hydrangea |
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| lots of blooms this year~ they really love this rainy weather! |
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| Yellow Sunset climbing rose is still going |
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| The hosta I can’t remember the name of is now blooming |
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| such clear white flowers on short stalks~ I wish I could remember how big it’s supposed to get! |
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| As much as they are over done, you still can’t beat a sunny orange marigold! |
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| My favorite Salvia- the annual ‘Victoria’ |
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| Okay, no blooms here and only a weed, but I’m still fond of this little guy~ though mistakenly called a clover by many, this is actually a yellow woodsorrel ( Oxalis stricta ). It’s completely eatable~ One of my neighbors (now passed) told me he used to eat them as a kid to settle a sick stomach. I just loved the exploding seedpods when I was a kid! Here’s a link ~> http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/yl_sorrel.htm |
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| Vinca Major close up |
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| I have these in a window basket on my deck railing |
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…And a Rainbow at the End
To celebrate the first day of summer, we had muggy weather, strong storms,
a deluge of rain, lighting and even a tornado south east of us…
At the end of it, we got a rainbow…
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…and a beautiful sunset!
Happy first day of spring!
( at the the time of this post, I don’t know how bad the tornado was )
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Bee Tree in Bloom
My Little Leaf Linden tree (aka Bee Tree, Basswood or otherwise known as Tilia cordata)
is in full bloom today and smells just like honeysuckle! My Husband and I just love this tree!
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| It was a Wal-Mart rescue about ten years ago, and I had brought it home in the back of my van. |
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| It is now over twenty five feet tall! |
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| One of my favorite trees! |
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Summer Flowers, Grapes & Labrador Proofing
The first day of summer is almost upon us
and the flowers continue to bloom in my garden…
……as I spend all my time in the Garden Center! (sigh…)
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| I don’t care what anybody says about spirea! I love my little spirea! It blooms with abandon in almost dense shade and does very well in the dry sandy soil against my house… |
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| A closeup |
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| and a little sunlight |
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| Another itsy bitsy spider… Very hard to get the auto focus on the camera to fix on this. I think it took about ten minutes to get this shot! |
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| Dappled light on the Pachysandra |
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| A perennial Geranium called “Splish Splash” |
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| Also a mail order plant of several years ago…. |
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| More Blooms on my dark pink clematis |
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| The House Bunn’s veggie barrel ~ celery, Kale, oakleaf lettuce & seedlings, Cos lettuce, tiny thumbelina carrot sprouts on the left (very tiny right now) and red and white Swiss Chard sprouts on the right (also very tiny). Our Bunns are very spoiled rabbits…. |
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| Butterfly weed or asclepias tuberosa ~ also started from seed a long time ago. It’s almost ready to bloom. |
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| A Heliopsis or False Sunflower I planted from seed several years ago,,, from this one planting in my front yard, is has reseeded itself all over my backyard…. But I love it and so do the yellow finches! |
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| A metal butterfly I painted and attached to my arbor…. |
And in the vegetable garden….
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| GRAPES! I have grapes! Yay! This is one of two grape vines on my back fence. This one here is a seedless Red Reliance |
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| And this one is a green seedless~ I will have to go out and look at the tag on it because I can’t remember the variety at this moment… Both of these came from Dan & Jerry’s Green house five years ago… Last year was the first year it had grapes and I’m glad to see them producing again. |
….and finally, the Labrador proofing!
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| I got my garden in ‘very’ late this year (I’m so embarrassed!) because every day off I had, it was pouring down rain! So last week it was finally nice enough to get out and till, compost and plant! The chicken wire is to keep my black Lab, Annie out because she ate the entire garden last year! Yes, everything! Even the strawberry plants! This dog’s number one hobby is eating! |
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| Sure… She’s all sweet and innocent now~ but as soon as your back is turned…. |
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Wild Penstemon & Spiderwort
Today on our usual drive through Starved Rock
(to see the flooding~ again),
(to see the flooding~ again),
we see these white and purple flowers along the roadside…
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| Upon closer inspection, I’m surprised to see this familiar Spiderwort! |
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| And this is Penstemon~ botanical name for the wild species unknown to me as of yet…. |
Cool….
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Lil's Garden Tour 