flowers, garden, Illinois

Well Worth the Wait…

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Finally, the tomatoes are starting to ripen!
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Vintage Wine, Cuore De Toro, Martino’s Roma
Despite my garden’s late start- end of June-
all the extra nurturing and care 
(and the new dog proof fence) is finally starting to pay off!
Here’s today’s bounty. In a few days there will be more. 
These are heirloom and open pollinated. Very sweet and yummy~
though a little cracked here and there but that was due to the hot dry weather and
 my uneven watering.
And here’s the second crop of red raspberries.
heritage raspberries ~ everberring
And my August Lily Hosta is right on cue
and my Zinnias are in full bloom~ this is the first time I’ve planted Zinnias from plants from the Garden Center and not seed. Not bad I think.
and finally, Daisy, waiting for me to drop some more grapes and raspberries.
No… I’m not begging….
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Blessed Day

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Because you come to me with naught save love,
And hold my hand and lift mine eyes above,
A wider world of hope and joy I see,
Because you come to me.
Because you speak to me in accents sweet,
I find the roses waking round my feet,
And I am led through tears and joy to thee,
Because you speak to me.
Because God made thee mine, I’ll cherish thee
Through light and darkness, through all time to be,
And pray His love may make our love divine,
Because God made thee mine.
garden

Night Lights

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Come sit with me on the back porch,
Come listen to the crickets chirp and the tree frogs play.
Hear the quiet of the evening slowly turn into night,
and shed the hassles of the day.   ~LM Davis
Flying Appy Studio

What Would We Do Without Our friends?

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Thank goodness Buttons has a lot of avian friends to look out for him….
you can find him at my Etsy shop
(Buttons is FAS’s spokeshorse and mascot)
garden

Greeting Cards

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Introducing Greeting Cards at my Etsy shop
They are blank inside and professionally printed on high quailty cardstock 
with my some of my favorite photographs. 
Hope you enjoy them!
garden, Illinois

Getting Excited!

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Green tomatoes everywhere!
Vintage Wine
I can hardly wait until they turn red!
Cuore De Toro
Martino’s Roma
It’s been so long since I’ve had fresh tomatoes out of my garden….
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom
Vintage Wine
Thanks to to my new welded wire Annie Repellant!
My Vegetable Garden Early On… right after the attack. Everything’s bigger now
For the last two years, no matter how I try to protect the garden, 
this dog, as innocent as she tries to appear, 
has bulldozed through all barriers and ate her self silly.
she’s eaten everything I’ve planted~ 
tomatoes, beans, carrots, celery, strawberries, lettuce…
the list goes on.
the only thing I found she doesn’t like is Swiss Chard and Kale.
The Devourer of Gardens and Fresh Produce~ AKA Annie
garden

Early Light

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Early morning is one of my favorite times for taking pictures…

flowers, garden

Lazy Sunday

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I’m going to be lazy today and just post some blooms and plants without too many comments. 
We finally got the rain we were waiting for
and it has cooled off a bit, 
so rather than sit here and do a lot of writing, 
I’m going to go out and enjoy the rest of the day….
Self sown Echinacea or Coneflower

Blackberry Lily finally bloomed

 More self sown coneflowers ( I’ve got these everywhere)

Diablo Ninebark ~ Physocarpus opulifolius ~ newer leaves on stem tips

older leaves

Gazania Daisy

Blanket Flower ~ Gaillardia

new buds on blanket flower

Portulaca grandiflora

Honeysuckle reblooming ~ Dropmore Scarlet

 Wormwood ~ Artemisia absinthum

ARTEMISIA ‘SILVER BROCADE’

Lambs ear doing well

second round on the Kmart rose
Wha’cha doing mom?
container gardening, deer, flowers, garden

Torenia aka Wishbone Flower

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 When I first met this little flower, I was introduced to it as the “wishbone” Flower.
Torenia fournieri ~ If you look closely, you will see a ‘wishbone’ just above the yellow. It’s also been dubbed ‘Clown Flower’. If you look at it for a bit, you’ll see a silly smiling face!
I wasn’t very impressed. They were featured in hanging baskets in the normal Peat mixture, which if you didn’t water it daily, dried out quickly resulting in burned and crispy plants.
I did my best to keep them watered and presentable but like me, most of the customers passed them by. 
Last year, I was looking for an annual to 
put in my deck rail basket that would tolerate shade most of the day.
I looked at my options but didn’t really want to do Impatiens again. 
I remembered that the Torenia liked shade and decided to give it a try. 
 
I put three little white flowered plants in the basket along with my special mix of potting soil and kept it well watered all summer. Once it got established, it grew like crazy.
Well, I was very happy with it. 
 
This year I bought eight plants of the purple and planted the basket right away.
It filled in quickly and the heat hasn’t fazed it one bit. 
It’s defiantly my new favorite!
Unopened flower buds
 and it blooms nonstop until frost.
 Here’s some features~
 
Light:Part Sun,Shade
Soil: Average to Moist
Plant Type:Annual
Plant Height:8 to 12 inches tall, depending on type
Plant Width:6-9 inches wide, depending on type
Landscape Uses:Containers,Beds & Borders
 
Special Features:Flowers,   ~ Deer Resistant! ~