Keewee, Keewee quite contrary

How does your garden grow?

With Brussels sprouts and cauliflower,

Mini cabbage and climbing beans,

onions, beets and bell peppers,

And sweet snap peas all in a row.

Anemones bring memories

It is interesting that I find I am growing many of the same kind of flowers my mother did. I don't think it has anything to do with "Mum did, so I will" It is simply because I learned to love the same flowers as a child, when I would help her in the garden, and of course now, seeing them bloom, brings back many fond memories of the times we spent together.

If you click on the picture, you can see a little ant on the flower on the left.

Their colors are so striking with some of the flowers having dark centers ringed in a paler shade, usually white, and petals which look as though they are made from velvet. You just want to reach out and stroke the petals to see if they feel as soft as they look. These anemones have been growing in the same spot for three years now, and seem to be quite happy.

Wordless Wednesday ~ almost

Please let me in.

What a beautiful surprise

Thank you so much to Miss Cherry from
In The Garden and More ... She gave me this wonderful and very special Renee Award it say's ~ You spread joy and love like an acorn small packages becoming tall & sturdy oaks that keep on giving.

This is one of the most meaningful awards in the blog world because it honors women who are incredibly inspirational in their intelligent and witty writing. And by doing so, this award Celebrates the strong, smart and inspirational spirit of women !

I am so thrilled and Honored ! Thank you so much Miss Cherry

Now I get to pass it on to 5 more deserving women and I have to say it is really hard to keep it at 5 because I truly enjoy so many blogs.

Miss Grace at Grace Peterson
Miss Susan at A Corner Garden
Miss Jen at Muddy Boot Dreams
Miss Heather at Idaho Small Goat Garden
Miss Kim and Victoria at Life in Idaho

I do hope this award brings a smile to each of your beautiful faces.

Happy gardening
Keewee AKA Jennifer

Teasing

Yes, these tulips are teasing me with a hint of beauty yet to be revealed.

Three days later, and here they are, showing off their colors.

Primrose garden ~ enlarged

Two years ago this was the new garden I called my shade garden. Today it has been renamed, my primrose garden, as most of the plants I have here, are in the primrose family.

Yesterday I bought three new primulas and there was not enough room in the garden, so I grabbed the hand truck, and started moving large rocks to make the bed about three feet wider. All was going well, until I realized there were not enough rocks of the size I needed to complete the job. Instead of making the bed three feet wider all the way along, I curved it back in to meet the existing rock edge. I then filled the bed with three wheelbarrows of nice rich soil/compost mix.

Not only did I plant the new primulas, I moved a few of the primroses and cowslips from another garden into My Primrose Garden. If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you will see, in the foreground, the beautiful new pink primula with a 12 inch stem.

Don't they look lovely all together?

The finished project. Sadly I have to surround the garden with chicken wire, other wise the rabbits would eat all my plants.

I love freebie plants

What a wonderful surprise to discover these two ferns which have decided to make their home in an old stump I grow hen and chicks in. I am wondering how the spores for the ferns found their way here, as the nearest fern is around the corner, and across the driveway in another flower garden. It really doesn't matter how they got here, I am delighted they did.

Caption winner is

James Soe Nyun of Lostlandscape.

James left this comment, which spoke to me the loudest. Thank you James.

Some pictures don't require captions, and this might be one of them...though if hard pressed I might come up with something like, "Muchas grassias [i.e., gracias] for visiting"...

Go on over and explore his site. He has some wonderful photography to view.

Also, thank you to all who submitted a caption.

Skywatch Friday

Wednesday evening 8:15 pm, and I couldn't get outside fast enough, to snap these pictures of the most glorious color and formations. The setting sun painted the most beautiful shades of pink on the wind blown clouds.

What an awesome sight from our deck.

Go and check out more Skywatch images at the Skywatch Site

Translucent Tulips

Captured as the early morning sun, transformed them to look like pieces of stained glass.
Once in a while, I manage to snap a picture I am so thrilled with. This is one of them.

Wordless Wednesday

Caption contest

First let me give you some background on the story.
When my Honey built my garden with the very nice gate with a trellis on either side I was delighted. It so happened at that time, I had thrown an old front door mat on the ground near the garden, so I would remember to take it to the dumpster later on. Well I looked at the entrance into the garden, looked at the mat and decided as a joke, to place it in front of the gate and tell everyone they had to wipe their feet before entering Keewee's Garden. Yes I know I have a wacky sense of humor.
Anyhow, last Friday as I came home from work and drove under the carport, I glanced across at my garden and said "what the heck", or something like that. I jumped out of the car and went to investigate. There on the ground, just in front of my mat, were two lovely pieces of sod. Instantly I knew where they had come from, they were put there by our landscaper friend, obviously leftovers from a job. I could not stop laughing.

We are so lucky to have friends who have such a great sense of humor.

I knew I had to share this story with you, but could not come up with a caption, so have decided to let my readers do that. There is no prize for the best caption, just the glory of having yours chosen and a link to your blog.

April 20th 2009

My record of planting and gardening chores done on this day.

Planted Sweet Corn ~ Jubilee hybrid. Covered to keep the crows out.

Planted three cucumber varieties.

A small round variety called lemon, Green Dragon Burpless, and Tasty Green Hybrid. I planted just a couple of seeds of each kind

Mulched around the strawberries in the tires and containers, using pine needles.

Covered the spinach so it won't bolt now the weather is warming up.

Sowed more Short 'n' sweet carrot, and Andover parsnip seeds. Once again covered to keep the pesky birds out.
I am using two recycled file cabinets which have been bolted together and filled with a good quality soil mix as a raised bed. It is nice and deep so the carrots and parsnips have plenty of depth to grow nice and straight.

The sugar snap peas are up, and will soon be reaching to climb their way up the twine on the vertical frames.

Another chore accomplished today, was to trim all the lower branches off a shrub by the front door, put a few bricks down and place a potted fern, and three pots of Lilly of the valley, on top of the bricks.

In the past I have grown the golden calendula, but this time I have one which is called Neon, and a bright orange/reddish color it will be when it blooms. Well I hope it will be true to the color on the label.

I already have the yellow cowslip growing, and discovered this one while browsing my favorite garden center. I will have to dig up the yellow cowslip, as it is growing in front of a fern which is rather large and covers the cowslip. Besides, I think both of these cowslips should be together in my primrose garden.

That pretty much took care of my day in the garden. Tomorrow afternoon, after I return from work, I plan on playing outside for another few hours, or until I am too tired to do anymore.

Danged roses.

Click on picture to enlarge.

One day, late last summer, I decided to weed the small strip garden behind our carport, as I bent over to pull a weed, ouch!! @#*@#%&# the danged thorns on one of the roses stuck me in the behind. This was not the first time it had happened, but this time it made me mad. I said to the roses "that's it, I have had enough of being stuck every time I come to do some gardening, you are going to be moved." I pretty much stuck a garden fork under the roses to loosen them, and yanked them out of the ground, re-planted them in a different location, and said " live or die, I don't much care what you do"

Click on picture to enlarge.

Well those tough little roses sure showed me, didn't they? Just look at all the new growth on them. I sure did get a chuckle out of the whole situation.

Pictures of two of the roses taken last summer.
They now have a new home, on the outside of the fence surrounding my vegetable garden, where they will no longer be able to draw blood. *chuckle*
Truth be told, the flowers are rather pretty, so it would have been a shame if they had not survived.

Coming to life

Keewee's Garden is at long last, starting to wakeup after a long slumber.

Just seeing all the beauty as it unfolds makes me quiver with excitement, just like a kitty who is looking at birds from inside the house. I especially get a rush from looking at something I planted last fall and it is going to, or is blooming right now.

The Hellebores are in their second year and are so pretty.

The vivid purple/blue of this primrose is so striking in the semi-shaded part of what I call, my Primrose garden.

Primrose ~ cowslip is opening up to show a little of it's lovely flowers. This particular primrose is also fragrant as well as being pretty.

I need to go back and find the name if this vivid colored primrose. At least I think it is a particular variety of primrose.

Two more of my Hellebores. In my opinion,
you just can't have too many hellebores. *smile*

A new fern I purchased last year is starting to unfurl it's fronds. I love the way they look in the pot, just like mini works of art.

Many of the daffodils are blooming, and my favorites are almost ready to burst forth from bud to full flower. I can hardly wait for that to happen.

The dainty Chionodoxa is in it's second year, and has rewarded me with many pretty flowers.

I always seem to have a problem with some critter chewing on the leaves of the Bergenia. I have a feeling it could be slugs. So far the flowers are intact.