Playing in the Dirt

Well, I'm late and I'm not done yet, but I've been working on this years garden plantings.

First, I'll give you a couple of sneak peeks at Hanna's college quilt.  Can't reveal it until after graduation later this month.

What do I hate more than pinning?  trimming!  But I love this self-retracting blade of the Fons & Porter rotary cutter :)

Here are my practice pieces for machine quilting.  I use scraps and then test the stitch every time I first start and after any needle or bobbin changes.

Seriously?  After measuring.....seriously???

Okay on to the gardens.  The white garden is getting some pink and blue this year.  It's year 3 so the roses (and all the perennial plants) look great!  This one has a sweet scent.

Peonies look and smell good too.  The white bleeding heart is fading fast, but it was good this year.

The knock out roses took a hard hit with the ice storms and coco this past winter.  She actually chewed on them  over the winter - duh, why?  I cut them all back except one, now I wish I had cut it back to - next year.

Just planted the area around this tree this morning - it's magenta coleus and mixed impatient.

I picked up this pre-planted hanging shade basket for $30.  A little pricey, but I got a second basket at 1/2 off and this one is chocked full of great plants.

Hooray - after about a three year shock rest, this gigantic lime green hosta is looking great.  Look at the pansy for a size comparison -

This is the garden I can see from the dining table in the family room.  I think I may have something like 60-80 hostas.  I haven't counted, but I did a rough estimate.

Leaving the yard on the side.

I didn't get a photo of the azaleas, which are hot pink, but the side yard looks good.  I planted this from total scratch about 4 years ago.  Me and home depot.  The ivy is totally grown in now.

This is the back of the garage, and I wish it was a koi pond - I really do.  It will get a shot of color in the next couple of days.
I like inserting pots of coleus and impatient in these shade beds.  In the front of the photo there is a bleeding heart that self seeded and grew between rocks in the wall - a nice surprise.

Herb garden, waiting for more herbs.

These are my new pots for the front of the house.  We destroyed 2 with the car this past winter in the garage.  They are the light weight ones but I think they look like the real deal.

They have tall yellow daisy like flowers which better start producing again or they're out.

Thanks for  coming on my garden tour!  Have a great week.