Monticello

My husband and I headed to Washington D.C. and Charlottesville, VA for our first anniversary. We spent our actual anniversary (Sunday) at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's estate. The gardens there were to die for, and the house it one of my new favorite things. Here are some photos of the gardens we saw at Monticello and in D.C.:

Vegetable garden:



























Photo in front of the poppies, taken by a nice old lady who noticed us trying to take a photo of ourselves together:
















One of the oval flower gardens:





















Sweet William patch:

















Folger Rose Garden, in front of the Smithsonian Castle:














Fountain and garden in National Gallery of Art:

Ding Dong!

My Canturbury Bells have bloomed. Here is the first open blossom:




Thank goodness! And the fact that I grew this plant from seed and transplanted it makes the wait worth it!

What's blooming today, May 16

Update: My peony has bloomed! The entire bush bloomed all at once. I will post a photo of the whole thing when the rain dries; the blooms are all weighed down to the ground and look rather sad at the moment.















What's about to bloom:

What:Canturbury Bells!

Where it came from: If a plant can be controversial, this one is. Last spring, I planted the seeds in my vegetable garden since the rather complicated directions on the packet said to plant them in one place, let them grow to a certain height, and then transplant them to a permenant location.

I planted them just to see if they would come up since I had never seen a plant you HAD to move. Sure enough, they came up and I had so many plants, I divided the clump and gave half to my mom. It grew and grew for both of us, in similar conditions, and them my mom's bloomed! I was really jealous--we're talking beautiful blue flowers for weeks and weeks while my plants were just foilage.

The plants came up again this year for both of us, as expected. However, my mom's came back as almost a miniature version. The leaves are teeny-tiny, whereas my plants have the broad, big leaves like last year. Both have buds and are about to bloom. If anyone has any idea why plants grown from the same seed packet and randomly divided are behaving so differently, please contact me!

Projects

Project One:

I like to find old pieces of furniture, paint them, and either find a spot for them in our house or give them away. A few weeks ago, I spotted an old wicker chair at a thirft store. I was bored last week, so I went back to see if it was there. It was, so I picked it up for $20, painted it and found it a new cushion. It makes a perfect reading chair that is easy for me to move around even with my back injury (thanks, car accident).

I should have taken a "before" picture but got too excited and started painting right away. Here she is with her second lease on life (and notice my fabulous leopard wellies to the side):

























Project Two:

Two throw pillows made with less that $8 worth of supplies.

Materials: One yard of vinyl (about $4.75) and three yards of ponpom trim (about $3) at Hancock Fabrics. I used old throw pillows I already had and simply covered them. I didn't sew them, since they probably won't last more than a season outside. I used a hot glue gun to join the seams and attach the trim.














With the extra suppiles, I made a table runner for a side table on the front porch:

Close encounters

I bought a beat up wicker chair at the thrift store today. I decided to spray paint it, so I spread out paper in our side yard. As I waited for the first coat to dry, a huge beetle landed on the arm of the chair. I was surprised I had never seen that type of beetle before, as I am well versed in the names of plants, animals and insects. Turns out, it was a click beetle.

I've seen smaller beetles in the same family, just not this one. I was actually a little startled. It was pretty as far as beetles go. Before I could grab my camera, he flew away.

About an hour later when I went to get the chair, I heard all sorts of commotion next door. I saw the resident red-tailed hawk causing some sort of ruckus with the sparrows next door. I think he took one of their babies from the nest. They were swooping and attacking him, which is what led me to that conclusion. I was sad for a minute, but hey-that's nature, right?

Two exciting things

Number one:

MULCH!

Mulch makes everything look nice and neat. I think it makes the flowers stand out more from a distance as well. The mulch had been sitting in a pile for a week, so I'm glad we spread it today.

Number two:

A bigger vegetable garden!

Before: My poor, neglected, small garden

My husband digging it up and making it twice as big:

All was well until he ran into these gigantic tree roots. He chopped them up and pulled them out and had to call it a day. We're hoping to finish and have it ready to plant next weekend.

What's blooming...May 5th

What is blooming today, May 5th:

Almost finished blooming

What: Ranunculus

Grown from: Established hardware store plant with buds

I can't take as much credit for this plant as some of my others. I bought it with buds and a bloom and potted it. It seems to be doing well, but I don't see more buds, so I expect it to finish blooming soon. I do have some bulbs planted, which have just begun to sprout. This is one of my favorites (they were in my bridal bouquet), so I hope the bulbs do well.

What: Foxglove

Grown from:

Established plant from local nursery.

This is one of my husband's favorites, along with lamb's ear, which I can't find anywhere around here. The bad thing about it is that most plants are sold while in full bloom in the late spring, meaning that you only get a few weeks (if that) of enjoyment before they stop blooming.

When I walked away from my cart at the nursery, some man tried to take my foxglove. I had to snatch it from his evil clutches.

Just starting to bloom:

What: Hydrangea

Grown from: Bush purchased at hardware store

This is another favorite. It was also a flower in my bridal bouquet. It looks pink now, but should be turning blue as it blooms out.

What: Peony

Grown from: Established bush, transplanted (almost as old as me). My mom split hers and gave me two smallish bushes. They didn't do well last year, but came back almost three times the size this spring.

I liked them so much growing up, I used these in my bridal bouquet, along with ranunculus and hydrangea. It is sort of nice having flowers that bring back such good memories growing right in my own yard. It's hard to see in this photo, but there are ants on the bud; some people believe that ants "help" it bloom. I think they just like the sap from the plant.


Continuing to bloom:

What: Fuscia

Grown from: Small (four inch pot) plant from department store's garden center

A good friend of the family sent me a book about fuscias the other day, so I ran out to get one to try my luck. So far, so good. It lives in a pot in an old chair I painted, sitting near the front door in a shady spot. It must like it there since it has spread out since I planted it.

What: Dahlia

Grown from: Plant with buds and two blooms from local nursery.

When I bought this, the bloom was so dark it looked black. It reminded me of a certain recent movie, so I bought it. I'm kind of disappointed the later blooms were lighter, but it is still a pretty flower.