Simple advice for a better life.

Nature’s Beauty In My Back Yard

Early bloomsIf you have been reading my posts for the past few years, you already know that one of my favorite pass times is spending time outdoors in my garden, and taking pictures of the Beauty of Nature.

I love planting veggies and herbs, but also totally adore flowers.

Today I will share some of the pictures I took of few of my currently blooming plants.

East side flower patch 2011

My East side flower patch, with some of the flowers already blooming, and others are just getting  ready do bloom a little later on.

Ireses and Sweet Williams

Irises and Sweet Williams loving the sunny weather today.

The Beauty of an Iris

What a natural beauty of an Iris flower.

Peony flower

As you can see, I am not the only one enjoying these gorgeous blooms.

Perfect place to relax

A perfect place to sit down and relax.

My youngest son built this bench, in his late teens, as a Mother’s Day gift to me, so it creates a very special place for me to sit down and relax, surrounded by blooming plants.  There are also three, corner openings for flower pots, but I usually leave them open.

I was very proud of him, since he did a very nice job with his first ever woodworking project (now he is my computer specialist and financial adviser).  I am so lucky!!

2 year old Poinsettia

Are you saying – Is this a Poinsettia? – You are correct, this is my Poinsettia…no, I am not growing it outside.

I had to share a picture of this Poinsettia with you, since it is in my care for two years now.  If you recall my previous post, I purchased it for Christmas two years ago.

I preserved it for a whole year as per the instructions I also posted, and this is how it looks like today.

As you can see, it’s still doing very well.

Now my challenge is to keep it going for as  long as I can, and  I will definitely share my progress with you.

I am very curious to find out how long this Poinsettia will last, and still keep a descent shape.

Did any of you save your Christmas Poinsettias?

How are they doing?

Please share your stories.

My Suburban Garden – May Blooms

may-flower-hardy-geranium-bloomI promised to keep you posted on the progress of my Suburban Garden, and my  flowering plants of the month.

Here are my May blooms:

may-flower-white-german-iris1
White German Iris

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Pastel German Iris

japanese-iris-bloom-2

Purple Japanese Iris

blue-japanese-iris1

Blue Japanese Iris

may-flower-columbine-flower

Royal Blue Columbine

may-flower-jacobs-ladder-flowers

Jacob’s Ladder

hot-pink-peony-bloom3

Hot Pink Peony

white-peony-bloom1

White Peony

may-flower-red-rose

Red Rose


Flowers are such perfection of nature…..wouldn’t you agree?

My Suburban Garden – April 2009

ready-for-the-butterflies3Gardening is one of my favorite pass times, as well as a convenient way to exercise, and to relax. In my spare time, I keep busy tending to my flower patches, and organic garden of vegetables, herbs, and fruits.

It actually looks like this year my granddaughter and I might be able to pick fresh strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries in my fruit garden…..there are lots of blooms… which hopefully will turn into fruits, and the birds won’t get them before we do.

I will try to take pictures throughout the gardening season, and keep you posted about our progress. I was planing to share some pictures of my spring blooms, but as my computer crashed, I lost them all. I will try again next year.

Here are some pictures to introduce you to one of my flower patches.

my-start-up-flower-patch-3-years-ago

This is my East side, starter flower patch, as it appeared four years ago.

my-flower-patch-as-of-april-2009

This is the same flower patch as of today. Lots of changes in four years!

pink-azelea-in-full-bloom-siberian-iris-and-peony-just-building-up-strength

Peony already has buds, Pink Azalea is in full bloom, and the Siberian Iris is not budding yet.

jonny-hop-ups-in-full-bloom-colombine-is-getting-ready-iris-still-gaining-strength

Columbine is starting to bloom, Hardy Viola already in full bloom, and German Iris might be ready to bloom in a week or so.

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Isn’t nature beautiful and mesmerizing?

I LOVE SPRING!!!!