Under the Sun

I've never had a great sunny yard before. Our state may be famous for its sunshine, but most of that golden glow couldn't penetrate the angry tangle of trees and vines that always characterized the yards I've had.

Not that that was a bad thing. I learned a great deal about landscaping for shade over the years. Cast iron plants and hostas and monkey grass are dear friends.

BUUUUTTTT...

My current home, though it snuggles directly into the most deserving angry tangle of woods I've ever seen, has SUN! I have a great big field to one side of my home which begged me (audibly of course) to try something new this year.

Dahlia (Jean Marie)

Flowers!!

Most of the really cool ones require 6-8 hours of sun. This one here (above) is a Dahlia. I just feel like saying "It's faaabulous dahhhling!" every time I think of them. The fun part about Dahlias, is that they have tuberous roots that can be protected through the winter or even dug up and kept in a cool dry container. Next year, they'll grow again! Yay!! I love things that come back to life.

Dahlia (New Dimension)

I like to keep a garden journal. It's just a notebook that I tape the seed packages of what I plant into and then write down stuff. Like, when I planted it. Or, which variety grew the best. Or which plant got a disease. Or, which one died because I set the seedlings on my A/C handler unit beside the house. (Um, yeah. Don't do that, by the way.)

Blanketflower (gaillardia aristata)

I planted some good ole fashioned wildflowers that I loooovve. Blanketflower is so colorful and fun. It's a perennial (meaning, it comes back from the roots every summer).

Black-Eyed Susan (rudbeckia hirta)

Believe me, we have some pitiful, extremely sandy soil 'round here in our neck o' the woods. Black-Eyed Susan was an easy choice because it will grow in the most pitiful soil (ha hA! Got that covered!) and still be happy. That makes me happy. And it's a perennial. (Say it with me here folks per-IN-ee-uhl. ) And the flowers last FOR-EV-ER. No one day they're lovely and the next day they're all wilted and crumbling. No sir-ee! A single flower will last for a month a least before it starts to fade. Because of that, they're my favorites this year.

Have I sold you on any of these flowers yet? Great! Because for $29.95 they can all be yours plus $20 shipping and handling and lots of hidden service fees that we will tack on to your credit card...

Okay, not really. But plant some flowers. Really! You know you want to!