THE LORD'S COLORFUL BLESSINGS

My backyard has been invaded by buttercups. A tapestry of yellow and green. Just look at the delicate, satin petals. Oh but He must have had a wonderful time creating!
Here is my lovely mystery rose. It is about seven ft. tall and that wide. The blossoms are small, about 3 inches across and very fragrant. As you can see there are hundreds of flowers. Does anyone know what this beauty is called?

Here's another lovely yellow blossom. I love Day lilies and hope to get some more of different colors soon.

Another plant that has become very prolific here is Columbine. I have them growing all over the place. I started with one purple plant, then got seeds for a pink one from a seed exchange friend. Those two have cross pollinated and nine years later I have just about every color. I love them and am tempted to call my place, Columbine Cottage.

Here's the beautiful Petunia basket my girls gave me for May Day. Just look at all the blossoms!! It has grown so much it covers the entire Bistro table!

I was to taken with the moss rose I had a few years ago that I had to get more this year. This is the first to bloom. Isn't it sweet? That's Million Bells behind it.

This Peony was growing here when I moved in and it's still going strong. The blossoms are so huge and heavy the stems can't hold them up so I put tomato cages over them early spring and they hold the branches up really nice. My longtime friend Bonnie R told me about this neat trick. Thanks Bonnie!

Here's an interesting color Columbine. It has more red in it than any of the others I have seen. And yes, it is descended from the original purple and pink plants. I guess it must have had a red ancestor.

This delicate pink Columbine looks so sweet with the light from the sky as a background. I love to enlarge these shots and look at all the detail in the petals.

Here's what I mean about Columbine being so prolific. Oh yes, you can see the buttercups too. I do like the yellow but sure wish they weren't so invasive! If you have never had to deal with pulling up Buttercups, you are blessed. The root system is not fun to deal with!

I read a book about a lady named Ruth Stout, who had her own way of gardening and decided to try it this year. She used newspaper between the veggie rows then topped them with grass clippings. This keep the weeds down, work as a mulch to keep moisture in and when they decompose they enrich the soil. This is recycling at it's best and a win win situation! I had shredded several bags of paper so put that around the plants then dumped grass clippings over top. I have to say my Sweet Meat Squash plants look happy as heck about it.

The Heirloom Grape Kool*Aid Iris is happy looking. It was separated and moved in March. And the double white lilac did it's self proud this year too. I hope someday you can enjoy the fragrance of these two old favorites.

See the moss covered branch of the old Gravenstein Apple Tree at the right? I think it's

pretty. This tree is doing wonderful since it's pruning and even has tiny green apples.

This Iris grows by the fish pond and is one of my favorites. The combination of white and lavender and the way the petals furl is so graceful. The lily pads on the pond promise me another year of pretty pink water lily's to come. The fish hide under them too.

Another lovely Iris. I guess I like them all, but isn't this a delightful color? I have to use a lot of slug bait around here as they will eat most anything.

This Anemone sure steps out and says howdy! I planted a package of rhizomes a few years ago and am really happy with the display I get from them. I still can't believe that a little brown dried up thing like that looks like a turd can produce such a gorgeous blossom.

I imagine it's sort of like we humans being just a lump of dirt before salvation, and after accepting the Lord, blooming into the beautiful spirit filled being we were created to be.

GOD IS SO NICE!

May He bless each of you and help you to bloom real pretty!

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