Where In The World Is Bilbo: Western Washington

Bilbo has arrived in Western Washington. He is visiting with Catherine @ A Gardener in Progress, you can click on Bilbo above, or go to http://agardenerinprogress.blogspot.com/. So run on over and check him out! Be sure to leave a comment, your name may be drawn and Bilbo can come visit you next!

Click here to see Bilbo on his previous adventures:

http://northmobilegardensociety.blogspot.com/search/label/Where%20In%20the%20World%20is%20Bilbo

Flaunt Your Flowers....it's Fertilizer Friday

Its Fertilizer Friday!!!! Hop on over to Tootsie Time @ http://tootsietime.blogspot.com/ and leave your blog on the Fertilizer Friday post to show off all of your amazing blooms! Mexican Heather, Crepe Myrtle, Plumbago, Plumbago

Althea and blooms

Hibiscus blooms and buds

Rose (from my grandma, name unknown), Gerbera Daisy, Msytery vine, Crepe Myrtle

Daylily

Daylily

Now go....go on....flaunt your blooms!

TGIK - Thank Goodness Its Kiki

"Ooh oooh a bug, a bug...I just saw a bug.....where did it go?"

"Still don't see it....." "Oh well, I will just lay down and take a nap 'til it comes back"

I hate you....really I do........

Before I go off on a tirade about what I hate, let me show you some things I love... The first blueberries of the season. They will be packed away in the freezer until I get enough to do something with. I had nearly given up on these seeds...I had high expectations for them...and they failed me, well I failed them...I planted them too late...way too late.

But low and behold....the purple and white coneflowers are emerging.... I was shocked to see them coming up. I thought they were goners. Three months after planting them, they have decided to make me happy after all.

Here are some of the other slackers....well not all of them. The zinnias will go in the ground this weekend. Most of them have already been planted. There are more cosmos to plant as well. However the hollyhocks, foxgloves, columbine, vinca, salvia and daisies are taking there time to grow....sigh....they will come around.

The gladiola had a visitor yesterday

This is some kinda ginger...can't remember which one...any ideas? I have 4 different types. It is pretty which ever one it is.

It is a shade ginger, unlike my butterfly ginger.

Now....the part I hate.....

My neighbor's directly behind me, have this INVASIVE crapola plant that grows in the yard...well lucky me...IT SPREADS! Oh the joy!!!! It spreads everywhere, by the dozen. WHAT IS IT AND HOW DO I KILL IT.

Yes...those are its little spawns....sprouting up everywere! Big and little!!!!

EVERYWHERE!!! These were just weed whacked 3 weeks ago, and they're back!!!!! I don't want you, I don't like you, matter of fact I hate you! GO AWAY!

This is a close up, yes it resembles a hydrangea...but this is a phony, a fake, a wanna be!

There they are on the other side of the fence, blooming, spawning all over my yard!

I have sprayed every weed killer known to man on them, weed whacked them a million times, put tarps over them to suffocate them, poured salt on them, bleach....next is gas! I am gassing them!!! Keep your annoying, invasive, stinky plants on your side of the fence!!!!!!!!! You cannot pull them up, they have roots to China, and WILL NOT be pulled up!

What's a girl to do here??????? It looks like Jurassic Park back there by the fence....it is an embarrassment. Here I am busting my rear to make my yard look great, and these devilish plants are invading my territory!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There should be some kind of city ordinance about this, something! So what are they and what do I do about them. And why on earth would anyone grow them to begin with!!!!!!!!!!!

As Twisted Sister would say " We're not gonna take it, no we're not gonna take it anymore"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Progression of a Hydrangea

I have been photographing the progression of my hydrangea blooms. I thought it would be interesting to watch them bloom. Some are faster than others, I have a few hydrangeas that have not yet bloomed. They are slowly getting there. They should bloom after all this rain! This is one of the lacecap hydrangeas. You can click on the collage to enlarge it. This is ONE plant, all these buds/blooms are from the same plant. This is the hydrangea my mom rooted for me from my grandmas hydrangea. Again...this is one plant. I am amazed at the color variation on this one plant. There are atleast 5-6 color variations on it. The photos at the bottom of the collage have been taken within the past 4 days. The blooms are light blue, white, peach, pale pink, lavender and cream. I am fascinated by them!

Memorial Day in The Dirt Queen's garden

I went to The Dirt Queen's (aka mom) house for Memorial Day. My family from Birmingham was there, and we had a great time. My mom has only lived here for a YEAR!!! It looks AMAZING for her to only have been here a year!!! They are building a garage, and will putting up a privacy fence soon. Right now she only has flowers beds around the house. As soon as she gets the fence up she will have new flower beds everywhere. The Purple coneflowers are AMAZING!!! They are everywhere. The one I bough last year died!! Mom gave me a few of hers to plant. I hope mine will look like this next year. You can click on the photo to enlarge. The mophead hydrangea is HUGE!! Look at the size of it compared to my hand.

The bees were enjoying the sage. There must have been 20 bees on this one bush.

I can't wait for them to get their fence up, her garden will be amazing. I wish I had pictures of their old house. The garden there was amazing, unfortunately they moved......my mom didn't get hardly any of her old flowers from there. It all happened so quick. If I ever move, I hate it for the people that buy my house, because I will dig up every plant in the yard and move it with me. I don't care if I have to hire everyone I know to help me dig and re-pot. I put too much time, effort & money into my yard to leave everything there for someone else who may or may not like gardening....so I will just take it with me!!

Puddle Jumping

What a weekend! It rained everyday!!! I didn't end up going to Dauphin Island. The weather was way to nasty. I just hung out around the house, cleaned and watched some movies. I worked out in the yard Sunday for a little while. Long enough to get some things planted. Let's start with some photos form after the rain on Sunday...... Pinecone Ginger Four O'Clocks

I planted the impatiens from Marilyn as a border in this bed. I am hoping the rain didn't drown them. They look pretty puny! I moved the hostas toward the front, and moved some Four O'Clocks into another bed, they were everywhere.

I made this new bed (it's on the opposite side of the fence as the one shown above). This is actually in the front yard. I bought these impatiens from Wal-Mart for $1 a piece. They were quart size containers. I planted 2 hydrangeas and some Four O'Clocks in this bed as well. I will add to it as I go.

Miniature Dahlia and Pansy

Daylily

I peeked out during the rain to see how much the yard was washing away....so have a look for yourself!

The water runs over the stepping stones.......

Standing around the fence............

Running through the yard............

wading through the grass.....................

Soaking the flower beds.............

The infamous Rose Bed River.....in action....I made a semi dry bed, a channel for the water to escape through...seems to be working. It is running out at one point instead of washing out the entire bed.

Around my back door

I'm not sure how many inches of rain we got in all....I emptied it out Saturday because it was full (it holds 6"). I meant to check it this morning but forgot. We have a 50% chance of rain today, and it is supposed to rain everyday this week. This is great for all the plants. They really need it, especially my seeds, and babies I planted.

I spent most of Memorial Day at my Mom's with my family that was in town from Birmingham. I will share that with ya'll tomorrow. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.