'Money Plant'

This little lady bug must have found something good on the money plant. She waited patiently for me to run inside and grab my camera and stuck around long enough for me to snap quite a few pictures.

The money plant ended up in my compost by accident. I think I may have dug it up and tossed it in this spring when I took out a bush in the front yard. It didn't seem to mind it's new home.

'MONEY PLANT' Lunaria annua

This plant is a biennial plant and a member of the mustard family. It is attractive to long tongued bees and butterflies, and has a very nice fragrance. The seed pods form in a coin shape and when dried resemble papery coins.

Some other common names for this plant are 'Honesty' and the 'Silver Dollar Plant.'

Mulch

This is the very first flower bed I started the year we moved in. Way back in 2001. It's grown in so well. There are some new plants up front that were added last year. Balloon flowers, veronica, and some daylilies. What has been there for years? Nikko blue hydrangeas, a lilac bush, two butterfly bushes (pink and purple), montauk daisies, coreopsis, geraniums, black eyed susans, and daylilies. The only thing blooming in this bed right now is the amazing dark purple irises.

Everything always looks better with a fresh coat of mulch.

Here is a close up of one. This picture does not do the color justice.

Here are some more garden shots freshly mulched.

Scapes on my Lavender Blue Baby Daylily. Yay!

and scapes on my Baby Blue Eyes Daylily.


A wild rose bud, this rose is native to long island and I got a peice from my mothers yard. I have no idea what the name of this rose is but it's always so beautiful all summer long and is very pest resistant.

Here it is in bloom.

These are my plans for memorial day weekend...

I am lucky enough to have a great friend who gives me her leftover stone. Here is just a rough idea of a patio. Which will soon be surrounded by gardens.

Two days into mulch spreading. At least one more day to go. This is just half of what I started with. Nichole and I split about 15 yards. Half was dumped in my driveway the other half in hers. Who really needs to park in their driveway anyway?

Here are some irises that are blooming today.

Dwarf bleeding heart blooms, a strawberry and scapes on etched eyes!

I bought three dwarf bleeding hearts from spring hill this year and they were so tiny I thought they wouldn't bloom this year. They did!

Here is a picture of my first strawberry this season.

Here is my most exciting news, signs of daylily season! Nichole gave me a piece of etched eyes yesterday. Today she showed me a scape in her yard on wisest of wizards. It was quite large already and had many branches off it. I searched every daylily in my garden except for this one because I saw it yesterday and there was nothing. Well just a little while ago I checked on it and there are two scapes!

Here are few more pictures

What I have been looking for in the dayliles I've purchased...

Most of the daylilies in my garden have been gifts either by my mother, friends or the local daylily group I belong to. I love all of them and really look forward to the new blooms I see this year in my garden. Every day I am out looking for scapes even though I don't have many early bloomers in my yard. I just can't wait for it to be daylily season in my garden this year!

Now when I shop for a daylily I look for pretty blooming plants but also for daylilies who are considered good parents. My resent purchase from the daylily auction, Lavender Blue Baby is a good example. I want a plant that is fertile and that has created some wonderful looking offspring. I haven't always purchased daylilies this way but I have enough now that I think I have started to become picky about which ones I will buy. The more I read about hybridizing the more I have learned that everything is trial and error. It's just so much fun to do and maybe a few years down the line I will create at least one beautiful daylily but hopefully more than that.

Some snapshots

Strawberry blooms

Parsley and Chocolate Mint

This is the first time these white Iris's bloomed for me and boy did they bloom!

Spider Wort or Tradescantia virginiana

Variegated Vinca

Some pretty dwarf iris blooms

Yellow Archangel or Lamium galeobdolon

The three photos below were taken with my phone. Not so bad for cell phone pictures.

Purple Gem Rhododendron

Lilac Blooms

Plant Mail

I attended a daylily auction this past tuesday and left with only one daylily out of many I attempted to bid on. I am happy with my win, Lavender Blue Baby! I was going to win that one no matter what. Luckily towards the end there were just two of us bidding and another pot appeared. I have also just purchased Baby Blue Eyes and Primal Scream. So I'll be getting some more plants in the mail very soon. I am also still waiting on my herbs ordered from an organic herb farm in Cali. I just loving getting plant mail!

I think this will be my extent of ordering flowers and plants for the spring and summer. Although you never know what I'll pick up in the numerous nursery visits this season. The next big garden purchase will be the yearly mulch order that Nichole and I split. Thank goodness for her large driveway with no trees or I would never be able to get so much mulch at one time. Way to many trees in my driveway.

Mothers Day at the Peconic River Herb Farm

A good portion of today was spent at the Peconic Herb Farm with my Mom, sister and friends. This was Nichole and her Mom's idea and it just may become a tradition. The grounds were beautiful. Next time I'm bringing the dogs and some lunch.

I just couldn't help but take a few snap shots of the plants and garden decor. This is giving me some good inspiration for a new garden.

I managed to make it out of there without spending a fortune, even though my mind kept telling me buy one of everything. I did however pick up some chocolate mint, chamomile, parsley, and lavender. I added it to my collection of herbs and almost all of it will go in the wine barrel herb garden. I also couldn't resist buying just one more wand flower to add to my collection.