Floral Friday: Countdown to Spring!

Hi, gardening friends! Have you found my new site yet? I hope you'll join the garden party at Garden Delights:

http://juliesgardendelights.com

Today, we're playing a fun game called "Floral Friday." The rules are simple: gather some items from your garden, and make something beautiful to enjoy. Stop by my new site to see what I found in the garden today, then share your own creations on the Garden Delights Facebook page! 

I hope you'll visit my new home. It feels lonely without you!

Happy Gardening!

XOXO ~

Julie

New Site, New Garden Party!

In case you missed the announcement last week, Growing Days is now Garden Delights. I have a new home, too, after too many Blogger glitches. I hope you'll join 
the garden party at my new place:

http://juliesgardendelights.com

While it might seem like there are lots of changes--new name, new location, a few new party games like "Floral Friday" and a bigger emphasis on enjoying the DELIGHTS of our gardens--the heart of the blog remains the same: 

• Growing Gardens
• Growing Green
• Growing Locavores
• Growing Kids
• Growing One Day at a Time

It's scary making changes, and my new home feels a little lonely. I hope you'll come join the garden party! 

XOXO ~

Julie

Floral Friday: Japanese Anemones.

Thank goodness for Japanese anemones. Without them, our poor tired garden would be nearly bloom-less. Instead, our garden bursts with light pink, delicate flowers just in time to cheer summer's end and celebrate fall's arrival.

Fall blooming Japanese anemones are a shade gardener's dream. Not only is this stunning perennial quick to spread, but its abundant blooms give life to gardens after most other blossoms disappear. Plus, Japanese anemones are available in numerous cultivars, with flowers ranging from bright pink to white. (I definitely need to add variety to my collection!)

Hardy in zones 5-7, Japanese anemones provide an excellent ground cover throughout the spring and summer, with the leaves turning shades of red and burgundy in fall. The plants are quick to establish—what began as five pots of Japanese anemones three years ago now is a lush border.

Along with the lovely blooms and foliage, the plants are relatively trouble free—although Japanese beetles do consider the plants a delicacy. The plants prefer well drained, moist, humus-rich soil and will quickly spread with proper soil conditions. They tolerate some morning sun, but they don't appreciate water-logged soil—it's a quick way to kill your anemones. The plants rarely require division, and transplanting should occur in the spring. Still, you may find new sprouts in the old location after transplanting, as Japanese anemones regenerate from any bit of roots remaining in the soil.

In colder zones, protect Japanese anemones with a layer of mulch in the winter, or plant close to buildings for shelter. In hot climates, avoid planting the anemones in areas that receive strong afternoon sun. Our anemones tolerate our shady garden well, stretching their blooms a bit toward the sun but producing a gorgeous, lush display of flowers in September and October.

As part of my “31 Days of Garden Delights,” I snipped a few Japanese anemones, which are lovely cut flowers, for Floral Friday. There aren't many blooms remaining in the garden to create a Floral Friday bouquet, as I've done in the past. Instead, I'm enjoying the simplicity of a few perfect pink blooms to celebrate the beginning of the weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!

XO ~

Julie

Floral Friday. (And fearsome findings.)

Today's Floral Friday is, admittedly, a quickly thrown together bouquet. There's a couple reasons for my speedy flower gathering:

1. I spent all morning and part of the afternoon planting tomatoes. Finally.

2. While planting, an enormous, man-eating spider scurried by my hand, causing me to shriek like a little girl. Then, I had to run inside and eat a chocolate chip cookie. It was truly that terrifying. (Honestly, we have some seriously big spiders in our forest. I've NEVER seen this tarantula-sized creature before. I tried to look up what type of spider it was, but when I started scrolling through the spider images on the website--I had problems breathing. I fear I might have nightmares tonight. Ewwww.)

2. Chicken Mama participated in "Solo and Ensemble Orchestra Festival" on the other side of town. It was a loooong wait. There were at least ten million little violinists at the event.

3. As I was contemplating which flowers to gather for the bouquet, Kristen and I watched Sammy, our big, fat, lazy, sweetheart of a cat, as he watched something under a bush. Sadly, we saw a feather and thought Sammy injured a bird. Kristen began riffling through the bushes, trying to find the bird--and instead found a very. large. SNAKE. 

4. We ran away.

5. Prior to the snake encounter, I cut nameless pink peonies, tall verbena, and Provence lavender. So, that's what made it into Floral Friday's bouquet. 

I'd had enough wildlife for the day.

But honestly, I think these daises Kristen and Mikey picked for me are my favorites.

Happy Floral Friday!

XO ~

Julie

P.S. Yes, I know spiders and snakes are our friends. I just don't like when they surprise me!

Floral Friday.

A million years ago, when I was a new, young, single homeowner, I only cared about flowers. 

Beautiful flowers.

Maybe it had something to do with a college boyfriend. You know the type—the one who sends red roses to say he's sorry.

I despise red roses.

So, with my own tiny plot of land, I decided I'd no longer depend on some guy to deliver flowers to me.

I, as an independent woman, would grow my own bouquets.

Then life happened. Peter arrived on the scene, and I must say—he's a good flower giver. Kids magically appeared. New house, many projects, an obsessive interest in kitchen gardening consumed my time. We started businesses that needed attention.

Lots of attention.

Somewhere along the way, I forgot about the promise I made as my young self. Yes, I still grew flowers. But I couldn't remember the last time I really enjoyed them.

So today, as a way to reconnect with the pleasure of gardening, I'm announcing the Adolf family's Floral Friday.

Each Friday, I'm going out to the garden to gather whatever is pretty.

And then, to celebrate the beginning of the weekend, I'm making myself a bouquet.

Today, as Kristen arrived home from school, she found me in the front yard, pondering where to begin.

She quickly joined in the fun and made her own lovely bouquet!

The yellow rose bush followed me from my old house, and I'm so glad it did. My mom, who passed away more than a year ago, gave me the rose bush. Now, the yellow roses grace her granddaughter's Floral Friday bouquet.

I decided to try to emulate the beautiful, stunning designs created by Floret and Saipau, my favorite guilty-pleasure websites. 

Well, I'm not up to their standards, but I'll keep practicing!

Hope you, too, take a moment and enjoy your own Floral Friday!

Happy weekend to you!!

XO ~

Julie

My bouquet (with no Latin names or species, sorry) includes: peonies, gaura, lavender, yellow tea roses, honeysuckle, clematis, wisteria, irises, catmint, and lenten roses.