Saturday, March 23, 2019

A Little Gardening and More

With my lull in stitching over the past two weeks and waiting on an order, I needed some serious gratification. I popped out a quickie to tide me over.



I am trying to do a few patriotic smalls so this fit the bit and helped me feel a bit better. 
This pattern called for Happy 4th at the top, but I left it off for this quick piece. Isn't this pattern and finish adorable below?


The weather has been completely gorgeous today, but my pictures are from Friday. Spring started out with beautiful sunshine, but Thursday and Friday were a bit cool. Today was perfection. I will take a couple of months of that.

First up is my flower pots by the garage. I had pretty petunias last year, but they don't survive after May with the summer heat, so I am just going straight into all geraniums this year.

The pot in the middle has been there since last summer and survived the mild winter without even being moved into the garage for one night. It is a show stopper already. I purchased two more pink ones that I thought would match, but they were a different shade, so I got two white ones to separate the pinks.


In a couple of weeks these should fill up their pots and be a vibrant pop of color.

Onto my wannabe rose garden.
I have terrible soil, spotty sunshine in this area, and hot weather brings black spot which usually wins by middle of summer, BUT 

I keep trying.

The first bed does better than the second. 
So here we are in late March. We will check back in a few weeks. 
There are five rose plants here: 4 hybrid teas and 1 grandiflora along with my day lilies. 
I still need to redo my pine straw, but here we go....


Next up is my other brick wall of potted plants and the other rose bed which does not do as well.


Right next to the wall these roses still get enough light or something.

However, the further away from the brick wall I struggle each year. 
I have 7 plants here with two of them being floribundas and the rest hybrid teas.

You can see the ones to the left just get a bit too much shade. I may regroup next year and just do something different over there. I do have one bloom on the floribunda. I guess you would say that is the first bloom of 2019.


I also repotted some houseplants, so gardening is moving into full swing.

Mother turned 84 on Thursday. We are celebrating this weekend. 

Here she is on her birthday.


About to watch Auburn play some basketball. I guess if you are following the tournament you will know whether I am happy or sad.
War Eagle,
Sandy







12 comments:

  1. Your patriotic stitch is darling, Sandy. I stitched it with the Happy 4th and I really like yours without it. Love the picture of your Mom, your daughter and your grandson! Your pots of geraniums look great. Who is Auburn playing? Enjoy the game and have a super week!

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  2. Very pretty your Happy 4th, great finish.
    Roses are difficult, they need a lot of water. but mine are in the shade for half the day. I keep my fingers crossed that it will get better.
    Have a nice sunday, Martina

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  3. A wonderful finish. I like it.
    Hope your mother enjoy her birthday party this weekend.
    Manuela

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  4. I like the way you left off Happy 4th...that way you can leave it out all year if you want to! I am loving smalls as I get older. Instant gratification. I started Yule Tide on Thistle Hill by Abby Rose as my fabric came in to stitch it on and I could not wait. It is 32 count so I have to be careful even with my magnifier. I am amazed at your garden skills. All I have is nandina and hostes and a few impatiens. That is about all I can keep growing!! Happy Birthday to your Mama. That Tucker looks just like you and Lindsay!! He is a cutie. Marvin was telling me how Auburn is on fire. I have barely seen him since the playoffs started.lol

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  5. Happy Birthday to your beautiful Mom! How wonderful to get those family photos to cherish. Love your finishes and of course your flowers. Our eyes get big when we see the pretty blooms at the stores. I need a big pot of purple petunias! Hugs!

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  6. That's a great picture of your mom!! She looks delightful. Nice garden areas and pretty potted flowers. I can't do any of that! Love your needlework projects too! Lovely!

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  7. Your patriotic stitch is adorable! Loved the results of the game. War Eagle!

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  8. Sandy: I love the pillow, I too would leave off the Happy 4th words.
    I love the coordinating fabric you chose.
    Beautiful gardens.
    Have you tried a copper spray for the black spot, the spray also helps with a few other fungus problems.
    It is warming up here finally.

    Catherine

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  9. Happy Birthday to your Mother.

    Catherine

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  10. YOur Mom does not look 84!! She looks fantastic and now I see where you get your great genes from! Happy Birthday!!

    Tucker is getting so big!!! I love your finish, that fabric could not be more perfect for the flower colors.

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  11. Sandy, what a sweet picture of your mother, daughter, and grandson! And I love your 4th of July cross stitch. I agree it looks better without the wording! Gina

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  12. Hi Sandy! I stitched that one with Happy fourth and I like it better without. You did a great job with the finish too. Your flowers are just so pretty. Your family photo is so lovely. Tucker is so adorable as always. RJ

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I am so glad you stopped by my little blog. Drop in again anytime.
Sincerely,
Sandy