524 in Bloom

One of my favorite summertime activities is gardening. Kiera likes to garden as well, but wants her own garden...hence her fairy garden this year. Here's our yard in all its summer glory....

Citronella plants on the four corners of the gazebo

 This year I decided to remove the window box under the kitchen window. 

So instead of a window box, I filled the deck with purple and yellow 

flowers in pots

 Every year, my dad throws an entire packet of basil seeds in a planter and

gifts us with more basil than we know what to do with! You can see the planter

here, though I've taken about 20 plants out and planted them around the yard.

One of my favorite sights...this sweet potato vine trailing off the

deck by the hose. Makes me smile each time I turn the water on. 

 A new plant this year...popcorn plant. 

It has a faint smell of buttered popcorn.

 We grew this sweet potato vine on our own from a sweet potato!

 Love my cement pineapple (Thanks, Jane!) and the terra-cotta pot

that used to be my mom's (Thanks, mom!) They compliment each other well

and are a great pop of color against the concrete pot and stamped concrete driveway.

 Another new favorite...salvia. It seriously stays in bloom all summer long.

This aloe plant is special...I bought it over ten years ago after Dave

was diagnosed with cancer. He had surgery to remove the cancerous

glands and the doctor recommended applying aloe to the scar. It 

started out as a single plant in our kitchen (in a smaller pot) and has since

been repotted. It has grown a second large plant and most recently

is growing a third baby plant. We've since added more succulents to

the pot and a "Be Happy" rock from our neighbor, Kate. We truly have 

much to "Be Happy" about. 

 I love bunnies...there are five of them scattered around our yard!

 Dave made this fountain years ago and it's still beautiful

and functional. 

 One of my favorite flowers...zinnias! 

 Apparently, bees share my love of zinnias!

 Hens and Chicks hang on the side door

 We always grow tomato plants on the side of our house, but this

year, all of the plants grew on their own! They randomly grew

from discarded tomatoes last year. I dug them up and arranged them

in a line, strung them up with string and planted basil in front of them.

We've enjoyed many tomato/basil/mozzarella salads this summer 

courtesy of this small patch of garden.

 Kiera's Fairy Garden

She enjoyed setting up her garden. She picked out the flowers and accessories

 She even used some of her own money! She also had help from Mimi and Papa and 

our neighbor, Ellen who gifted her Fairy Garden stuff. 

 I found inspiration for our front pots on Pinterest and the nicest 

worker at Petiti's helped make my vision a reality. I have a new 

favorite "spiller" plant...Creeping Jenny. It's such a fun color and 

looks so delicate and full.

 I love when the hostas flower...but cutting down the

dead flower stems, not so much!