A roof of flowers!

Look what I found!

Yep, I yelled STOP! So, he did and I got the  pics!  We were just heading home after our Friday Night supper near the lake!

County Fair Time!

Flower arranging at our county fair!  

Our garden club, The Rochester Garden & Flower Club, provides lots of fun with a floral arranging workshop and flower show each year!  We provide the flowers, help in floral design as well as the judges and ribbons to all fairgoers free!  It is fun to see the kids and adults of all generations experiencing this fun time every year!

Coneflowers aren't just purple any more!

I found these while strolling in the Linnaeus Arboretum located at the Gustavus College in St. Peter, MN!

They are in the Butterfly Garden feature there!  Yes, butterflies were abundant also!

Art in the garden!

How fun is this!   What a special experience Barb had when her gardens were featured on our annual garden club garden tour this year!

Having your garden on a garden tour AND also an artist painting a picture of one of your garden beds while gardeners strolled among them!

Kenyon's Rose Trees...

We took an alternate route home from the lake last week and drove thru the small town of Kenyon, MN.

Their famous Tree Roses were in bloom!  Such a lovely sight and accomplishment in a small town with dedicated gardeners to tend to these special plants!

There are 4-5 blocks of beauty that require special care of MN winter protection to keep them coming back each year!  Yes, they get buried in the late fall and then uncovered in the spring and resettled in their upright position to awaken once again to bloom another year!

Click here to learn about their Rose Festival this weekend!

How to liven up the exterior of a garage!

Wow!  

This is also in the colorful backyard you saw on the previous post!

My two favorite annuals, alyssum and Angel Wing Begonias!

How's this for color in the back yard?

Recently on a garden tour, we stepped into a back yard and were stopped in our tracks by the color that greeted us!  Absolutely stunning!

"Everything is coming up roses!"

One of our garden club's community projects is a Rose Garden in our local college Horticulture Dept. gardens.  This is a series of demonstration gardens featuring plants and designs reflecting the student's learning opportunities.

Recently we have been updating this garden to feature shrub roses and companion plants that are easy to grow and maintain in our SE Minnesota environment.  All plants are marked so visitors can identify them if they see one that they'd like to add to their own gardens.  

It's been a fun way to network and get acquainted with other garden club members when we do our bi monthly "get together" to garden together in this rosy atmosphere!

Want more color and movement in your garden?

How about adding fish to your water feature?

Gnome Home

Well, gnomes need a home, too!

 I found this unique use for a tree trunk while on a garden tour!  It created lots of smiles!  

How to light up a shady spot!

What more can I say? 

This caught my eye as I was approached the door to enter the Heinz Center at our local college!  It sure lit up a shady corner!    Perfect pairing!

Luscious lilies

It seems there is nothing like rich colored lilies to add eye catching color to your landscape!

Late June I found these two varieties in a neighbor's beds when I dropped off some iris they had admired in my garden earlier.  They have these two varieties spotted throughout their landscape which leads your eyes from one bed to another!

Floral arrangements using succulents!

Recently some of our garden club members donated some unique arrangements to a local fundraiser!

They sold really fast!  We have some talented floral designers in our club indeed!

My gardens in July

Just a couple of July pictures to share with you of some of my garden beds!