Peony Time

First we enjoy our Fern Peony, which is earlier than the other peonys!

This plant is another reminder of favorite friends!  This time it is a couple, Chuck and Becky, neighbors from our cabin life!  They had a plant that just seemed to expand and expand no matter how many times they split them up into more plants every few years!  I had lots of fun sharing them with garden club friends at bargain prices for Chuck and Becky!  They gifted me ours about 5-6 years ago and it appears we should be splitting ours this next year!  The blooms are short lived, especially when they seem to open up during a rainy week!  But, the ferny textured plant is a lovely accent in green all summer!  It is such fun for me to have great memories of people and good times spent with them whenever I tend their gift plant!  

I went to a neighborhood meeting.....

A month or so ago I decided to check out our neighborhood group.....  little did I know what I was getting into!

The announcement was they had received a $1,000 grant to add something nice to our neighborhood and what can we manage to do with $1,000 that will have some impact!   Well, someone suggested we have three neighborhood parks and how about a Pollinator Garden Bed in each of those parks might fit the $1,000!  Would you believe I agreed that was a super idea?   

Well, next thing I knew I was scouting out a location for one of the beds in one of the parks along with two other gals!  Next step was submitting the locations to the park department for their approval, etc.   Next thing I knew I was researching pollinator gardens and native plants!    Native plants I knew nothing about but I sure came up the learning curve thanks to the internet. Perfect project for this safe distancing and stay at home lifestyle we find ourselves in right now!   Long story made short, I have 150 plants on order for the three garden beds.  Finding the resources for obtaining the plants was an experience of highs and lows as it seems they are very popular this year!  And not many growers in our SE MN area!  But, they are on order!  I will have native plants galore within three weeks!  Hope I get my own plants I have collected to plant in my own garden beds by then!

Next step, is to wait until the team to prep the garden beds has them ready for planting!  Then we hunt for neighbors who want to have fun planting and taking care of our new garden beds this summer!  

Here is a picture of the spot in Judd Park that I plotted out!  We'll follow the journey in future blogs!

Yep, just imagine what a few flowers can do for this spot!

Carley State Park Bluebells!

Finally, I made it to Carley State Park to view their Bluebells! Only 18 miles from home and still in Olmsted County!  It has taken me years to finally get there!

Thursday night Denny suggested that in the morning we head out for a donut treat with coffee to go and take in Bluebell viewing in the morning!  Needless to say I agreed!

Tons of Bluebells in their native habitat with some white native Anemones sprinkled in was an awesome sight!  The clear water in the North Branch of the White Water River was refreshing to hear and see!

Fairy Garden Time

Yep, I am getting ready for my fun Fairy Garden Time!

My favorite place to shop for the tiny plants to use is Hillside Nursery on the edge of Chatfield, MN.  I was there the second day they opened for the season to scout out what they had this year!  

Needless to say, I look forward to their huge fairy garden creation that takes up a rather large area inside one of their greenhouses!  Inspiration indeed!  They change the scenes every year so it is fun to see their new ideas.

Special Plant Pots!

My non-gardener daughter, Kari, does have a tiny bit of gardening in her!

She is fond of Basil with tomatoes and a very special reminder of her Daycare career!  She was self employed for many years in a home daycare business and often received gifts from her kids.
This pot was a joint artistic project of her kids to surprise  her with their footprints decorating the pot!

Now it sits on their deck each summer with a basil plant growing in it to feed her love of basil and fresh tomatoes along with special memories of the many kids whose lives she shared!

Cleaning out the ground covers....

While I was cleaning out some of the leaves from my "Pachysandra - Japanese Spurge" ground cover I was reminded of my non-gardening daughter, Kari!  This is one plant she did buy and plant once upon a time.  It is a perfect ground cover that only requires keeping it in the boundary you establish (it is easy to pull out) and cleaning out some of the tree leaves that wander into it in the fall!  Yep, I have a nice area of it, which is now showing the potential white  blooms getting ready to open!  I started it with cuttings I took from Kari's patch @ 16 years ago.  So, I smile as I think of her and also of all the cuttings I have given to friends to start their own patches of rich green ground cover!  

This year I will be celebrating the upcoming maple seed drop time from a neighbors tree!  The tree is gone now and I am recalling  how much time I spent in the last 14 years digging those seeds out of this patch of ground cover so I didn't have to dig out trees sprouting!  Yipeeee!

More gift plants waking up!

Again, I am enjoying finding long term friends, plants given to me by dear friends, popping up to greet me as I clean off more garden beds!  Such a joy to recall treasured friends when I find the plants!  

Bluebells came into my garden life @16 years ago, from a treasured garden club member, Peg Lewis who passed away this spring.  In fact, I was her Vice President when she was President,  Then more recently another garden friend I met when I joined my Garden Club, Doris Amundson, added to my Bluebell collection!

Peg taught me lots of about floral design as that was her real passion.  I also recall her teaching a class on container gardening at the Mayowood Gardens when our committee was doing their annual planting of 45 containers on the grounds!  She was a petite lady, who was always so generous with her knowledge and love of gardening.

Doris I always enjoy being around.  She is a gifted quilting artist and passionate gardener.  I always make sure I stop and visit her during gardening season as she plants every inch of her yard and then fills a lot of driveway and path space with containers!  

Bluebells almost ready to open up!

I can't wait until Bluebell Time!  This year I'll have plenty of available time to take a drive to a nearby State Park to see their display.  And, then a visit my husband's favorite golf course that has a fabulous display in their woods bordering the course!  Maybe I'll find a few other friends to go along (with safe distancing) to enjoy the experience?  

Again I am reminded that joining the Rochester Garden and Flower Club was one of the best decisions I've ever made.  I don't know what I treasure the most, the gardening information I've learned, the events that have been fun or the fabulous friends I've made!