Hello sweet readers. Hopefully, you are having a good week. It has been an eventful and fun past few days for me. Last Saturday, I attended my 50th high school reunion! How can that be possible? It was wonderful seeing some classmates that I had not seen since we graduated. We celebrated our sweet daughter-in-love’s birthday on Monday as RM fired up the grill… and for dessert, I made one of her favorites…homemade ice cream and brownies. EM and EK are always excited for a birthday party. WL is simply smiling and excited for any occasion!
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love.”
John 15:9
I haven’t shared a garden update in several weeks. Join me for a walkabout where it is hot and the humidity feels like it is off the charts! Hopefully you can observe from the comfort of air conditioning.
For those of you who might be new to the blog, our garden had its beginning in the spring of 2015. This view is the back of the garden showing sunshine ligustrums and limelight hydrangeas. My Renaissance Man has plans to enlarge the garden. The fence will move back and take in the raised bed where the wildflowers are in the foreground. That will add approximately 14 feet in depth. He is also planning to widen the area by about twelve feet on each side.
I highly recommend limelights. They enjoy sunlight, are easy to grow, and bloom on new wood. RM always prunes them way back in late winter.
Sunshine ligustrums are crowding the limelights. One reason for extending the garden is to hopefully alleviate the crowding conditions. A common mistake is planting shrubs and trees too close together.
This is a view into the cottage garden. You can see more of it here.
A few stray zinnias decided to come up in the cosmos. Perhaps seeds were mixed up by the head gardener?
As you can possibly tell by this photo, it’s just another cloudy day. This has become the norm for the past couple of weeks, but little rain.
We have five vanilla-strawberry hydrangeas. The following three photos were taken over a two week period which explains the variation of the blooms.
Notice they are taking on a pinkish tint. It is too hot for them to turn their true strawberry color in our 7b – 8a USDA Plant Hardiness Zone.
Their blooms are quite large and will become very heavy when it rains. Fortunately they upright themselves!
I am often asked where I found the white tuteurs. They were purchased locally many years ago, before we established the garden, and were used for a long time in our front landscape. Unfortunately, the business is no longer in operation.
Little lamb hydrangeas flank the front entrance to the garden. They are a smaller variety of panicled hydrangeas.
A view from the Sunshine Cottage porch into the front of the garden!
Our oldest granddaughter who is now six, has asked me numerous times why the cherubs aren’t wearing clothes! I guess my explanation is not satisfactory since she keeps asking. Maybe we will dress them for winter!
Adagio maiden grasses separate the main garden from the cottage garden. The building you see in the background is RM’s workshop where he spends a lot of time piddling!
The dining spot where hundreds of tablescapes have taken place!
Since RM retired last December, he has spent hours and hours working in the garden and keeping up with our 20+ acres. He has always kept everything amazingly well while working 50+ hours per week at his job. I will be sharing updates on his new plans as he will begin soon. As I am writing this, he is buying all the posts and fencing sections to enlarge the garden. I have come to the conclusion that you never complete a garden!
Thank you for your visit and gracious comments. Wishing you a joy-filled day!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Imparting Grace,Life and Linda
How exciting have plans to expand your beautiful garden Pan and now have a full-time gardener dedicated it to it. 🙂 It is amazing how quickly shrubs mature. We have a couple of limelights where little limes would be more suited. I’m always amazed at the size of the blooms, some like footballs. Ours are hanging from their weight and a recent storm. I love seeing the zinnias and cosmos mingling, I think they play well with one another! I had to chuckle at EM asking why your cherubs have no clothes. Happy Thursday. ♥
Thank you, Mary. As you know, gardening chores are never ending. But it is exciting to enlarge our space!
All I kept thinking of while reading this post and taking in all the beauty was, “I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses, And the voice I hear falling on my ear, The Son of God discloses.” I can only imagine how close you feel to God as you survey your amazing garden! Thank you so much for sharing it with us here. It is a tremendous blessing.
Thank you, Cheryl. I love that hymn and sing it often around the house!
A garden is a journey, not a destination.
A saying from one of our garden gurus in Central NY
Thank you Patti and I like that quote!
Your gardens are so beautiful! I love walking through them with you on your post.
Thank you, Penny. Happy that you joined me!
Absolutely beautiful gardens!
Thank you, Donna!
Yes, a garden is always a work in progress. Yours is absolutely gorgeous. I think I’ve made my last flower bed on our acreage that we’ve lived on since 2009. We’ll see! 😄 The current drought conditions have put a huge damper on my garden enthusiasm.
Thanks so much. We had rain this afternoon, a wonderful blessing! A drought does put a damper on gardening.
I was just in Victoria, British Columbia for the very first time, and oh-my-gracious, how you would have loved it. My husband and took about a 20 minute walk through neighborhoods to get to the downtown area and each house and apartment had luscious landscaping. They take great pride in flowers-flowers everywhere. There was even a large whale topiary with decorative grass on top for the “spray.” Your hydrangeas remind me of those I saw there. Just beautiful.
We have been to Victoria and toured the fabulous Butchart Gardens which are amazing. Thank you, Leslie Anne!
Your garden is such a beautiful place already. Wow! That you are expanding. Looking at your pictures is so relaxing.
As always, thank you for your sweet visits!
It all looks so beautiful and deceptively cool! I cannot wait to see what Butch does next with the garden!! How do you keep your petunias looking so lush? I love the Proven Winners bubblegum vista…even though I start trimming them back starting in July, they get a lot of brown, icky stems and leaves near the top where they can’t be pruned. (One summer I pruned all the way back and killed them!). No rain here either despite clouds and thunder every day.
Roxanne, I have cut them back three times and they need it again. By this time of year, I am too tired to cut them back again!
Your garden is lovely. I’d like to bring my coffee and just sit and look at it!
Thank you, I will furnish the coffee!
I am so excited to watch RM enlarge and make beautiful the garden. The joy I receive working in the garden must be how he feels. Nothing replaces digging in the dirt, dreaming about planting etc.. Piddling is one of the must unappreciated things I do. Without that my house and garden looks unkept. Walking though your garden in picture I can tell there is a lot of planning, work and piddling. It’s beautiful all year.
Thank you, Alice. RM will always have a project he is working on. He is an outdoorsman and loves digging in the dirt, planting, and building! He goes nonstop.
I love everything about your gardens. I applaud and admire your and RM’s desire to expand their loveliness. I keep saying I need to simplify and downsize my gardening endeavors due to my advancing age, but am feeling the tug to connect a few of my flowerbeds with swaths of hydrangea. Your vanilla-strawberry hydrangea brings back a memory of my sweet momma. I have one of those lovely hydrangeas in one corner of my garden. In my zone 5a, they do turn that pretty pink a little later in the summer. During the years my momma lived with us, she sat in a particular place at our kitchen table where she could see that bush off in the distance a bit. Old age and Alzheimer’s have their way of contributing to visual misinterpretations, which can be sad, but often a bit comical too. I recall one year where my mom would sit in her spot at the table and wonder (over and over again) who left their pink shoes in the bushes whenever she spied those big pink blooms.
Thanks for the lovely mini-tour of your beautiful garden.
Thank you, Cindie. I really appreciate you sharing your comical memory of what your mom said about the hydrangea. I know you miss her, I understand.
Beautiful gardens! Gardening is a labor of love and the rewards are great. Blessings to you an RM for the great work!
Thanks so much, Maureen. It truly is a labor of love!
I always love “strolling” through your garden Pam! All your hydrangeas are gorgeous, and I love the bright colorful zinnias too~ everything always looks gorgeous no matter what the season! How exciting that RM is going to expand it, I’m sure he has many projects he’s thinking about since retirement, he is always busy busy! I can’t imagine going to a high school reunion, yikes, did you recognize anyone or everyone?
Jenna
Jenna, he has more plans than he can possibly do. He doesn’t know how to relax, he has to be busy.
There were many I would not have known if I had met them on the street. It was really a fun time and I am glad I went!
Beautiful gardens! What a blessing that you both enjoy working in them. Keep us posted on the progress!
Thank you, Deborah. It is a hobby we both enjoy!
Beautiful! Thanks for this lovely relaxing moment! ♥
My pleasure, and thank you Barbara!
This is all such a feast for the eyes. Everything looks just gorgeous. I love all the pretty hydrangeas. Happy Thursday, sweet friend!
Thank you, Shannon!
Dear Pam, your garden is breathtaking. I am in love with every photo. Your limelight is so pretty, ours is just coming into bloom. You are correct, a garden is never finished. Gardeners heads always spin with new ideas. Enjoy these August days as they will soon be gone!
Time seems to speed up as I get older. I hope you are doing well!
I don’t think RM has retired, he has just moved on to a different job. Other than the heat, I can’t think of a prettier place where you could work. Just lovely.
You are correct, he will never retire! He loves staying busy’
Heavenly garden! Balm to the soul and feast to the eyes… Thank you! Hugs and blessings dear friend.
Thank you dear one!
How fun it will be to expand your garden! Love seeing all the different colors and those zinnias!
And how cute EM is …curious why the cherubs have no clothes on. lol!
Thank you for the beautiful tour… I am always so tickled to be invited.
You have an open invitation! Thank you for coming along.
Thank you for Garden pics….I live in Apple Valley California…the desert, not not everything can grow here..but I try with my container gardens. love and blessings, Karen
Thank you, Karen. Container gardening is beautiful. I planted more pots this year!
Love it when you share your gardens…I can’t wait to see what new and exciting plants will be in your newly created areas. I wish I could grow hydrangeas but our 9b-10a growing zone is really not conducive to them. I think it is so funny EM thinks the cherubs should have clothes. You’ll have to tell her that there is a sorta weird looking “mermaid” statue in front of one of the apartment houses that I pass by occasionally and I am also tempted to put some clothes on her…. but I rein myself in.LOL Have a great day my friend and I hope you get som rain with those clouds.
Thank you dear one! That mermaid would not be happy if you decide to clothe her 😂
A most beautiful stroll through your garden Pam! It actually looks very mature. A lot of hard work went into it and it shows. We’ve been getting some more much needed showers on our landscape! Happy Thursday! Clara❤️
Thank you, Clara. We were excited to have rain this afternoon!
Your garden is so beautiful! Thank you for sharing.
My pleasure and thank you, Lynda!
Beautiful, dear friend. How I would love to sit with you over coffee and share the beauty of your garden.
That would be wonderful, my friend!
Pam, a gardener’s delight. Your zinnias and cosmos are lovely. I can’t get over your limelights, so gorgeous.
With our darn ground squirrels and hot weather, our blooms are so dry. A pleasure visiting your lovely garden.
I always enjoy seeing your gardens. You must be doing a great job of watering! I have a limelight that is almost blooming. We were dry here for so long and then it was non stop for a few days of rain. Your zinnias look fabulous, such a cheerful flower! I’m reluctant to plant them because I’ve had the experience of them getting powdery mildew and destroying them. The expansion of the garden sounds exciting, I like those kinds of projects!
Thanks so much, Liz. As we both know, gardening is a challenge but is rewarding!
Walking through your garden I am reminded of that lovely quotation..”Happiness blooms where seeds of love and joy are planted.” You both have the ability to create a vision of beauty and serenity wrought by dedication and much labor…. What a joy to view the results…Bless you.
Thank you, Mary. It is a lot of work, as you know. Blessings ♥️
Wow, it’s both exciting and a bit intimidating to think you will have even larger garden landscape areas to manage! Tell Butch if he can bottle that energy, there’s definitely a market for it. Looking forward to seeing the plans as they unfold.
Rita, I wish I had his energy and stamina. He never stops. I don’t know how he will do all this, but he will do his best!
It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that this garden is only seven years old. It’s absolutely stunning and certainly a lot of hard work and upkeep — but really well worth it. Lovely in every way, Pam.
Thanks so much, Jeanie.
Your garden explodes with beauty! That is the reward for the effort made.
Thank you, Linda!
How fun that you were able to attend your highschool reunion! It’s always fun to see old school friends. I always enjoy your beautiful garden photos. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Michelle!
This is lovely! Thank you for sharing. I always enjoy pictures of your garden. XO- MaryJo
Thank you, Mary Jo!
Beautiful photos of your garden. I’ve always thought how well planned out your garden was from the beginning. I’ve always loved your vanilla strawberry hydrangeas and your limelights have the biggest blooms.But all gardens grow and things get crowded and must be addressed. Your potted plants are so pretty and are very big. Do you have irrigation? Keeping everything watered in our heat is hard.
Pruning and fertilizing are huge tasks too. Y’all do a tremendous job.
How nice to attend your high school reunion and celebrate a special birthday this week.
Have a great week. Sorry, I am late visiting. I am very behind but had a fabulous visit with family the last ten days.
Thanks Bonnie. Gardening has been easier this year with Butch taking it on and doing most of the work. I think he really enjoys it.
You have such a beautiful garden. Nice that you have a plan for enlarging your garden, wish I could just snap my fingers and my garden plans would happen. The limelights are just stunning.
Judy, it would be wonderful to just snap our fingers and garden plans would happen. Thank you!
Pam, all I can say is “Lucky You!” How nice to have Butch full time to work on your garden space, always enlarging and creating more beauty. I need a Butch!
You and Mary have encouraged me to try some limelight hydrangeas in my new garden space. Wish me luck!
Your garden is just beautiful Pam! I love all the flowers you have but I am always drawn to the hydrangeas – the soft pink on the strawberry ones is so pretty. Thanks for sharing this (and I hope it wasn’t too hot taking the pics). Have a lovely week!
Thank you, Kim and happy Tuesday!
How I would enjoy a stroll through your stunning back yard and garden. Looks well loved and cared for. Cherry
I loved taking a walkabout with you. Your garden is stunning my friend!
Visiting today from Grace At Home #103
Pam, there isn’t an area in your garden that disappoints!!!
Rachelle
Thank you, Rachelle!