Fairy Gardens Remix

Well, I can't get them out of my mind. And a quick trip to Paul and Sandy's Too garden center this morning did me in completely. They have a display of fairy garden plants and accessories that was too enticing!  I purchased some miniature thyme, some small animal figurines--and a tiny fairy!

 

I was stopping by the garden center to get some fresh potting soil to replant my terrarium. I've had troubles with snails in the terrarium and wanted to refresh it with new soil--and perhaps, elinimate the snail eggs.

 

Why not make it a fairy-rum?

 

 

I took cuttings off the plants in the old terrarium

 and added some moss and a bit of the new miniature thyme plant.

 

 

I found a small terra cotta saucer to use as a pool and arranged the objects among the plants.

 

Turtle is searching for water and comes upon a fairy at the pool.

 

I placed the cover over and put the fairy-rum on the glass table surrounded by orchids.

 

I also had larger saucer and enough soil to make an dish fairy garden for the patio.

 

No fairies yet. Or accessories.  Let's see if the plants take hold first:  creeping Jenny, lamium, thyme, moss, and some indoor terrarium cuttings. It's the start of some magical additions to my indoor and outdoor gardens.  Let's see if we can get the fairies to sing!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Strawberry Full Moon tonight

Summer solstice and Strawberry full moon in the past few days have turned the garden into deeper shades of yellow and orange and burgundy rather than pale pink and white and lavender.

 

Blanket flower or Gaillardia

 

Yarrow and burgundy Sedum in a soon to be dry area

 

The pale colors can still be found in the sunny areas and the shade.

 

 

Astilbe bloom in the wild ginger

 

Bee in the wild geranium

 

Hollyhocks just unfolding

 

I've been thinking about a fairy garden. They are very popular now with many accessories and specialized plants available.  My daughter and granddaughter and I saw one yesterday that was a collection of found objects arranged by little "fairies" at Jessica's Garden. I think that's the best kind, so I'll wait until Lily is older and can help find décor and decide what goes where in the garden--or how to rearrange it when the fairies come.

 

 

 

Summer Solstice Tonight June 20-21

What incredible summer-like days we've had as we near the summer solstice, occurring overnight at 1 a.m. here in the Northeast but before midnight in Colorado and California.  These days are distinguished from other recent days by cool mornings with clear skies and abundant sunshine that warms up the air by afternoon and then cools it again in the evening.  The birds are loving it!

As I snapped photos of the goldfinches at the feeder above the mountain laurels in the meadow, a hummingbird kept coming to the feeder right beside me.  I was wearing a raspberry hued t-shirt and didn't seem to deter him, although I was only 3 feet away from the feeder.  Of course, when I turned to take a photo--he was gone!

Enjoy these perfect summer days while we they are here!

Laurels Blooming in CT and at Laurel Ridge

Mountain laurel or Kalmia latifolia is native to Connecticut and is also the Connecticut state flower.  Since we live at Laurel Ridge in the east central part of the state, we are surrounded by the native blooms at this time of year. 

 

Wild Mountain Laurels

The ridge on which our house was built was cleared of all vegetation for the development so we decided to add some mountain laurel cultivars that we purchased at Broken Arrow Nursery in Hamden. This nursery specializes in Kalmia latifolia and the owner has created many cultivars with unusual colors and patterning. We bought 2 year old stock inexpensively several years ago and it has grown steadily here at Laurel Ridge.

 

My husband (and garden man) has to weed whack the area several times during the summer as it is maintained as a meadow by the condominium homeowners association but the bushes someday will be bigger than the grass and wildflowers.

 

Yankee Doodle

 

Raspberry Glow

 

 

Snowdrift is white blossomed and is not doing well

since it was damaged in the blizzard two years ago.

No blooms in sight even this year!

 

 

Sarah is almost red in bud but blossoms lighter.

 

 

Keepsake is burgundy bloomed with white edges.

 

 

 

Peppermint has maroon striped white blossoms.

 

 

I finally got some good photos tonight about 7:30 p.m. We had a cool, bright Canadian air mass today between a rainy day yesterday and another predicted tomorrow. Ironically, my good friend and neighbor just left for Prince Edward Island in Canada yesterday between rainy fronts.  If she had stayed she would feel like she was already at her summer home here in Connecticut today. But wait until tomorrow and Friday and she'll be glad she left!

 

 

 

New Patio Furniture

Just ordered some new patio furniture to replace the teak round table and chairs. They were too big and bulky for the patio.

 

The new chairs rock and swivel.  I took my Lily bug down to the garden today. We swiveled in the chair while she viewed all the greenery, blooms, the flag, the fairy statue, the bird bath, and the frog rain gauge.  We were even close enough to the lavender for her to touch--and crush--it.  It was like being a human baby exersaucer with a garden theme. At home she has a jungle-themed exersaucer and upstairs at our house, she has a marine-themed exersaucer but today she experience nature first-hand while bouncing in my lap and swiveling around for all the views of the garden.

 

 

 

We sang this song:

 

White Coral Bells
Upon a slender stalk.
Lilies of the valley deck my garden walk.
Oh, don't you wish that you might hear them ring?
That will happen only when the fairies sing.

 

 

She loved it because her name is in it, but she is also going to be a future gardener since she reaches out to touch each bloom and leaf.  I have some coral bells but they are pink and surround the bird bath.  I have some lilies of the valley from my daughter's garden which I planted up the hill near the birch tree. I have a fairy reading a book in the garden. Now I have a little gardener to enjoy it all with me!

 

 

The coral bells upon a slender stalk don't look so good after the hurricane.

That's a daylily leaf with a row of rain drops still upon it.

Such marvels to discover every day, rain or shine!

 

 



 

After Hurricane Andrea, June 8, 2013

Yes, more wild and wonderful nature.  We knew this storm was moving up the coast so I cut some peonies that were ready to bloom and hoped that the netting I put over the poppy buds to deter the deer would also protect the buds and single bloom from the deluge.

Yes, froggy indicates almost 7 inches of rain--and yes, I did dump the tube just before the storm.

So, here is a quick rundown of how things fared:

The poppy bloom lost one leaf and the other buds are beginning to bloom.  Love that watermelon bubblegum color!

The peonies are opening and are actually upright since I got a cage around them before the storm.

A yellow iris survived (or bloomed just this morning) but many of the Siberian irises were drenched as well as the purple irises.

The Lamium ground cover at the downspout don't look too drenched although I'm sure they were!

 

The pink, yellow and red Knock Out roses look great both in my border and my neighbor's border (which I tend also).

 

So, there is still some color in the garden and many buds still hanging on their stalks--until Hurricane B...

After the Rain June 3, 2013

 

It's June! And I'm not sure how we got here. We've had no rain in April, a lot of rain in mid to late May, and a heat wave at the end of May. But today the rains that ended the heat wave are clearing out. Behind this weather is more June-like weather. The garden did nothing during the drought, then was deluged with rain and finally, heat drenched.  It's a wonder anything survived this torture, but there it is--doing its thing!

 

Lady's Mantle

Hosta

 

The Lady's Mantle and the Hosta leaves display the rain drops like diamonds --or ice!

 

'Miss Kim' Dwarf Korean Lilac

 

This dwarf lilac bloomed prolifically for the first time this year. It was planted five years ago. Truly worth the wait as the air was sweetly scented and the blooms so fluffy and full.

 

Old-fashioned Bearded Iris

Siberian Iris

 

The irises were standing tall after the rain. The purple hue of the Siberian Iris makes the old-fashioned bearded iris pale in comparison.  The old-fashioned iris has been in bloom longer and probably paled during the heat wave as it is near the air conditioning unit and faces south.

 

False Indigo

The False Indigo sprawls after a rain as the blooms fade to make way for the black seed cases that form later. I'll need to tie it up next time I work in the garden to keep it upright and contained in its corner by the deck post.

 

Peony

Poppy

 

The peonies and the poppies haven't bloomed yet. The peonies have a floppy habit and I'll need to prop them up sooner, rather than later.  The blooms may open as early as tomorrow with the recent rains over and cooler, sunny days expected the rest of the week.  The poppy fuzz still holds a few raindrops but is upright. I covered the buds with netting as deer are eating the catmint or Nepeta surrounding it.  Deer are not supposed to eat catmint!

 

Knock Out Tree Rose

 

New Guinea Impatiens and Coleus

 

There is some warmer color in the garden at the moment.  The red of the Knock Out tree rose near the garden bench and the bright  pink of an impatiens near the statue of a fairy reading under the deck.

 



 

It's been a slow start with some extreme spring weather, but, as usual, Mother Nature endures and the garden emerges almost on its own by June.