Hi Laurel,
I had to smile when I read your post....sounds kind of like me. We've finally been getting some much needed rains, and things are looking so much better, dl's included. So, now that I'm not having to constantly water, I too have enjoyed "puttering" around in my garden. I love to edge my beds too. I also love to rake fresh pine straw and mulch my dl beds. They look so good with a nice clean edge and fresh pine straw. I've had time to walk through my garden beds and pull a few weeds, as I've been planning where I'm going to put new beds this fall. My son recently limbed up an old red cedar tree that was taking up tons of room in my side yard, so now I've got room for a new dl bed there. They'll get all morning sun, and some afternoon shade which is great down here in the deep south. I plan to move all my double dl's to that bed in the fall. Isn't it fun to have the time to actually relax and plan new things, when you're just puttering in the garden? I'll have to make photos of my side yard before the bed goes in and after, so ya'll can see the difference.
Have fun just puttering,
Jan

I've been too lazy to putter (much less work), so I'm very envious to see how great your garden is looking. I absolutely LOVE that stone fireplace (?) in the corner, and the bench looks great there. Nice job!

It's too hot to putter and no rain makes it even harder. We are now on mandatory water restrictions - yuk! The patio is soooo inviting, when's the party?

Brooke

Maximus, the "fireplace" came with the house, but the grate was rusted out and it's not in good shape, so I planted flowers in it instead. Snapdragons this year.

Puttering sometimes includes the camera. I had some fun with it today:
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Maltese Cross

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Bee on agastache 'Blue Fortune'

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Chip thinks he's getting away with something. He says, "Ha ha! You can't stope me!"

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Daylily 'Late Adagio,' ffo on a new plant this year.

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Daylily 'Green Eyed Pat'

Laurel

Pretty puttering pics!
(say that 3 times real fast)
I'm too pooped to putter. This heat drains me. Been over 90 for forever and ever and ever. Somebody bring me some Fall weather, pleeeeease. Heck...I'd settle for a 85 degrees. I'm shivering just thinking about it!
Kathy

Hey Laurel.......you putter purdy nice....:) Looks like a real nice spot to take a break and think about what to putter next.......

Rick

Laurel, with a beautiful garden like that I'd love to putter too. I've got so much that needs to be done but not enough time right now. Life has it's way's of keeping us from doing the thing's we like some times, so when I do get to get outside and work cleaning out the beds of weeds there's no time to do the thing's I have planned to do LOL. Someday I will have the time. Love your setting with the fire place and bench.

The chipmunk is to cute :)

Hi all,

Mikeandbarb, the kids LOVE having the chipmunk around, but it won't be so cute if it starts digging up my bulbs! We used to have more roaming cats in the neighborhood that kept chipmunks out of the yard, but there are fewer cats around now. My (indoor-only) cats love watching the chip too, as well as the birds at the feeder. Here are BC and Sophia keeping watch:
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Brooke, I'd LOOOVE to have a party - too bad the daylilies are past now. I've got a few late ones bravely putting out their last blooms. The asters have just started opening for their fall show.

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Laurel

Yesterday was a glorious day for puttering/working. I cleaned off the lower patio (the hemlock trees near it are MESSY), trimmed the honeysuckle (which was a menace to passers-by even though it smells amazing), and pruned my doublefile viburnum from a straggly bush into a multi-trunked tree (BIG improvement). Then I repainted the picnic table and benches, and ran the sprinkler on the last dry parts of the back yard. (I watered my daughter and myself in the process - good clean fun!)

Then, just to make life complete, I planted a daylily in a large container - 'Autumn Red,' which has struggled valiantly in an inhospitable spot. I figure if it can survive there, neglected, for two years, it ought to do much better in a container in a sheltered spot. We'll see! I have to put a layer of gravel on the top of the soil in each pot to keep squirrels from digging in them, so it's starting to look like I've got a weird miniature rock garden obsession going on with my containers.

We also went to the local Field Days yesterday - rides, games, food and fun, all to benefit local organizations. Our kids had a great time and were well-behaved, the weather was perfect, I scored HUGE brownie points with my daughter for winning her a big stuffed horse in a game, and I even won a book ("Mars Needs Moms" by Berkeley Breathed - if you liked his comics, his kids books are just as good). Funnel cake, cotton candy, and blue lollipops (and a serious bath for our sticky, muddy, totally adorable daughter) completed the day.

Life was very good yesterday - I wish more days were like that, and I hope my friends on GW have the chance to spend good times with family and friends (and their gardens) this holiday weekend.

Laurel

I got a late-season surprise yesterday. An unknown TB iris from my sister rebloomed! It's beautiful, and I have NO CLUE what it is.

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Laurel

What a nice surprise....and such a glorious shade of purple too.
I've been "puttering" big time around my garden the past week. Got all my beds edged manually and new mulch spread too. Much more of this kind of puttering and I made need to see the chiropractor!!! :) If you'd like to see what I've been up too, you can visit my Webshots album below. The recent photos begin with photo #100-9012.
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Album

Jan, your garden is truly lovely! I like the wide, sweeping curves of the beds (daylilies everywhere!), and the mature trees are a real treasure. The magnolia surrounded by daylilies must be gorgeous in bloom. I remember a family trip when I was a kid, driving to Florida, and somewhere in Georgia seeing a magnolia in bloom for the first time. The size of the flowers and the powerful lemony scent made a huge impression on me. I wish I could grow a southern magnolia like that. I'm trying to talk my DH into planting a northern-hardy magnolia in our front yard after we have the dying crabapple removed this fall.

Laurel

Laurel, there's a story behind that magnolia. There have been "several" trees planted in that very spot that didn't make it. It's directly in front of our parking area, and someone would inevitably back too far and run over my tree. I'd just about given up on having a tree there. Then one day when my grandson, Cory, about 3 at the time, was over an "Nanna's" and helping me in my garden, we found that little magnolia growing beneath some azaleas. I guess a bird had planted it there for us. Anyway, I told Cory that we would dig it up and plant it in the garden. The only place I needed a tree was the "dead zone"!!! LOL We planted it any way. It was only two leaves at the time and I surely didn't think it would ever survive, but somehow it did and now Cory is 12 and the tree, as you can see, is a good 12 feet or better. It is a beautiful specimen too. So, that's our magnolia tree story. :)
Jan

What a sweet story, Jan! I'm going to have to wait till spring for a magnolia. I might order one from Roy Klehm's nursery (he has some nice magnolias, and I know they'll be top quality), but if you know of another mail-order source that sells good plants, I'm open to suggestions. Magnolias aren't too common in garden centers up here, and when I find them they're all the same variety - pretty, but wide and spreading. I need a more columnar variety, to avoid entangling some overhead wires.

We finally got some much-needed rain yesterday and last night. You could practically hear the garden sigh with relief as the rain soaked in. My puttering switched indoors this week (heat wave before the rains), so I played on the LA. I won two - 'Angel Rodgers' and 'Sinbad Sailor.' I was looking for a couple late-blooming pinks or lavenders, preferably from the same seller, and I found some nice ones from Bluegrass Gardens (dablaw). So, I'll have two beauties to plant in the front yard soon. So much for my "I won't play on the LA this fall" and "I'd rather not plant too many daylilies in the fall" comments recently, LOL!

Laurel

Just thought I'd post a warning about southern magnolias...
They are beautiful trees. But boy oh boy, are they ever messy! They are evergreen, which means they drop leaves year round. You mow your grass, have all the shrubs neatly manicured, congratulate yourself on a job well done...and 15 minutes later there are 30 big, waxy magnolia leaves scattered all over the front lawn. So they have to be raked. The flowers are lovely...but they fall off and make more of a mess that must be picked up. And then you have the red seeds that fall off and make yet another mess. This happens all year long. We had 3 big magnolias at our old house and they nearly worked me to death. I won't plant them in my yard again. But I LOVE to see them growing in your yard! When they are at your house, they are one of my favorite trees.
:-)
Kathy

Kathy, I only have the one magnolia, and so far the leaves aren't a problem. The tree isn't trimmed and the limbs grow to the ground naturally, therefore, most of the leaves fall under the tree. Same for the flowers thus far. Hopefully this will continue to be the norm for my tree.
Jan

Hmm, I wonder if the deciduous magnolias for the north have similar problems? I know they drop their flowers and make a mess for a week or so in the spring up here, but that doesn't bother me. Leaves down in the fall are par for the course here, too. Thanks for the heads-up, Kathy.

I think I'll do some research, but you know, THOSE FLOWERS just might make some extra hassle worthwhile. After all, I've already fallen for daylilies, irises, peonies, lilacs, hosta, tulips and daffodils. Another plant to clean up after? No problem! (I suppose it's like cleaning up after another kid, only without their tantrums. . . .)

Laurel

I married a southerner and he absolutely will not let me get a Southern Magnolia. Sweetbay Magnolia was the compromise. I guess when you grow up with them, they are not exotic and just a pest.

Brooke

Brooke, I know what your DH means by no to the Southern Magnolia, they are very slow growing do not shade the yard and by the time they do get large they die.

My DH begged and begged for a pecan tree and I put my foot down on this tree cause I grew up with one, it looses it's limbs like mad, the pollen makes a awful mess but the worse part is my sinuses can't take it.