Floral Friday - A Few Favorite Bloomers (and my veggies)

I must confess, I'm not much of a vegetable gardener, but that is primarily because I don't have anywhere to plant a garden. We have a nice sized back yard (in fact we have almost 2/3 of an acre in total), but the back yard is very shady.

The front and side yards are out because we have a Home Owners Association, and other than to say the rules say we can't plant a vegetable garden in front, I just won't go there!

But I do manage to slip in a few things in the front. Like my four hills of squash - two yellow and two zucchini, and four tomato plants. I've also got a couple of sunflowers planted in between the squash. The neighborhood kids always enjoy those when they bloom.

So far, everything is kind of small, but they are coming along.

SQUASH

TOMATO

(By the way, did you know you should break off all but the top three or so stems of leaves and plant your tomatoes deep? Where the other leaves were, the tomato will send out roots, and it will be a much stronger plant!)

SUNFLOWER

(Staked to make it grow straighter and stronger.)

And now on to my current favorite bloomers.

This clematis is a marvel! It's been in the back yard for at least 4-5 years, and each spring it grows up tall and then the leaves on the trees shade it and it never blooms - until this year, when I moved it to the front yard where it will get plenty of sun. It's not the most beautiful bloom in the world, but it's pretty good for a non-bloomer! Don't you love the black obelisk???

And this is that tiny Penny Mack hydrangea that I moved 2-3 weeks ago, and she is blooming, even though she's only about 6 inches tall. Talk about a big improvement! (And it's not one of the new "Mini-Penney's", but a standard sized Penny Mack)

This lavendar is apparently happy, and the blooms are just beginning to open. It smells sooooooo good! The plant's base is probably almost 2 feet across.

Cat Mint - Love those lavender colored blooms!

This is my 'Greeting Garden' from the back side. This is where the morning glory, hyacinth bean and moonflower are beginning to climb up the trellis, and soon they will make a hiding place for the hummers who, by the way, are nesting in this area now. My friend Fay in Dothan gave me the angel years ago. (Hi Fay! I'll e-mail you sometime today!)

Glowing Peace Hybrid Tea Rose

And now some before and afters >>>

Tess of the d'Urbervilles Climber - David Austin Roses - Bud

Fully Bloomed

Heritage - David Austin Rose - Buds

(Can I just brag on myself for a sec? Do you see the sun's rays beaming down on that rosebud? I couldn't have done that if I tried, but it just happened in this pic! Amazing!)

Fully Bloomed Out

Isn't she lovely????

Well, that's my favorite bloomers in the yard right now. I'm so excited when each new thing starts blooming! And now, I must go get my super soaker water gun and attack a couple of squirrels on my deck bird feeders! It's a never-ending battle! Blessings! Becky