Hi friends! I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. I thought I’d share some flower gardening ideas with you along with a little bit that’s going on in our lives. May has been a busy month!
Everything is blooming and growing here at the Crossroads. We got our vegetable garden planted in April along with lots of flowers. You see, we had to get it all done because I was scheduled for cataract surgery May 1. The barrel above was planted with pink mandevilla, pink wave petunias, white lobelia, white angelonia, and a slew of various colored petunia volunteers. (Gotta love free plants!)
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The pots on posts, which are located near the barrel and in front of my mother’s apartment, were all planted with annuals in various shades of pink. We’ve had beautiful spring weather during May, and those flowers have been especially beautiful.
This one has a mix of verbena and the prettiest variegated petunias! If you’d like more details on how we put these flower baskets on posts, you can read all about it here: HOW TO MOUNT FLOWER BASKETS ONTO WOODEN POSTS.
Some of the baskets and nearby planters contain pink Wave petunias and they are growing like gangbusters. After such fast growth, they will be needing some fertilizer soon to keep them looking their best.
The window boxes on a nearby storage building were planted with a mix of verbena and creeping jenny. The creeping jenny (the green plant) is a perennial and comes back each spring.
The urns at the front of our house got planted with a brighter palette. I used a mix of cypress trees, red wave petunias, and yellow callibrochoa (million bells.) If you look closely, you will see a drip system that we use to keep them watered.
Two of the urns also have red mandevilla growing in them. The urns are actually concrete urns that we’ve had a long time and are beginning to disintegrate. I thought about slapping some black paint on them, but Leo said that he liked their patina. You’ve got to love a man who understands patina!
And here is my new favorite plant! These urns receive a lot of hot sun from the west every afternoon, but this red apple ice plant (aptenia cordifolia) is flourishing in the heat!
Here’s a better view of its pretty red blossoms where it is growing in the SUCCULENT BIRDBATH PLANTER in the garden.
The Major Wheeler honeysuckle vine is on its third year in this corner. It is a wonderful climber, and I have it planted in several places.
Hummingbirds love it, as you can imagine.
Near this corner are some hanging baskets that I put together last month. In them are blue lobelia, white bacopa, yellow callibrochoa, and a spiky plant whose name eludes me right now. Did you know that there are 2 types of lobelia? I put the trailing kind in the baskets, and I have the mounding kind growing in the herb bed (underneath the baskets.) The blue flowers are bee magnets so that’s why I include lobelia in our garden.
I always intermingle flowers among the vegetables in the raised beds. These compact, mounding profusion zinnias are perfect for growing in pots and also attract pollinators.
The white Henryi clematis that I planted two years ago is really putting on a show right now.
Last year I planted some Easter lilies in the garden. They didn’t bloom in time for Easter this year but have been beautiful during the past few weeks.
Although I planted some sunflower seeds last month, this plant was a volunteer that sprang up in the middle of one of the raised beds. Look at the numerous flower heads on that one plant!
The potato plants have started blooming and you know what that means, don’t ya? The potatoes are ready and the few that we have dug already have been delicious!
There are marigolds planted in between the tomato plants and they’ve all been blooming this month.
This year we are trying something a little different. We have planted some of the cucumber vines in plastic pots and they are growing up the fence. These are doing much better than the ones planted in the ground!
And don’t you think that these onion flowers are gorgeous in their own right?
But the flowers that I’ve enjoyed the most this spring are the ones planted under the old pecan tree in the yard. We’ve been blessed with recent rains so they are about twice the size as you see them here. The impatiens and the caladiums do well in the shade of the tree.
I hope that I’ve given you a few flower gardening ideas today. Now, back to that cataract surgery that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I really have been having a tough time this month. I’ve briefly mentioned that I have an autoimmune disease that affects my eyes. Well, the surgery and the drops caused a flareup of my disease, and I’ve made numerous trips to Charleston to see my ophthalmologist to get it under control. I’m better now, but I still don’t have great vision out of that eye yet. And Leo has had several eye appointments lately too, with cataract surgery scheduled for him in July! Last week we had 5 appointments in one week with another one coming up this Tuesday.
I really just want to sit back and watch the flowers grow!
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Ruth Hernandez says
Gorgeous post, all trees are looking very nice! I will try to make a beautiful small garden. I love your post. Thanks a lot.
Cookie Eddings says
Hi Jane,
I love your beautiful flowers & I think it’s so sweet that your Mom has a little cottage at your house. I just lost my 95 yr. old mother last Jan. She lived in her house on the corner 5 mins. away from where we live.
I’m sorry to hear of your health problems; they can be very discouraging. I got RA in my 40’s, had breast cancer & a ruptured brain aneurysm; however, I’m doing fine. My husband has Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma & other health problems too numerous to mention; however, we’re both still standing! Boy, these golden years!!! I know all about dr. apts. We tell people that we’ve made a lot of trips–TO DOCTORS!!! Take care,you & Leo both.
Cookie
Jane Windham says
Yes, we do spend a LOT of time in doctors’ offices!
Pat @ Life at Lydias House says
I always love seeing pictures of your flowers and garden! I still wish you were my next door neighbor! I hope your eyes get better soon and good luck to Leo with his surgery.
Ann says
Love your lobelia! I’m sorry you have been coping with all the eye issues. My dad has been going through the same thing so I’ve seen first-hand how frustrating it can be. Hang in there…sending prayers and good thoughts your way. <3
Stacey says
Jane, how are your eyes doing?
Your flowers are all so pretty! I haven’t planted a single thing yet this year since we are building. It’s causing severe withdrawal symptoms. 😉
Dianne Stewart says
What great ideas! Very creative— flowers make happy pictures????????????
Mary says
I love seeing how everything is growing around your garden Jane! I planted a red honeysuckle vine by my shed this spring for the hummers but it’s not Major Wheeler dang it…your vine is beautiful and thriving. I had to chuckle over the Leo appreciating the patina of your urns, I agree 🙂 We have been so WET…it’s nice to have a reprieve from watering but the stuff that doesn’t like to be wet like Lamb’s Ear is struggling. So sorry to hear about your complications from your autoimmune eye disease and your surgery. Hope you’re seeing perfectly soon. ♥
Kris @ Junk Chic Cottage says
Very pretty Jane. Ahhhhh love summer. Have a great new week ahead.
Kris
Dolly says
The flowers are simply gorgeous! Your whole place is beautiful! I’m so sorry you’ve been going through so much with your eyes and hope you will have excellent sight out of the eye soon. Leo is next I see. We’ll be thinking of you both. Chuck has one forming so he will have to go one day. Thinking of you both. Your gardens are beautiful for sure!
Jane Windham says
Thanks so much, Dolly. Leo and I both grew cataracts quickly due to using steroids in our eyes. Chuck should have an easy time with his surgery. Most people have greatly improved vision immediately after surgery!
Libby Wilkie says
So many flowers! My honeysuckle is long gone, having bloomed about a month ago. But all the rain this year has really helped everything and it all seems to be blooming so much earlier.
Yes, getting old(er) is hard: seems there is always something cropping up. My husband had cataract surgery a year ago and all went very well and easily. And oh, what a difference it made!! So Leo has that to look forward to. TAke care of yourself…
Jane Windham says
Yes, I keep telling Leo that he won’t have a difficult time at all. Having an autoimmune eye disease complicated my surgery.
Melanie says
So sorry about all the eye problems. Your property is absolutely gorgeous!!!
Jane Windham says
Thank you Melanie! Taking care of everything does keep us busy!
Donnamae says
Your flowers are absolutely gorgeous! Sorry to hear about your eye problems…it is tough getting older isn’t it. Hope you are able to enjoy your beautiful gardens…and watch your flowers bloom! 😉
Jane Windham says
Thanks Donnamae! I think the worst is over because my vision is improving each day.
Nancy says
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had such a rough time lately. I too have an auto immune disease called Sarcoidosis, that has bugged me for over 30 years. No fun! But what a magnificent garden you have. I hope you can soon just sit back and enjoy.
Jane Windham says
So sorry to hear about your autoimmune disease, Nancy. I was not familiar with it so I looked it up. Mine seems to be a result of a gene I inherited from my grandfather. When I stay on a Real Food diet, it is better. It’s much easier to eat that way during summer with all the fresh fruits and veggies.
JoJ says
Best wishes to you and Leo with the eye surgeries. Hope you will improve quickly! All your flowers are lovely. We are working on renovating a tired old yard that came with the house we bought in June of last year. I am looking forward to planting some “pretties” after all the cleaning out is done.
Jane Windham says
Good luck with your yard, Jo. This was a pretty tired yard here too when we first moved in.
Kim says
Beautiful flowers, Jane. So sorry about the eyes. Seems everyone around me is falling apart, too. Getting old sucks! Mom is going home Wednesday though so at least we have that good news finally!
Happy Memorial Day!
Jane Windham says
Kim, that is such good news about your mom. Luckily, I have not had to take my mom for any doctor’s appointments during this month!
Leo Windham says
Thanks for making the Crossroads so pretty Jane. Love ya
Jane Windham says
Awww, sweetie! That is so kind of you to say that. I couldn’t do any of this without you!