Happy Birthday Leaplings!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to all the leaplings who only get to celebrate their REAL birthday once every 4 years! We have one at our house, and it is a very special day when it finally rolls around. A quarter the age of your peers, it's the price you've had to pay to stay forever young! CHEERS!

Veronica - Speedwell

Veronica

I have several varieties and sizes of veronica in my garden. Also known as speedwell, veronica is a perennial that forms narrow spikes of tiny flowers. The flowers may be blue, pink, or white. I love the blues!

Echinacea- Purple Coneflower

Purple Coneflower
Purple coneflowers seed themselves in my garden as well. The name comes from the Greek word "echino", which means spiny, and refers to the center of the flower which consists of a spiny disc.

It is named coneflower due to the positioning of the petals, which tend to point downwards forming a cone shape.

Extracts from the plant provide the widely used herb Echinacea, which is thought to boost the immune system, and to decrease incidence and duration of the common cold.

Winter Sand Dunes

Boardwalk on Melmerby Beach.

Seals On Melmerby Beach

A visit with nature.
A beautiful pup.
A mother seal and pup on Melberby Beach.

A popular beach in our area, Melmerby was the birthplace of numerous baby seals several winters ago. They captured the attention of cautious nature lovers who were careful not to disturb them.

Liatris

Purple liatris

Liatris is another perennial plant that self seeds easily in my garden. Also known as "blazing star", it contrasts well with the other garden plants.It's very hardy, attractive to bees, butterflies, and birds,and makes an excellent cut flower.

I love the look of liatris in a daylily garden.

Bluegrass Music

daylily Bluegrass Music

One of my favorite daylilies, it bloomed inside this winter by the patio door.Needless to say, I collected all the pollen and froze it for future use this summer.I pollinated it with Destined To See pollen, and got three pods that are now maturing. Lucky me! It's a cross that I'm hoping will make beautiful blue eyed seedlings!

Foxgloves

Foxgloves self seed themselves freely in my garden. They used to be my favorite flower until I became obsessed with daylilies:).

Foxglove, or digitalis purpurea is a biennial and member of the snapdragon family.It is the source of the drug digitalis, or digoxin, which is a cardiac drug. It can be poisonous and potentially lethal if parts of the flower or leaves are consumed.

The scientific name means finger like, referring to the ease at which the flower can be fitted over the human finger.

Marsh Orchid

A friend's prized purple fringed marsh orchid.

Click on picture for a closer view. Each individual flower looks like a little lady in a fancy dress and hat.

Garden Art

Whimsical garden art.
Moss Man
Sculptured rock

Rustic Boathouse

Memories of summer

Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens

contrasting colors and shapes in the perennial garden
a pink rose
another view of the perennial garden

Queen Of The Prairie

Queen Of The Prairie (Filipendula Rubra)- click on picture for closeup view.

A perennial plant that grows 3-6'tall, and blooms mid summer for about 3 weeks. The panicle of pink buds ranges from 5-8"across, and resembles cotton candy. A beautiful flower that puts on a spectacular display!

A Living Roof

A living roof of wildflowers on a roof at Fort Louisbourg. Impressive!

Pink Spruce Cones

Pink cones on a Hoopsi Blue Spruce in my garden.
They looked like pink roses. Very eye catching!

Rustic Garden Seats and Stone Sculptures In Jenny's Garden

I'm always impressed by the use of stone or benches as focal points in the garden.

This arch was formed by perfect placement of the stones. The stones were not altered to form this shape.

White Spider

This little fellow had just crawled out of his hiding place. Click on the picture for a closer look. He blends in perfectly with the tulip.
Look inside a tulip, and see what you might find:).

My Daylily Distraction

I've become distracted by my daylilies.

Destined To See
Hologram
Lavender Blue Baby
Bluegrass Music
Alien Contact


And what a wonderful distraction it has been!

My gardens used to consist of a well balanced mix of perennials, shrubs and trees. More recently however, since discovering hybridizing, my daylilies outnumber the rest. Many gardeners often become passionate about a particular plant in their garden. Of course, if you're a little bit obsessional, you're probably more at risk:).

Here are a few of my favorites:(from the top)Destined To See, Hologram, Lavender Blue Baby, Bluegrass Music, and Alien Contact.

See my daylily blog for more daylily ramblings( via VIEW MY COMPLETE PROFILE)

More From Jenny's Garden

A row of lavender growing next to a homemade stone bench.



My friend Jenny has the most beautiful hidden garden at the shore.The sea air and Jenny's special touch are both the secret ingredients. Full of beautiful colors and smells, it truly is a little piece of heaven.

To the left you will see wild roses with Queen of The Prairie in the background,a white hollyhock, and Queen Anne's Lace at the bottom. A real English Country Garden combination.

Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens

At Annapolis Royal Historic Gardens, a rustic building flanked by wildflowers. I love these colors!
A blue delphinium
A pale blue delphinium. Absolutely beautiful!
Red rose
Rose arbor
Pink yarrow and purple lobelia.
The family always enjoys a walk through these gardens. It balances historical and botanical aspects of gardening, and includes themed gardens which represent different periods of history of the area.

Blue Flowers

This is a beautiful blue hydrangea that I received for Mother's Day last year. I planted it in the garden, and it survived and bloomed the next year.
Hydrangea ">
Another blue Mother's Day flower. Looks like a daisy. It really was this BLUE!

Window Boxes

These are my window boxes from the last couple of years.

Pink petunias, blue lobelia, and Creeping Jenny. I love the Creeping Jenny, as it grows down from the window boxes throughout the season,adding a graceful sweeping appearance to the display. It can be invasive in the main garden however.