Flowers: The Planned and the Unplanned

Update: I got the correct quote for perennials: Year 1, they sleep. Year 2, they creep. Year 3, they leap! Thank you Renee & Judy for the little ditty. I would say that is proving to be true, as long as I don't keep moving the plants!

In the last post I shared photos of most of the blooming perennial plants in the flower bed. This post is about the wild flower plants in the 'back forty' and the planters of annuals on the deck and near the front door.

The Unplanned: I noticed wild roses last spring/summer and I tried to avoid them when I was using the trimmer  on the 'back forty' grass. I also saw milk weed, but the city mower took care of those. I could not protect them. This year I am more conscious of the wild flowers that are growing in the wash/back forty.

Queen Anne Lace

lots of young plants

Wild Roses

the roses 'in my area' have not bloomed yet

the flowering rose was on the neighbor's lot

he did not cut his off last summer!

Notice the large rock? I moved three of them in the area of the wild roses and Queen Anne Lace to discourage the city mower from trying to get them. My neighbor and I have trimmed the grass from our lawns back into the 'back forty' so I think the wild flowers will be safe this summer.

Milk Weed

I have trimmed around the plants hoping the mower

leaves them alone

The Planned: I have four planters on the deck. Left to right: candy corn vine; the tiered planter of red, yellow and purple annuals; and the mandevilla (reds & whites). The fourth and not shown planter is the yellow hibiscus.

do you see the candy corn peeking through?

the yellow hibiscus

it had 4 open blooms one day this week

the grape tomato plant in a pail

I have 3 pails of tomato plants

two cucumber plants have survived and are thriving

there should be a cucumber for eating by the Fourth of July

planter pot of yellow and purple annuals

by the front door

And speaking of front door, we added at glass door last week to help provide some light from the west. I really like it. Happy Anniversary to us. Our other anniversary gift should arrive in July...a small freezer. Only practical gifts after 50 years!!! Actually, they've almost all been practical. When I wanted jewelry, I bought it. It saved lots of tears and disappointments over the years!

***** Remember you can click on any photo to get a larger version. And you can get an email alert (if you sign up on the top right of this page) when I have a new blog post, as I am not very consistent with my posts.

My Perennials

My Facebook memory this week was of the perennial flower bed one year ago. Since I have not posted many flower photos so far this year, I grabbed the camera and headed out back to give an update of the perennial flower bed.

This is the perennial flower bed post from June 2019.

We have had a couple of hard rains which washed away some of the soil. My little rock wall did not hold the soil in place very well. So I weeded it, added more soil and then covered it in wood chips to help with moisture control and erosion.

The old ironed rimmed wheel was found on a visit to Boot Ranch where I was born and lived for 5 years. My dad did not remember if it was from machinery or vehicles he used. I just felt it was interesting and deserved to be uncovered and displayed. I've had it in my gardens for almost 20 years.

Orange Globe 

Trollius x cultorum 'Orange Princess'

rabbit & deer resistant

Originally I chose it for its color, but I must admit I love watching the flower buds as they grow and open. A very pretty delicate flower, and a little more unique.

Beardtongue

Penstemon

Mountain Pride

John Muirs favorite flower

I downloaded an app on my phone to help with flower identification when the plastic identification tags are missing. It works! I know I chose this one for its color.

Columbine

Aquilegia

Grannys bonnet or Crowfoot

Iceland Poppy

Papaver nudicaule

I love these delicate flowers. They remind me of the wild poppies we see growing in AZ. I have tried growing them several times. Although a perennial, they usually don't survive our summers, so I have never had one appear in the spring. I just buy them when I see them and replant! And enjoy them while they are alive and blooming. I was very happy to see them this spring when flower shopping as it was a reminder of the trip we did not get to take this spring.

Lark Spur

Consolida ajacis

an annual, WHAT????

related to the Delphinium

I liked it because it was a blue flower and because it attracts butterflies, Now I realize it is an annual. Bummer. I saw it in the kids' flower bed and decided I needed one.

a yellow Columbine

I can see why it got the name crowfoot

drought resistant

attracts humming birds and bumblebees

yellow Iceland Poppy

a new plant this year

crepe paper petals

daisies buds are close to blooming

quite certain is it a Shasta Daisy

Leucanthemum x superbum

This plant was chosen for its color when it was planted last year. It is next to the delphinium, so I felt it was a nice contrast. The cone flower between the two did not survive the winter. I thought cone flowers were indestructible. I know the daisy is a hardy flowering plant.

Delphinium

Delphinium

I bought this plant last year because of its blue flowers. I was interested in a variety of colors and heights when I planted the perennials. The tall stalks of blue flowers do not disappoint. I will need to stake the stems though as they get top heavy. This stalk is using the pheasant to lean on. Now I understand why it is related to the Larkspur.

Mourning Bride

Scabiosa columbaria

Pincushion Flower

attracts butterflies

Again I chose this one for its color and that it attracted butterflies. When I placed it last year it was not next to another purple or blue flower, but things have changed since then...like the death of another cone flower!

As of this week, there is an addition to the rock wall of the perennial bed. Hubby and I went block shopping because the two inches of rain one night last week washed soil and wood chips. I needed an inexpensive solution. That was my Sunday afternoon project. 

We've not had a hard rain since, but I am certain the blocks will reduce the erosion. I have also planted some wild flowers on the other side of the blocks to help keep that soil in place and help keep out the grass and weeds. That may be a better project for next spring.

Right now there is far more green than colorful blooms. A friend said it takes 3 years for perennials to really produce. You plant the first year. The second year they take root. The third year they show off. I hope she is right.

The Falls

We visited Falls Park in May when geocaching with friends passing through on their way to northern Minnesota for the summer. Sharing Falls Park with any of our visitors is a must as it is one of my favorite places in the city. And like a photographer friend (I call him one of my mentors) who photographs the same stream near their cabin in the Black Hills, I feel compelled to take photos of The Falls every time I visit. Unlike my friend who posts only one photo from his visit to the stream, I post many because The Falls has so many interesting places, shapes, angles, colors, etc. I could NOT choose just one.

Falls Park entrance

the area I like to call the upper falls

people were still social distancing in later May

one brave girl

interesting mossy area

photos from the east side of The Falls

resident geese

one brave boy

geese and their goslings

a grackle hanging out at The Falls

and a robin hanging around

*****Remember, you can click on any photo to enlarge it*****

50 Years

I have been thinking about this blog post a lot, trying to come up with something profound. After all, it isn't every day a couple can say they have been married (to each other) for fifty years. I do know at age 20 I was not thinking about 50 years down the road. Good grief...we'd be OLD if we reached a 50th anniversary!

My brothers and I hosted a 25th wedding anniversary open house for my parents. Curt and I had been married less than 5 years then. Not that I thought of my parents as old at that time, but I just couldn't imagine a 25 year marriage. Then 25 years later, we were able to host a 50th anniversary open house for them. How fortunate my brothers and I were to have both parents, in good health, for 50 years. I am so glad we had that celebration for their friends and family as Dad did not live long enough to celebrate a 55th wedding anniversary.

The only anniversary Curt and I celebrated with family and friends was our 40th. We were retired and I decided if we were both above ground, we'd invite family and friends for a low-key celebration in our garage. We served walking tacos to those who stopped by to wish us well. We were proud to share our first grandchild with everyone. Neither Curt nor I were certain we'd be around for a 50th, so #40 was important. (Yes, all the anniversaries are important, but we seem to take many of them for granted.) 40th Anniversary here.

We made some big plans for #50. We planned to travel to Iceland in April with long-time friends who celebrated their 50th the day before our 50th. But, the coronavirus took care of the trip to Iceland. We also planned to take our family (kids and grands) to Mexico for a week later this year. That trip is still undetermined. We had a month-long camping trip planned for August. That adventure has been moved to 2021.

 Last year at this time, it seemed very important to do something big, something special, something different to celebrate 50 years of being together. By the end of March and into April of this year, surviving a pandemic has taken precedence over a 50th anniversary celebration. Instead of one BIG celebration, we had five low-key celebrations.

June 5th

Very good friends in Sioux Falls invited us to their place for dinner and cake for celebration #1.

June 6th

Saturday morning of our anniversary day, my brother and his wife brought breakfast and this beautiful orchid to start our big day, celebration #2.

flowers from son & family

June 6th

We dressed up and went to dinner IN a restaurant that evening and had a wonderful meal with masked wait staff and appropriate social distancing, celebration #3.

Celebration #4 has no photos but was shared with the long-time friends who were our Iceland travel companions. The four of us celebrated our 25th anniversaries in Hawaii. For this one, we had dinner together in Watertown. No masked wait staff, and before we left, the social distancing was not. Dinner was good and the visit with our 50th friends was extra special.

Celebration #5 happened this past weekend. OFD was able to come from Minneapolis and OFS and DIL and grands were free to spend the weekend together at our place.

enjoying mint mojitos on the deck

made by our personal bartender

virgin mojitos

the family on June 13th

the grands

the kids

another cake

June 13th

It was great to have the family here for the weekend. We had carry-out dinner, time for visiting and playing games. We watched the fireflies and the stars once it got dark. Everyone stayed at our place overnight and after brunch Sunday morning and a few more games of Farkle, they all went home. Low-key, unplanned, but a perfect way to celebrate 50 years of marriage.