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Or should I say crazy daisy… because I have two that wait until fall to bloom.
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They grow and grow and grow all year long until they’re so heavy they fall over and look ratty…
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And then they bloom.
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Completed taking over everything else in the garden bed.
Crazy.
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Nine years ago… gosh, has it been that long?.. when my mother died, a friend gave me a memorial rose bush to plant in her honor.
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It’s struggled to hang on over the years… through droughts and floods and yes, woodchucks. But when it blooms? It really is fabulous.
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These are untouched iPhone photos.
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The colors really are this bright.
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The variations of shades knock me out every time.
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I think my mother would approve.
❤️
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Wild critters.
We love them, but damn.
This is our little kitchen porch, which is really just a covered landing.
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In the corner there’s a stand on which I place potted plants every year. It’s usually well balanced with one begonia on the top and one begonia on the bottom. Until the woodchucks discovered the bottom flower and started nibbling…
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Bottom flower was then moved to the middle shelf and middle shelf decorations were moved to the bottom.
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Which was fine…
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Until a chipmunk found the bird’s nest and decided he needed to deconstruct it.
And if that’s not bad enough?
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Something has started using our man cave/Barn Mahal porch as a toilet.
WTH?
😳
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A walk around the property to see what’s popping.
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Daisies. They’re such happy little flowers, I always smile when I see them bloom. Which is why… after seeing how well this one performed… I went back to the nursery for more. See the monster plant to the left threatening to swallow the bloomer whole? That’s a daisy as well, but clearly not the same variety.
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Bee balm, in bright pink instead of the traditional red. I think the bees are confused.
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Day lilies.
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I planted this flowering bush when we first moved in over 20 years ago and damned if I can remember what it’s called.
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The blooms are positively fuzzy.
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More day lilies.
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They’re such low maintenance things it’s hard not to plant them everywhere.
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😊
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I haven’t had a chance to make these yet, but they sound perfect for summer…
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The life of a Maine lobsterman is hard… and often lonely. As evidenced by this picture taken of my husband’s nephew.
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I had to smile at this news item.
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What do you want to bet that chuck wasn’t injured, just craving a beer?
And speaking of chucks…
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Thankfully this one is still too short to nibble on my day lilies.
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How wonderful is this? Free bouquets.
I love my town.
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Now that the peonies have faded it’s time for the day lilies to shine.
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As with all other perennials it’s a shame their blooms don’t last longer.
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We have them in other places around the property but this is the biggest batch.
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Such pretty faces.
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But gone too soon.
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I’m greedy and want more than a day.
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😊
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Because nonsense is everywhere I look.
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I have no desire to cuddle fake bread, but if that was real? Pass the butter baby!
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Fox and chucks are still munching happily together. Guess this is what happens when you lay out an ample backyard buffet.
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I’ve been getting hundreds of junk emails lately. Somehow, someone got my address and has been flooding me with spam. ‘Stuck poop’ is an interesting enough subject line but the fact that the word ‘solder’ is in the sender’s address?
Priceless.
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This is what’s left of the pretty yellow deer proof flower I planted out back. The deer may not like it, but clearly the woodchucks did .
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Ditto that for coneflower leaves.
🥴
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I had to dig up the phlox, lupine and mallow due to voracious woodchuck appetites….
So now they’re all crowding my deck table in pots.
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The neighbor I was cat sitting for returned from vacation and brought me a thank you gift from the Wisconsin Dells.
A bag of local beer! She knows I like sours and brought me a variety to try. Some of them are wonderfully bizarre. The lime green can? A pastry sour with peach, basil, graham cracker and vanilla.
Cheers!
🍺
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If there’s anyone who puts on a better show in a garden than a peony, I haven’t yet met them.
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For a pure burst of color they’re hard to beat.
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I have a few small plants in the front of the house, but it’s this old backyard beauty that was here when we moved in 20 years ago that makes the biggest statement.
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Peonies can be fussy and hard to establish.
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But if you manage it, they’re carefree beauty that will be enjoyed for decades.
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Mother Nature is putting on her own fireworks show at Casa River.
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And while it’s not the true red, white and blue of the Fourth…
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Pink and purple are close enough for me.
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The Japanese irises are still in bloom and the peonies are starting to pop.
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They’re truly gorgeous blooms and smell divine with a rich heady fragrance.
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Happy holidays from my garden to yours!
❤️
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It’s Japanese Iris season at Casa River and I couldn’t be happier.
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While I’ve never been a fan of the fleshy full size irises that always hump their monstrous rhizome roots out of the ground… I adore their smaller less arrogant cousins.
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Daintier, more delicate and frankly less look at me darling, aren’t I gawgous!… they’re a lovely pop of perennial purple.
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Number two rhododendron is now in full bloom though not nearly as full as it’s neighbor. Why this should be is a question that stumps gardeners everywhere. Same soil, same sun exposure yet one is always bigger and better. Personally I think Mother Nature just likes to keep us guessing.
And if you’re wondering what the woodchucks have been chewing this week ?
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The toothy little buggers are eating marigolds!.
Marigolds!
The plant so disgusting no one will eat them. I don’t even like the silly things but have been putting them in my pots on the barn porch simply for the woodchuck gag factor. I thought they’d be safe.
I was wrong.
Very wrong.
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River's world..... 