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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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I have a thing for bumblebees.
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Thankfully the bees have a thing for my rhododendrons.
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When the bushes are in bloom they’re covered with fat fuzzy bumblers…. and I love it!
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I’d love it more if the little darlings would stay still long enough for me to snap a decent blog photograph, but you get the idea.
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Long live the bees!
❤️
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I adore early June in Maine.
Daytime temperatures are warm but not hot. Nights are cool and there’s no humidity. The tourists have started to arrive but haven’t yet overwhelmed the state.
But the best part of early June in Maine?
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Rhododendron season. (Please note I have color coordinated my hanging baskets of geraniums… momma didn’t raise no fool)
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We have two large bushes in the front of our house and they never fail to put on a show. They even have it timed so one blooms after the other for a longer burst of color.
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I trimmed this one back last year and was a little worried I’d done it at the wrong time.
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Clearly, I was wrong.
💕
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First, I weeded the garden bed.
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Which…. when you’re old adjacent at 59 and have a blown knee… isn’t as much fun as it used to be.
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Then I sprinkled a container of shake and feed bloom booster.
And worked it into the soil with a blister boosting rake.
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Then I watered the soil and planted the few flowers the woodchucks left me.
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Three hours plus for a few measly perennials.
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$200 worth of flowers barely made a dent. That’s just wrong.
🥴
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The frost danger has probably but who the hell knows because it’s Maine passed and now it’s time to fill that beautiful raised stone bed my husband built last year.
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My first trip to the nursery made me realize another trip is in order. Such a hardship.
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But look at our little crabapple tree.
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Finally in full bloom.
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So far… this is what will be living in the garden.
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I realized I chose too much pink and purple so the next trip will be for peach, red and maybe white to round it out.
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Yes, I hate to admit it…. but I do.
I like a Miley Cyrus song.
The annoying, immature, in your face, twerking, sexpot daughter of the Achy Breaky Heart guy. Ugh.
I never thought it would be possible but her new song “Flowers” has burrowed its way into my head and is happily stuck there.
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Guess I’m not the only one.
Is she telling her ex husband Liam Hemsworth she’s finally over him and ready to move on? Definitely.
Is it turning into a monster women’s anthem of independence and empowerment? No doubt about it.
I still don’t like her… but it’s an ear worm that might be with me for a while.
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We’ve finally received some much needed rain and our lawn has responded accordingly.
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The grass has started to turn green… just in time for it to turn brown in the fall…. and Lord Dudley Mountcatten approves.
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Not that you’d know it by his face.
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And while the grass is busy turning green, my husband is busy turning his rubber truck mat black.
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Back to Black to be precise, which made me start singing AC/DC … and it totally went over my other half’s head.
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Fall is here and cooler temps mean summer flowers are on clearance sale, like these sweet little hibiscus I picked up for the kitchen porch. They won’t last long… but they’re damn sure pretty right now.
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Another reason to love my town. A cart full of free flowers.
❤️
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This weirdo bush was in place when we moved in 20 years ago. It blooms well, in big fuzzy pink blossoms.
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Bees and butterflies love it, so even though it clashes with our red baby barn… it stays.
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In my front bed? A small salvia that doesn’t get any larger year to year but keeps hanging on.
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Then there’s my little daisy.
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She’s so bright and cheerful, I went back to the same nursery later that season and bought two more of her.
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But as you can see, her big sister is large.
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Soooo much larger than they were supposed to be. They don’t even bloom at the same time. Major daisy fail.
😳
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River's world..... 