Perennials

Preface:

Neither Micah nor I are gardeners in any way shape or form or by any standard whatsoever.

I feel greatly under qualified to write a post that resembles or has anything to do with gardening.

Ok then, why am I considering reading this? You ask yourself.

Good question.

Why do you read anything that I write? 

I'm an expert at Big Fat Nothing!

(Now don't you feel good about following my blog?!)

The lovely couple who owned our home before us were gardeners, however, and we inherited some wonderful perennials upon moving here.

They must have known what they were doing because we always have something in bloom from early Spring until Fall.

Thanks to the pictures that I took last year, I will be able to show you!

(Since I wasn't a blogger last summer, I don't have pictures of everything, but I have enough to put together this post.) 

Going through pictures while preparing for this post, made me super excited for Spring to arrive! I hope you'll leave my blog today feeling uplifted and excited for Spring, too!

These are the Perennials that grow around our home....

~~~ May ~~~

The first to arrive of course, are the Tulips and Daffodils.

                

I always clip them and bring them into the house. 

             

This is a picture of our backyard patio in very early May last year:

             

We planted Phlox in a few places last year, which is the purple plant that you can see in this picture. I really hope they're successful!

The Lilacs are the next to arrive. We've never planted lilacs. They just show up year after year. We have two varieties. A light purple:

            

And a dark purple:

           

In this picture you can see the light purple lilacs blooming in the background and also the Hosta's popping up. We have a lot of Hosta's! Micah's sister planted five for us as a housewarming gift years ago and Micah keeps splitting them and planting more around our yard. We love them because they're hearty, low-maintenance, and they look nice. Again, this is May:

          

Moving on, we have two Iris beds. They're different varieties so one bed blooms in May, the other in June. Micah planted these. This is our May blooming Iris bed:

          

~~~ June ~~~

My favorite flower... Peony's! I wait patiently all year!!! I can hardly stand it! When are they going to bloom?.....

       

We tried splitting this bush for the first time last year. Other than that we have not planted peony's. We have three well-established bushes that I'm so thankful were here when we moved. 

This beautiful light pink variety:

(Do you see why these are my favorite?! :)

A white variety:

                 

And a vibrant, hot pink variety:

                

Here they are in my dining room with my June blooming Iris's:

               

In this picture you can see what the Iris's look like in our yard:

              

Above the Iris's are our Wild Roses. They want a turn! They come in June, last until September, and are in several places around our yard. 

(Soren's showing off his S'more, haha. Oh man, all of this is making me wish it was Summer!!!)

             

I tried to do better at pruning the roses last year. I would go out almost every evening once the baby was in bed, and clip away the dead spots. I found it to be quite relaxing, actually! Who knows, maybe I'm well on my way to becoming a gardener?!

              

Aren't they pretty? We have light pink ones, too:

             

Another June blooming perennial is Salvia:

             

These started as three small bushes when Micah brought them home several years ago. If you want an aggressive ground cover that takes no effort on your part, you might consider Salvia. I would say these have tripled in size in only a few years. One down side to them, though, is that bee's love them, so I don't clip these for the house. (I don't mess with bee's. I'm a big, fat chicken!)

~~~ July ~~~

The hydrangea's are here! The hydrangea's are here!

Wooooohoooooo!!!!

Another well-established plant that we happily inherited:

               

I go nuts over these every year! 

               

They're always all over my house...

               

I can't help it, though! 

              

Look at how wonderful they are!!!

             

I really like them mixed with the roses in a bouquet:

             

We also have one Butterfly bush that blooms purple every July. I don't know where Micah got this plant. It just showed up here one day, haha...

            

~~~ August/ September ~~~

I'm combining August and September because I really don't have a whole lot blooming for the first time in August. The one and only exception is my pink Lily's. I have a small patch of them in my back patio but I don't have any pictures of them. I'll admit, they're not my favorite. I never clip them for the house because they're too strong smelling and they're messy! 

If you're using this post as research for perennials you're interested in planting, (in a northern climate) I'll note that the Hydrangea's, Wild Roses, Salvia, and the Butterfly bush are all still in bloom through August. 

As Fall approaches, I have two plants that bloom for the first time. One is a Black-eyed Susan. The only picture I could find of it is this one that I had saved in PicStitch:

            

I really like Black-eyed Susan's and the color they give in early Fall. The Hydrangea's in the picture above it are a different variety than the ones I showed you earlier. These are really fun because they're white all summer but as Fall arrives they turn pink! By mid to late Fall they're a beautiful, deep plum color!

My other hydrangea's are lime green by September, and the roses are still hanging on. This picture was taken in early September last year:

           

I always know when Summer is over when this Monkshood plant blooms. It's the absolute very last of everything all around our property to bloom. It looks like this:

          

This plant is amazing to me because while everything else is dying and the temperature is dropping, this plant is in full bloom!

When it's finished blooming, and the air begins to turn crisp, I say, "Farewell until next year" to the long run of blooming plants around my home. It's bittersweet, and I have to get creative with what's left to clip and bring inside.

I tend to always go to a certain plant, that again, was put here by previous owners. I don't know its name but it grows red berries from late Summer until late November. These clippings make a great Fall centerpiece:

            

Or back door decoration:

By this point in the year, I'm always ready for a break. I'm sick of the heat. I'm sick of the watering. I'm sick of the work!  Well, to be honest, heat and watering would be accurate, but work....? Most of the time I find myself standing in my garden thinking,... And what exactly am I suppose to be doing to these plants?.... Oh look, the cat! He needs petting......

             

And the next thing I know I've just wasted 45-minutes of my life sitting on the garden bench doing this:

           

See?! I'm not a gardener. The truth is, I'm just a flower-clipping, bouquet-making, cat-petter. 

And I've just been exposed. 

(I'm so ashamed!!! ;)

Because I'll go into the house after this and Micah and the kids are all, "Where have you been? What have you been doing?!" And I'lI snap back, "I have been hard at work, gardening!!! Leave me alone!!!"

But... I'm sure my secret's safe with you. Right, friends?

;)  ;)

So.... These are my Perennials. They help make life interesting. They remind me of God's faithfulness. They add richness to our home-life. AND, they inspire me to want to live better! Maybe this year will be my year! My year to become a gardener!!! Wish me luck, girlfriends! I'll need it! (Because I'm already thinking, Hmmm, I don't know... Sounds sweaty.) 

~ Courtney