Lily of the Valley day!

 The weather forecast for the day was sunny, breezy and cool. I decided it would be a good day to get some gardening done but It has been a while since I had a chance for a leisurely brunch at home so I decided it was time for a Lily of the Valley themed brunch before any gardening was going to happen.

some recycled glass vessels I got as a gift last Christmas

The perfect vases for Lily of the Valley

For brunch, I went with my favorite soft boiled farm eggs, Assam tea and toast with homemade Meyer Lemon Ginger marmalade.

I re-purposed this old tea bag caddy to hold loose leaf Assam

 

After brunch, I did my weekly routine of orchid & houseplant maintenance before headed out to the garden. It was a productive day, I pulled a few weeds and planted a few more annuals. I also came up with a solution for hanging plants on the front porch.

 

I decided to use galvanized buckets in keeping with the new look of the house

heavy duty cables for hanging

I planted the buckets with a mixture of trailing petunias, calibrachoa and also double trailing petunias

Buckets should "disappear" soon as petunias begin to trail over the sides

Dogwoods look fresh against the new color of the house

I think Socrates will to stay in after last nights storm adventure

Stormy Night, Sunny Morning

This Monday night was eerily similar to last Monday. The storm & tornado warning sirens started to blare their warning at around 10:30pm, the wind picked up and rumbling of thunder could be heard. This was going to be another interesting evening. I was glad we were getting some rain for the garden but not looking forward to the gusty winds and possible tornado. As the storm rolled in, I went to check on the cats and discovered to my surprise that the back door was open. The wind was so strong, it blew the door open and the cats decided to go for an evening stroll. I called out for them as the rain began to get heavier. Filbert returned immediately but Socrates was nowhere to be found. The storm continued to get more intense and we continued to get more worried about Socrates. Raleigh kept calling out to Socrates and he finally came in after 20 minutes of heavy rain.

This is what a cat looks like after walking about in a storm

Drying off after a "shower"

Crisis averted, I decided we needed to have some hot chocolate to calm us down during this crazy storm.

I start with some dark chocolate.

whisk that together with some hot milk and sugar

cups of comfort

After a night of howling wind and rain tapping on the windows, I was happy to be greeted with a sunny morning. I surveyed the garden first thing in the morning and looked like the plants survived nicely.

 

 

Lily of the Valley looking fresh after a stormy night

Flowery Spring Weekend

A warm weekend, lots of sunshine and not much rain. I had to water the flower beds for the first time this year. The mid spring blooming flowers have really made leaps and bounds with the warmer weather. My birth month and also favorite flowers, Lilies of the Valley(Convolaria Majalis) is in it's prime. Of course it is still April but here in Georgia everything blooms a little earlier.

It's a beautiful morning in the Lily of the Valley patch

The Dutch Irises are blooming nicely despite loosing some foliage to the rabbits

Irises, blueberry blossoms and peony buds!

  

Some of the white Irises turn blue occasionally

This weekend was devoted to catching up on laundry and also gardening. I did not do much cooking but did make a Lemon Tart for our "group effort" Sunday dinner. It was a good choice of dessert to make since I had  all the ingredients on hand.

Lemon Tart Recipe on Facebook

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

I also got some housecleaning done and moved some plants out to the nursery area. It feels good to "refresh" the house with new arrangements of houseplants for Spring. The summer annuals also got an early planting. I am hoping this mild weather will stay for a while. I am glad freezing weather is over but not looking forward to summer heat and humidity.

looking puny but they should grow into lush plantings soon

 

Hobbits Foot Sage has doubled in size this week

Golden Sprite Smokebush will bloom for the first time this year, very exciting!

Old fashioned Petunias

All around our neighborhood, the azaleas are blooming nicely. I tend to favor white and green flowers for their peacefulness but the pink Azaleas by the lake near our house just grab my attention this time of the year.