Green Thumbs and Purple Bruises

Well, I never said I was Martha Stewart, did I? And the differences between us are noticeable.

For one, I never spent any significant amount of time under house arrest. But more important to this post, even though I love to decorate and garden, I am definitely not perfect at it and I have no problem admitting it.

For instance, I get distracted with non-decorating and gardening things-- y'know, life and stuff-- and nature tends to get away from me. This is what happened recently. I've been plugging away in my spare time, writing my novel, and suddenly I discover obscure jungle tribes have moved into my backyard.

They're swinging from the vines. They're hiding in the shelter of growing thatches. They're making rude slings and taking out local wildlife for their din-din...


Okay, so maybe I exaggerate a tad... But not much.


Yup, that was my backyard earlier today. Lamb's Ear on the left deciding to discover it's Manifest Destiny and take over as much space as possible...

Mossy phlox having phloxed for distance...

Morning glories I planted seven years ago-- and removed (I thought) five years ago-- still making a play for turf and self expression...

Dead branches lying deadly... Plants which planted themselves in some personal quest to impose their taste on me waving hello...

Dandilions as big as, well, non-dandy lions...

Yes indeedy. Something had to be done!

So in an attempt to combine today's post-plus-chores, I took all of you with me on this quest for de-jungle-ification. Here, I seem to have upset an ant colony who felt my structural reorganization of their apartment complex was inappropriate. Much of what looks like dirt here are actually teeny ants!...


Regrettably, I think they may discover at the end of the day, during the course of weeding I might have actually bagged and disposed of their buddies George, Adam and Mildred...

But sometimes sacrifices must be made.

In happier news, I found that the climbing rose I'd planted a year or so ago-- a Ginger Syllabub-- is growing and is absolutely gorgeous...


I'm hoping to train this to grow over my arched trellis.

I also found that these Sweet Williams (at least, I believe that's what they are) have planted themselves...


I don't know where they came from originally-- I didn't plant them-- but they show up in some location in the yard every year...


I had planted the ancestors of this foxglove-- two different kinds-- but just where it decides to pop up each year is always a surprise to me....


I believe this is a Camelot foxglove. I like their bright pinkish purple spires, so I pretty much let them go wherever they want to be. If they show up somewhere strange in the yard, I just leave them. I figure it's better not to get too bossy with such a pretty, yet poisonous, plant! :)

I also found I had a rather nice Don Juan rose-- lovingly nicknamed "Johnny"-- here in the center of the yard...


Johnny's always quite the eye-catcher, with nice smelling flowers that are fairly disease-resistant.

I have two other red roses. One is this rose that was in my backyard when I bought the house. I didn't plant it, so I'm not sure of its name...


And then there's this climbing rose which only blooms once a year, but this year, it has been outdoing itself. Look at this nature-made nosegay of blooms!...


This... I don't know what it is. It's sort of furry-- and very bright pink...


With it blooming so happily, I couldn't pull it up. But it beats me what it might be. Maybe one of you wise folks here knows?...

So in the interest of Before and Afters... Here we have Before... The tangle of the jungle...


And here we have a shrubbery-trimmed, weeded and de-Tarzaned After shot...


I still need to trim back the rose bushes, put down new mulch, remove some dead topiaries and a million other things... but it's a start.

And I even have a soft Lamb's Ear bouquet to show for it!...


Time, I think, for a nice glass of ice cold tea!

• If you missed Wednesday's post of thrifted goodies, click here.

And otherwise, I hope to see you again this coming Wednesday when we talk about other thrifty finds! Have a good one!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Summer's Promise

With the Pittsburgh Marathon on Sunday and every major highway in the whole of the 'Burgh, it seemed, either closed or down to one lane, your intrepid Hostess this week was... well... frankly, trepidated. And I didn't brave the traffic and long waits for the more thrifty pursuits in life.

Instead, I stayed home and tried to be productive writing on my novel-- up to page 259 in the manuscript so far... and like the traffic, it's been a long journey. So today's Treasure Box also keeps us close to home, with the beauty that lurks in the flowers of the season.

I liked in particular, this little viola which has worked itself into the cracks in my driveway...


They pop up every year, and every year, I just can't bear to remove them. I pull the weeds, but let my little purple friends greet me each evening when I come home. They're rampant all over the neighborhood.

Here in the backyard, the mossy phlox are wet, but still lovely. I enjoy this nook with my statuary, rosebushes and creeping phlox...

There just seems something a little magical about all that color.

And this... I just wish the creeping phlox could flox like this all summer long...


What a carpet of tiny flowers! But alas, they'll only be around like this for a few more weeks. By mid-June it's guaranteed to be gone-- and green.

And the bleeding hearts have come out in full force this year! Every year, the planet gets bigger and with more and more hearts dripping from its branches...


Here you can see a few of these pretty things just a bit closer...


The lilac is well on its way, too. You can see all of those flowers just about ready to come open. In another week or so, the backyard will be smelling like heaven. (Achhooo!)


And my very first rose was popping today... This is the Rose de Resch, which is an old-fashioned tea rose, and has an incredibly strong perfume-like fragrance...


If you remember the old Avon Roses, Roses perfume, this rose smells just like that.

And lastly, we have roses to come... Like the lovely Helen Hayes here...


Helen is one of my absolute favorites. She gets big yellow flowers that turn from yellow to pink to orange to mauve... It's a bit like having a sunset on a shrub.

Well, that about does it for today's Treasure Box.

• If you missed Sunday's post on Actress Postcards from the Late 1800s and Early 1900s, click here.

Otherwise, make sure to give yourself enough water, a little sunshine and some decent meal, and I'll see you next week!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Looking Ahead to Summer

As spring gives way to summer, we look ahead to warmer weather, vibrant flowers and well-earned vacations. For the thrifter, however, the summer months are not always the best. Thrift store shelves become increasingly bare as spring cleaning yields to summer leisure. Yet today, I don't think you'll be disappointed, since there's always something to talk about in the Treasure Box.

I'd discovered-- really by accident-- a painting on Ebay which pretty much demanded I bid. And perhaps it was due to the impending summer and the lure of the gentle outdoors that meant the usual competition was nowhere to be seen online.

You see here my purchase, a full-fledged Victorian painting done by a "G. Verdier"...


And I imagine with that full view, you've also noticed the painting's unusual and delightfully humorous element. The lady, who looks rather pleased at whatever the outcome of events has been, smiles hopefully at the horizon as the Cupid lies-- asleep? knocked out cold?--- legs akimbo in an upset of roses and arrows and overturned furniture.

Whatever has happened, it's been a serious ordeal for the chubby god of love...


So this has been a real delight for me this week. My only real thrifted goody came in the form of this trio of chicks... Or The Andrews Sisters, if you will. :)


They'll be great for Easter.

Other little joys involve the beauty you just can't buy. The garden is just beginning its summer blooms, and I'll give you a small preliminary tour. Like Big Red here... the first of the roses original to my house.


And here we have a ruffled columbine which planted itself in a compost heap a few years back, and which was transplanted to a little better location...


I don't know what this pink groundcover is, and I don't honestly recall planting it last year, but it's doing marvelously...


A previous year's investment of foxglove means this year, I have foxglove aplenty. I love their impossible-looking spires...


The yard itself looks a bit rough around the edges, I admit. Some of my topiaries haven't made it and need to be removed, and some of the roses need a serious trim. There's still a lot of work to be done in this tiny space...


But as day turns to night, the colors just continue...



I hope you're all having a beautiful summer so far.

• For those who missed Sunday's post on the artist R. Atkinson Fox, click here.

• And for folks who enjoy a chuckle, you may appreciate the gardening tales on my humor blog, Of Cabbages and Kings. Click here for that.

And as always, thanks to each of you for stopping by and hanging out with me. I really do appreciate your visits.

Field Trip!: Floral Meets Fable at Phipps Conservatory

Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, exhibits dazzling flora year-round, so it's always worth the time to wander through their gardens. The peaceful atmosphere and beauty alone can provide gardening inspiration and a mini-vacation from hectic life.

But a recent Phipps show, "Mystical Beasts," showcased a twist on topiary tradition. And if you've read about my garden, you know I am a gal who loves a good topiary. So today, come with me and we'll explore a world of magic and whimsy...

These are not your average lollipop trees.

Step off the bus... Venture through the doors... And there before your eyes is one of the most revered and elusive of mythic beasts-- the unicorn. This is one of the more traditional topiaries we'll be seeing today.


Topiaries usually come in one of two types: a tree or shrub cut-to-shape, or a wire form upon which plants like ivy wind around to flesh out the form. And--

Oh no! I think we've disturbed it. Shhhh... let's move on to the next room...

YIKES! It's a dragon archway with heads at either end! Based on those teeth and that smoke coming out of THIS mouth, I do believe this must be a case of two heads NOT being better than one-- not for our health, anyway. If we dare inspect it more closely, we can see this dragon had been fit together on a wire form... Then the eyes were...

The eyes, er, look kinda... hungry... don't they?...

Here's some nice plant food for you, Beastie. That's it: Miracle Gro, yum-yum.

(...Let's pick up the pace just a bit, shall we?)

Most of the creatures you'll see here are a clever combination of sculptural objects and greenery, so they're not all technically topiary design. But, honestly, how often do you see a candy-colored snake having a sip?

A centaur with more bark than bite?...

And a misting Medusa?...

The room here below is the one I always find most inspirational for my own gardening design. This little English formal garden has varying looks throughout the year.

As you see it here in autumn during our magical Mystical Beasts tour, it's lush and untamed, like the layout has overgrown. The colors, too, feature cooler looking blues, greens and purples than usual.

Because this: this is what the same room looked like in Spring. The low hedgerows, trimmed appearance, statuary and symmetry are all elements you expect to see in formal gardens.

Well, let's take one last look around and make sure we didn't miss anything important here at Phipps and--

Oh NO! The hideous Hydra!...

(Er, and an attacking plant, too.)

...Run away! Run away! Back on the bus!...

Everyone make it? Phew! So much for peace and tranquility.

Go and have a nice lie-down, and I'll see you next week.