Even More June Gardening Tips- Roses!

 

Today I "dead-headed" my Knock Out Rose Bush. It was blooming beautifully during the Spring, but now the spent blooms need to be snipped off. You don't have to do this with a Knock Out Rose, but it will bloom a lot more if you do!

It may look like this now....but it already has some buds on it ready to bloom soon. Dead heading it will just make it more prolific - I do this all the way until Fall.

It doesn't take long, and it will reap big rewards!

Credit: Pet Scribbles

Blessings from our Garden

This week I processed our zucchini and froze it....

I found this nice big container at the Dollar Tree

that fits in between the frig shelves and can hold

a lot of produce

I put my Bosch to use

This was a great find years ago on ebay

The herbs and cukes were made into the

pickles you can see in a jars in a pic

below

We ate the green beans (called Dragon's Tongue) 

from Baker's Creek

I love cut flowers and try to

have them in the house

whenever we have them available to

cut

Down the Garden Path

My husband has done an excellent job with our gardens this year

(with no help from me or anyone else!)

thought you might like to see some of the fruits of his labor...

The flower above is bee balm and is in Bri's garden

the flower below is lantana--also Bri's

We are really enjoying so many goodies out of the gardens!

Hope yours is flourishing too...

Floral Idea

credit

Someone posted this great Christmas floral arrangement idea

on facebook--thought I'd post it in case

you aren't on fb, or didn't see it.

 

Directions:

 

Pick a jar that fits the size of the candy canes. You can use a baby food jar with small candy canes. For larger candy canes you can use any jar you already have, even empty spaghetti sauce jars. If you want several arrangements to look the same you’ll need jars the same size for that. If you prefer Mason jars check your local thrift shop for them. You are much cheaper there than brand new in stores.
Use masking tape to hold the candy canes onto the jar. Place the tape where you want the ribbon. Then cover it with a ribbon wide enough to cover the masking tape. Tie the ends of the ribbon in a bow for a finished look.
Add water to the jars when you add the roses (or other flowers). Add greenery as you like.

 

I thought it was adorable! :)

Longwood Part 2

I can never resist a shot of the tower

I love these garlic chives above--pretty and practical

 

Every time I go to Longwood I see something new

The little lady above was a new one on this trip

 I was walking by this and wanted a picture so badly of it...

but it was crowded and I had to wait for awhile until there was no

"traffic" :)

I thought it was worth it!

We always pop into the gift shop before we leave

Loved this "bee" display

I want Echinacea this color in my garden one day...

Orange!

Of course Bri spotted this little guy in the outdoor portion

of the gift shop before we left ;)

 

 

What I've Been Up To...

I really love cut flowers in the house! My husband and son sometimes bless me by

buying me some (my husband brought me some yesterday as a matter of fact!)

But, I also love to cut them from my yard--one of my fav things to do!

I recently had these lovely pink peonies and sage that I cut and brought in.

Alongside them you see the blessing of a bumper-crop of strawberries!

I held one so you could see how huge they are!

Don't these look pretty in the vase below?

Also, I am still on the Gaps diet...and here is my typical lunch...

salad, fruit, and kefir. It's so nice to have lettuce from the garden,

and the strawberries too--makes life easier!

When we went to visit our friends in Ohio last year, one of them made "Garden Tea" for us to drink.

I have an abundance of mint as you can see below, so I made some...

Basically, I just took filtered water and put it in my Vitamix--then I took washed mint (mine is apple mint)

and put it stems and all in the vitamix and blended it.

I strained it into the pitcher--and drank it.

It is really good!

Here's another batch of strawberries, and some snow peas too.

I really enjoy these fresh garden blessings!

If you read my previous post here, you know that I've been cleaning and decluttering for over a month.

It culminated today with our yardsale (our community had one) and since our son Brad is the president

of our civic assoc., we wanted to participate.

Everything that was left was loaded in the back of Brad's truck and the guys took it

all to Goodwill.

Phil and I also worked hard last night (it was pouring outside-so a great time to do it) cleaning out our attic.

We spent less than 1 1/2 hours, but we got alot done! And, I feel so much better now!

And, we made a little extra money to boot! :)

June is always a busy month for us, and ours is getting cranked up already!

Flowers Again...

Remember the flowers in my Mother's Day post from Brad?

Well, they didn't hold up well, and I mentioned it to the ladies at the

place where he got them...

So, they gave me these! (they let me pick what I wanted!)

I really enjoyed them, and appreciated the kindness of the ladies.

They said they had some problems over Mother's Day, and wanted to make it right.
It sure blessed me--i love flowers!

These little pink berries are what got me! :) 

Thanks Brad! I really enjoyed them!