A Grudging Admission

In the spring of 2009, my husband totally revamped my garden, without my permission. I was sooooooo mad. And he made some questionable decisions. My crocuses weren't very happy this spring as a result of his little makeover. I'm going to have to plant some more this fall.

I have to say, though, he made a few really good choices. A few of the plants he chose are late summer bloomers, which is good, because I like there to be some color at all parts of the blooming season. I'm not sure what these are (he neglected to remember the names of any of the things he planted), but the yellow is nice:

And these are some other things he planted. They are quite Seussian. I like 'em:

As far as the old school flower beds are concerned, here is my late-blooming diantha:

Every year, one of my dianthas blooms a couple of weeks before the other does. I sure wish they would coordinate.

Mom had some extra petunias, so she gave them to me:

I LOVE the way these smell.

She also had a couple of extra verbena:

Every time I learn the names of flowers, I laugh, because I've always heard or seen characters in plays, movies, and books with flower names. I watched How to Make an American Quilt last night (one of my all-time favorite movies), and the two sisters are named Hyacinth and Gladiola. They go by Hy and Glady. I know I've heard the name Petunia somewhere. A kid I grew up with actually married a girl named Diantha. And Verbena is the name of the housekeeper/cook lady who works for the dad in The Parent Trap. The lady that always says, "It's none of my never mind. I just mind my own business..."

My mums:

They are CRAZY happy at my house. I got some cuts from mom last year and planted them; I didn't expect them to be so very enormous and happy this year.

On a very rare feel-good afternoon about a month ago, I went out to do some deadheading, and my little shadow came with. He loves flowers as much as his mommy does.

I soooo need to do more deadheading. My mums are done for the season, and I have to cut them down so my glads, which are behind them, can make their debut.

I am sorely, sorely tempted to get more verbena or petunias to make my garden fuller. I'd have to use some of my grocery money, though... And it's getting REALLY hard to garden right now. Bending over is impossible, even on a little stool. Scootching along on my bumb is extremely difficult, as well. I'm just...large. But that's part of the pregnancy biz, right? Right.