Thursday, May 31, 2012

My Garden's Running Wild!

Alison @ The Polohouse is having her Favorites on the First party, and she's invited everyone to show our gardens.


Hubby and I are trying to make our yard/garden more low maintenance...since we're getting older...and lazier, but it doesn't seem to be working...things are running wild!
Here are some photos I took when I came back from thrifting this morning:




No, it's not a whale...it's just one of the boulders by the driveway. Only about 2/3rds of it is showing; the rest is under the wild muscadine vine, running over from our neighbor's yard.. :(






Speaking of my neighbor, why is his Hydrangea bush so HUGE? 
He never feeds or waters it and, it's about to take over his house...and his Dish.  
I'm not going to show you my Hydrangeas...they're pitiful!






Our fig tree has gone wild this year.  They usually aren't ripe till August. Can you believe I picked a bowl full after I finished taking the photos?
Speaking of wild...we have wild stuff growing everywhere...






...wild black berries all over the yard.,,we've been battling them for years...






...little "berries" on the wild Sassafras...






...here's one more wild thing, a Rose of Sharon... they just pop up all over the garden, and we pull them like weeds. This one is tree size now. If you look closely, you can see a little honey bee on it. I was really surprised, because we don't see many honey bees any more.






Just beneath the Rose of Sharon, the Oak Leaf Hydrangea is turning pink...






...Day lilies... I don't remember the name of this one.






Heading back to the house, you can see my Hens and Chicks are multiplying like crazy. I probably should divide them, but I like the lushness of them packed together...chick by chick...






...back up on the deck, I'm going lower maintenance here, by "mulching" the smaller pots with wine corks. 






I hope this mixed pot will last the summer. I love the purple petunias, with the creeping jenny, and the little white...whatcha-ma-call-its.






I'm glad you stopped by. Are you ready for a glass of tea?


Please, stop by Alison's party, and see all the wonderful gardens and then to Jennifer Rizzo for her garden linky party.
Hugs,
Babs

28 comments:

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Everything looks so lush, Babs! Maybe your neighbor's muscadines will produce on your side of the fence and you can pick them! lol Happy weekend!...hugs...Debbie

Anonymous said...

Hi Babs! Everything is so pretty.
Be a sweetie,
shelia ;)

Shenita @ Embellishments by SLR said...

Wow, Babs, you have so many pretty plants! I can only imagine how much they will fill out by the end of the season! So lush!

Kim @ Savvy Southern Style said...

Funny, we purposely planted Rose of Sharons. I love your succulents. I guess they like the hot sun or do you have them in the shade?

Kelly said...

Love that purple and white flower combo on your back deck. I've never seen wine corks used as mulch. Cute idea! You cracked me up calling your large boulder a whale. It does resemble one doesn't it? Ha! I think it's great that you're able to grow figs. How neat. Now you should make something with them.

Cheri said...

Everything looks wonderful. I hope the hydrangea we just planted looks like your neighbors...keeping my fingers crossed.

ℳartina @ Northern Nesting said...

Babs your succulent pot looks beautiful and I love the idea of using the wine corks!

Mr Paul said...

Babs your post has made me smile.
Your garden looks wonderful so many flowers.

Is neighbours hydrangea planted on the bottom of a slope? Looks like it is, maybe its damper there?

You know you can eat those Daylily buds.... Come on Babs finish up yer buds or no pudding:)

My neighbour has blackberries which travelling through into our garden, keeps me very busy trying to hold them back they are so resiliant.

Bon jubilee.
Paul

Carlene @ Organized Clutter said...

I absolutely love color combination in the pot with the purple petunia, creeping jenny and alyssum! The plate is perfect in that pot!

PAINTORDIG.blogspot.com said...

I love the pot with the purple petunias-great combination. Yes, the figs are early this year, but I think most everything is ahead of schedule.Wish I had a bowl of blackberries and milk.

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

All your flowers are gorgeous. Love them. The cork in the planter, how fun is that. Hugs, Marty

Unknown said...

Lovely post! Beautiful yard.

Alison @ The Polohouse said...

Your yard is beautiful, Babs!
You cracked me up when you said this is no whale....it does look like one!

Your rose of sharon is so pretty. We had those in our yard in PA when I was little. I completely forgot about them.

I wish I had a fig tree.
I would have picked them today too!

Find anything while thrifting today? Hope so!


Thanks so much for linking up this morning.
xoxox
Alison

On Crooked Creek said...

Babs,
Just simply gorgeous!!! I do understand. Try as we may, low maintenance doesn't seem to work here on the Prairie, either! Guess we'll just sit back and enjoy while we can!
Fondly,
Pat

An Oasis in the Desert said...

Wow, I'm jealous of all that lushness, Babs. Even your "wild things" look pretty. I don't know many plant names, but those little white flowers look like alyssum to me. That is something that hangs on much longer than you would think here in our desert heat. Sometimes it even survives the entire summer & bounces back to life for the winter. Our garden has been doing really well, but I'm almost afraid to go look today -- it's 1:45p.m. & 106 degrees with a predicted high of 113. I haven't even stuck my head outside at all today. I have a low melting point....lol!

Enjoy your weekend, Babs!
CAS

Olive said...

Baba, it is lush and pretty wild here too since we got a lot of those tropical storm rains last week. I love your hen and chicks. I just divided many of my succulents and put them all over the place. hugs, olive

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

My nemesis is the weeds this year! Some days I'm ready to plough the whole garden under and plant grass but I know that won't happen :) Pretty shots!

Kim @ French Country Antiques said...

If this is what you call "wild" then it's awesome. You have lovely florals growing. I love it that you have a fig tree!

kim @ whitebarnbasics said...

Hi! I am new to your blog and I must say I enjoy it very much! I liked the wine cork idea! Does it really work for a type of mulch...I don't care, even if it doesn't it look cool, chic even! I planted one Rose of Sharon last year! ;-)

andrea@townandprairie said...

I wish my hydrangeas got that huge w/ no maintenance! Your succulents look divine!

Savannah Granny said...

Babs,
I love you garden wild or not. It sure looks healthy. Instead of fighting the wild blackberries, start trying to cultivate them and they will die. Easy peasy!
Love the hen and chicks.
I just got home this weeks, three weeks away. All I have been doing this week is laundry.
xo

Ann from On Sutton Place said...

Babs it all looks fabulous. My favorites are the Rose of Sharon and the cork mulch. Brilliant. :o) My neighbor across the street has a gigantic hydrangea that he pays no attention to. No trimming, water, food, no nothing. It's incredible and gets blooms a foot wide. Of course mine are never as good as his. It's just not fair! Happy Sunday!

Robin said...

Thanks for the nice comments on my blog and I will gladly follow you back. Your garden is full of beautiful things whether you intended for them to be there or not! Will your neighbor at least let you have some of his flowers? I love the corks as mulch and I'm sure your enjoyed collecting them!

Rbbin
Robin Flies South

Unknown said...

everything looks amazing!!! Oh I just grew out my very own fig tree and Im proud as hell of it but yous is incredibly beautiful! I love wild gardens, and yours is just teeming with interesting stuff! :D

Hugs,

Ricki Treleaven said...

Oooooooo...so tell me about the wine corks! That sounds like an ingenious idea.

Linking from The Polo House,
Ricki Jill

Kathleen said...

I love your Dish Garden, lol!
We have rose of sharon as a hedge along one side at the cottage. It looks so pretty when it blooms. We thin it out every few years.
You must have your hydrangea in the wrong spot cause they grow huge here. I have to cut them back every year.
Ours are just starting to bud.
I planted Wargrave geranium and that was a mistake! They are overtaking the garden!
Thanks for the garden tour and id ing the deruitsia for me!

Alycia Nichols said...

I bet I'd have "an accident" with a pair of pruning sheers to reclaim my rock!!! :-) And your neighbor doesn't need all those beautiful hydrangea blooms. Go on over there and snip yourself a nice bouquet! :-) I'm intrigued with the use of wine corks to "mulch" the planter. Does that really help to keep the moisture in as well as look cool? I have about a billion wine corks (NO idea who might have consumed all that wine!!! ;-) that I have ready to go into service if that really works. I hate having to go out every day to water when it's hot as blue blazes out!

Sweet Posy Dreams said...

What a nice garden. I especially like your succulent pot -- wonderful!