Everyday Beauty

The Lavender Harvest

It's that time again. All of my lavender plants are bursting with beautiful, long, fragrant stems. I went out and clipped each one, and the house smells fresh and clean with their scent.

The picture above shows the Hidcote variety and the one below is Provence. The Hidcote is a little more vibrant purple, but both smell amazing.

George said, "What's that rotten smell in here?"

I bit my tongue, then replied, "Are you talking about the huge vase of freshly-picked lavender that you're sitting next to?"

"Oh, yeah. I think it's rotten."

"It's not rotten, Honey. That how it's supposed to smell."

"Well, it doesn't smell very good."

"What are you talking about? It's smells wonderful!"

We ended the conversation there, knowing that this was going nowhere fast! Let's agree to disagree....{but I'm right!}

4 Sweet Birds {and 1 poor fern}

Aren't they sweet? There are 4 little birdies in this nest, even though it looks like one bird and a pile of fluff. Every year I hang ferns from hooks on our front porch. And every year I see the beginnings of a nest forming in them. I just take the ferns down for a few days and place them on ground level, hoping the birds will build a nest in someone else's hanging basket! I was late this year, though, and when I went to water my ferns a few weeks ago there were 4 teeny blue eggs already in a nest. Of course, I wasn't about to disturb the precious eggs, and we've been keeping them safe ever since. (But, I gotta tell ya, it's killing me to NOT water this poor fern and see the ugly brown leaves hanging from my porch!)

We had a terrible, windy storm a week or so ago, and I knew the fern would get blown right off the hook, probably cracking all of the eggs. So, I crawled out of bed and went outside to put the plant (with nest inside) someplace safe. I hung it back up in the morning, and thankfully Mama Bird wasn't upset. She's been in there feeding the 4 little mouths and keeping them from harm's way.

Mario thinks they're his own personal pets, and asks to see them about 62 times a day. I can't get over how quickly they've grown. One of these days I'll open the front door to check on them, and they will have all flown away, leaving their little nest behind. I'll miss the little loves when they're gone.

For now, I'll keep an eye on these sweet birdies and hope they all survive.....and when they fly away, I'm heading straight to the nursery to get another fern!

Peonies {the finale}

I just had to share a little more Peony beauty with you on this gorgeous Saturday morning. This is the 2nd and final harvest I gathered from the garden a couple of days ago.  Between the 3 bushes, they produced more than 100 blooms.

I am running out of vases so I decided to fill an urn and set it on my dresser. It's actually just right in scale and proportion.....and the bedroom smells like a florist shop!

Fresh flowers truly transform a space like no other decoration ever could.

I'm sorry I don't know the names of all of these varieties, as they are over 100 years old. You can check here in this peony paradise to find some similar if not exact. This one (below) is just barely a blush color. I wish I knew the name.

I received several emails from readers asking now to divide their peony bushes. I am not an expert on the topic like my mom is, but I found this article that will tell you everything you need to know.

Peonies with a Past

My girls are here again showing off their frilly pink skirts! I wait for them all year long and get so excited when I see the first buds. I always cut them and fill vases throughout the house to enjoy their beauty indoors as well.

It amazes me when I see what a whole lot of neglect can produce in my garden.

This particular variety is the first to bloom. It's called Sorbet. Lovely, no? This plant was in my great great grandmother's garden and each generation since has taken a start of it. When we moved into our house 4 years ago, my parents came for a visit and brought clippings of 3 Peony plants from my mom's garden. They were teeny tiny, and George ran them over with the lawn mower. He said they looked like weeds. I was pregnant with Mario and stood in the yard screaming at him and crying like a nut case. I'll blame it on pregnancy-related hormones! Oh, I laugh as I type this. Poor guy. He really is a gem.

Now, those teeny tiny starts are huge, shrub-like plants that need support cages to hold them up.  I hope someday I can pass them on to a future daughter-in-law or maybe a daughter (no I'm not pregnant!) who enjoys gardening. They would have then been enjoyed by 6 generations....and who knows how many more in the future? I doubt my great great grandmother ever thought that I would have her Peony plants in my garden. It's a little bit of her legacy that still lives on.

A Place in the Sunshine

The intense heat wave has finally broken. It was so unbearable that I literally only went outside to get to the car or go into a store. I so wanted to enjoy summer, but it's not an easy thing to do when you feel like you're sitting on the surface of the sun! Luckily, this past week has offered some much needed relief, and we've been enjoying the outdoors once again. Autumn, I long for you. Please hurry.

This is my favorite place to sit on our deck. I got very lucky and found this old chaise lounge at a yard sale last summer and paid only a song for it. I had admired similar ones in Rachel Ashwell books and various magazines, but never thought I'd actually find one! I love the floral and scrolly iron details, but it's the wheels that make it so special, don't you think?

Now, in the spirit of "keeping it real", walk with me to another corner of my deck. Come see the pretty flowers....

Looks like I'm not the only one who doesn't like this heat! These were gorgeous, bountiful pink petunias back in the day. I watered them daily. I swear I did. Next summer, I'll be buying only Geraniums, Vinca and Sweet Potato Vine since they do so well in the heat and don't require daily watering.

Now, I'm going to go run and get a glass of the decaf iced tea I brewed yesterday. Then later, Mario and I will be headed outside to play!