Gray thumb?!

Ugh. This is my 3rd attempt at this post. Days ago, I was up until 2am putting the finishing touches on it only to lose the WHOLE thing somehow when I was spellchecking. I don't know what happened, but *poof* it was gone. I went to bed very frustrated that night. Tonight I tried it again, only to have Ava come along and *poof* it was gone again. -sigh-

Soooo.....maybe the 3rd time is a charm!

Anyway, I think I've moved up in status when it comes to my flower gardening skills :) I am now proudly a gray thumb instead of black! Heck, maybe I'm even a light gray thumb! I've always had an interest in beautiful flowers and gardens, but didn't really learn the skill until I was in my mid twenties. After researching and practicing bit by bit to beautify my yard, I've finally learned a thing or two.


Here are some shining examples of some flowers that I didn't kill this season ;)

Not bad for cheapy Dollar General bulbs huh?

Star Gazer Lilies on Monday...

And the same lilies on Wednesday:

Here is a Pin Cushion flower. You can almost see the little "pins" poking from the outer rim at the center. I love this little scraggly plant. Next season I think I'll get a blue one.

Recently we sold our landscape supply company. Hubby sold many unique rocks and stones. A few years back, he brought home a sponge rock. It has nice deep holes (like a sponge obviously). It's perfect to plug in little succulents such as hens and chicks. I need to plug in some more of the holes to really fill it in. I wish we had grabbed some other stones before selling!

I mostly have perennials in my yard (I'm a plant-it-once kind of chick..that's how I roll), but I did plant a few annuals. Here is one that I placed in an arch shape all along the flower bed.

And another annual that I scattered all throughout the front flower bed and in pots...

Daylilies seem to be a staple in most Michigan yards. My yard is no exception. I love them. They remind me of going to Nannie's cabin in Canada. She's been gone for over 20 years now, but her daylilies are still there. Right now I only have 6 in 2 different colors, but I plan to get more in a variety of colors.

One of my all time favorite perennials are Cone Flowers! I have them inbetween the Daylilies along my back fence. They really grew tall this year, even tho hubby chopped one last season just as it was coming up. I guess he thought it was a weed. I put a marker out there this season so it wouldn't be maimed.

Here are some random perennials & annuals in the yard:

These Mums want to come early I guess. I do pinch them back, but I guess not enough this year

These sneaky little Snapdragons found their way into the flowerbed this year. Last season I had them in pots nearby. Lucky for them I'm a lazy weeder because I let them grow enough to produce flowers. Otherwise I would have pulled them thinking they were weeds since I had so much clover all over that area. I also had a cute purple Petunia reseed in one of my pots this season. It now blends in nicely with the Impatiens. No pic of that one tho.

Out of all the flowers in my yard, I love my Hydrangeas the most, but have no pictures to show this year. They decided to take a year off I guess. I'll figure out the problem and then there better be some showy blooms next year!

Last but not least is my new plant,Hardy Hibiscus. I just planted it this season and it's giving us quite a show!

Some people call it Dinner Plate Hibiscus because the blooms can get very large :) Here is Mr. B showing us just what size a dinner plate is ;)

Well, I hope I didn't bore you all too much. I just wanted to have a rememberance of the flowers that did so well in my yard this year just in case next year they decide to turn me back into a black thumb!