What's in bloom?

Happy weekend, everyone! We've been busy the last week, soaking up the last few days of summer before school starts. The kids and I have logged our share of hours at the pool this week. ; )

Here is what is in bloom in the garden....

First up, my dwarf butterfly bush, Buddleia 'Lo and Behold.' I bought this the first year they came out with these and I have been really pleased with the size! It is the perfect size for my front garden. I'm hoping to plant one of the larger varieties in the back shrub border-to-be.

My tall phlox has been going strong now for about four weeks. Absolutely beautiful! My variety is called 'David's Lavender.' It has not had one bit of mildew--and we've had a pretty wet spring and a wet August so far. At our old house, I had the 'David' variety and it struggled with the mildew.

I planted three of these--one did not make it. I'm hoping to find one more of that variety to plant this fall. These phlox blooms come at a time when not too many other perennials are blooming!

My zinnias 'Orange Profusion' look great. This has been one plant that I can count on every year to perform well. I have not been super happy with how the orange has looked with some of its compadres....namely, the hypericums behind them (yellow blooms) and the black-eyed susans in front of them (dark gold blooms). A little too much orange/yellow for me. Perhaps next year I'll try the pink or white Profusions.....I'd also like to add in blue salvia behind the zinnias.

There are the susans. 'Goldsturm' is the kind I planted. They are huge!

This plant is no longer in bloom, but I had to share the pics. This is perennial hibiscus 'Lord Baltimore.' A showstopper when it is in bloom.

 Mine is planted by the mailbox and it has gotten better each year! I love this flower since it ties in with the name of our street. :) I wonder how many of my neighbors pick up on it.

Have a great weekend!

Linked up to....
Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time

The Wall Project Reveal

Well, the wall is finally complete. This is one of the biggest DIY projects that we have ever attempted. And our marriage is still intact. ; )

When we moved into our new house two years ago, the garden was nothing but taxus, boxwoods and daylilies. Now, none of those plants are still in their original spots and one of our goals was to build some retaining walls to level out the front garden with the slopes in our front yard.

Here is the before of the right side of our front garden. While the taxus covers the foundation, notice how low the soil level is towards the end of the foundation.

Those shrubs got moved to the side.....removed the weeds that had set up shop there...ordered our stone and it was delivered....we built three--THREE--retaining walls, filled in with 40 bags of topsoil and moved/replanted plants.

And....the after!

I'm so excited and I have to give huge props to my husband who indulges me on my "projects!" He did the lion's share of the work.

All that's left is to mulch out the area, since weeds are already starting to pop up. We are lacking in plants on that side, but I have plans....a tree will go down by the lowest wall and then three shrubs and perennials to fill in under the windows. After all of the work and cost in building the wall, I'm ready to take a break and shop for plants in a more leisurely fashion. Sometimes, the hardscaping makes such a difference--and it's the part that is the hardest to bite the bullet and do. It's hard work if you do it yourself and it's expensive. : ) Although it was a gargantuan project, I couldn't be happier!!!

I still find myself driving up the street and admiring our wall.

Linking to these parties....
Time Travel Thursday at The Brambleberry Cottage
Fridays Unfolded at Stuff and Nonsense
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Show and Share Day at Just a Girl
Simply Creations Link Party at Simple Home Life
Addicts (not so) Anonymous Addicted to Decorating
Flaunt Your Flowers at Tootsie Time
Sunday Showcase Party at Under the Table and Dreaming
Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop at Homemaker on a Dime
Tip-Toe Thru Tuesday at Crayon Freckles

The Great Divide

You may recall that we spent some time working on our retaining walls recently. The final step before we could take a breath on this project was to replant the plants that had been moved. Some of them needed to be divided, too.

Here is what the garden looked like before. Eeek.

I dug this clump of liriope 'Big Blue.' It was huge and it had a few weeds growing through it that I had to remove.

Using one of my kitchen knives, I divided it up. Generally, I use my spade, but for some divisions, a knife works much better.

While dividing perennials not one of the sexiest gardening jobs, it is one of the most gratifying. Who doesn't want free plants? And I think it is also one of the most intimidating if you have never done it. It's pretty easy if you have a little faith...and perennials are tough. They can take it. Dividing at the right time of year helps a lot, too. Most plants are easiest to divide in spring.

Some of them I had stuck in empty paver base bags to keep the root ball moist. Classy. They got transplanted in various spots. They also have not wilted one bit...that plant is tough!

I also had to dig up some plants to be moved. I dug them and laid them out on a tarp to keep the grass from getting clumps of dirt all over it, which are a pain to clean up.

You can see my caryopteris in the lower part of the picture is not happy. Wilting after being out of the ground five minutes. I also had some plants that had had to be moved earlier resting in bags.

After transplanting--and moving some things over from the other side of the garden--we have one side of our new garden bed that is starting to be filled in.

The hostas have done great being moved, along with the liriope. The daylilies are browning a bit, but I think they'll be okay. And my caryopteris, which should start blooming in the next month, I've had to baby that one, watering it almost every day. It may not bloom this year, but now it's in the correct spot...forever!

As for the rest of the garden, I'm waiting to see what the fall plant sales bring. ; )

A garden visitor

One of my new additions to my herb garden this year is dill.

For the literary buffs out there, you may be familiar with the novel To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. You may not know that the character of Dill in the book is actually based on her childhood friend, Truman Capote, another great American novelist and whom I like to think of as the father of crime fiction, which I love. ; ) He wrote In Cold Blood--one of my favorite books ever.

Anway....so, I was checking out my dill plants that I planted from seed this year.

Dill has a very thin, feather foliage to it and beautiful yellow blooms. Admittedly, I planted it mostly so I could cut the blooms (I have a cut-flower problem). If you are familiar with the culinary uses of herbs, dill would be used for things like dill pickles. Makes sense, right? : )

So, upon closer inspection of my dill, I noticed some visitors.

That would be the larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly. Pretty colorful for a caterpillar, don't you think?

The very first time I saw these guys munching my herbs several years ago, it freaked me out and I was aghast! Since learning that they are a larvae for a beautiful butterfly species, I plant dill just for them. It is one of their favorites....along with parsley, which is what the little guy up above is eating.
If you like planting herbs, it's nice to plant a little dill and parsley for yourself and some extra for the butterflies.

Cheesy French Bread

I recently made an oldie-but-a-goodie recipe. We have a monthly recipe club for the ladies here in my neighborhood. I occasionally get snickers from people when I tell them that we have one, but really, it's just an excuse for the women to share food, drink and talk. The host picks a theme, provides the drinks and you bring a dish.

You can't beat that, right? I mean, the guys have poker and I think recipe club is better. There's no thinking or strategy involved. Or loss of money.

But I digress. The theme was wide open--just plain old potluck. I pulled out an old recipe of my mom's, which I had not made in years. The recipe note of old had no name, so I call it Cheesy French Bread.

1 loaf French bread, cut lengthwise and in half
1c mayo
2c grated cheddar cheese
2-3 scallions, finely chopped
1 clove garlic or 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients and spread on bread. Bake at 350 on cookie sheet 15-20 minutes or until bread starts to brown slightly and bubble.I made one loaf with scallions and one without (I am not an onion person). I do suspect you could use chopped onions and it would be just as tasty--if you happened to be an onion person. It is a very easy dish to make and definitely fits into the "five ingredients or less" category, which is one of my favorites. I will warn--it is a bit greasy. I think you could cut down on the grease factor a bit by using low-fat mayo or perhaps low-fat cheese. But I myself am not opposed to greasy, cheesy goodness on occasion.

I brought home the leftovers and my husband said, "Why have you not made this before?"

So, I suppose it will end up in the rotation!

Craiglist find

Hey! I hope the beginning of August has been good to you so far. If you have not linked up any of your goodies at the Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop from Sunday, there is still time! You can find the link here. I'm digging all of the inspiration I'm finding there!

My relationship with Craiglist lately has been looking up. He does make for a touch-and-go sort of relationship. Don't you just hate those guys?

We sold a few things in the last month or so....spare dining table, some old unworn golf shoes that Freddie had (and had no idea to whom they belonged), extra dining chairs. We're putting that money towards a new purchase for our dining room, which is being repurposed. Stay tuned.

I did, however, find a few diamonds in the rough recently. I was poking around on the antiques board and came across some pretty chairs.

The lady who sold them to me had been cleaning out her barn and found these. The best part? She listed one for $40 (and I did not intend to pay that much). So, when I met her to check them out, she brought both and offered both to me for $25. Sold and score! Apparently, she did not want to lug one or both of them back home with her. ; )

She called them a harp and lyre chair, which I'll have to investigate and research. I love the shapes and they are in good condition. One will go in my repurposed dining room and the other? Perhaps my daughter's big girl room-to-be.

I'm excited to facelift these!

Party time.....Link party time!

I am over the moon excited this week to be co-hosting the Creative Bloggers' Party and Hop with SJ from Homemaker on a Dime! I love link parties....such an easy way to share your projects. It's great to see all of the new projects from other blogs. They give me inspiration for my own creations and I find new blogs to explore and follow!

I am still fairly new at this blogging thing and SJ has been such a friendly and welcoming face! She spreads a lot of blog love. : ) I was honored when she asked me to co-host with her.

Let's get to it!

All you have to do is:

 1) Link up whatever creative post you'd like to
share--it can be a DIY project, decor, photography, crafts, recipes, link party,
poem, thrift finds, or that informative syndicated post that can make
us laugh or cry--in short, whatever you're proud of! (No links to
businesses or giveaways. We have another party for these exclusively
this Tuesday called Market Your Biz & Giveaways at 5 pm, PST.)

2) Then follow as many blogs as your heart desires, preferably starting first with
the one before you and after you, before branching out. (Following the
host and co-host, too, will be very much appreciated, and we'll
definitely follow back.)

Displaying the party button, though optional, is very much appreciated.
This is a combination of linky party (where we can show off our
creations) and of blog hop (where we can follow as many excellent
bloggers as we like), hence the name Creative Bloggers' Party & Hop.
The link opens up every Sunday at 5:00 pm, PST.

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Because we like something different, we're using the reverse
entry for inlinkz - so the most recent participant will show up as
number 1, hence giving everybody a chance to get the #1 spot.

All right. Bring 'em on!