Springtime

Hello out there, friends.  I have certainly missed the blogosphere and am glad to be back.  Life is bustling with spring in the air here in Atlanta.  It really is such a lovely time of year.  Our neighborhood is planted with flowering cherry trees.  Friday, when I returned home from work, it was as if it had rained pink petals all over the neighborhood.  It really was quite magical and pretty.

While going through my photos, I found these which I just wanted to share with you.  I took these before we moved from the lovely lake.  They tell a little springtime story, don't they?

Until next time, wishing you all the best!

New Chapter - Postage Stamp Garden

Resident Bluebirds

We're now in our new home in the Atlanta area.  Luckily, we found a charming rental townhouse with a great area for a postage stamp garden complete with a mature passionflower vine and resident bluebirds.  To top it off, I've been given full gardening freedom by the landlord.  Just wanted to share some shots of my canvas in waiting.  I am STILL unpacking (had no idea we were borderline hoarders until now ... LOL).  I'm off to continue unpacking.  There will be a postage stamp garden progress report on my next post.  Until next time, let's keep on shining! :-)

Traveling Orchids

Traveling Staghorn Fern

Passion Flower - New Garden

Postage Stamp Garden in the Works

A New Favorite Tree

Brought This One With Me - Lemon Spider

A Garden of Friends

Wow!  I know it's been a long time since my last post, but A LOT has been going on since then, friends.  I'll be packing up and leaving the Daylily Soup garden in three short weeks.  We'll be moving to a townhouse in the Atlanta area, and I will then be a girl without a garden.  There!  I've said it!  Tears have been shed but but I am now in "prepare to bloom where you're planted" mode.  It seems my stars have lined up as far as the daylilies go.  Friends have offered out of the blue to take divisions, and "babysit" (their word) the daylilies until such time as I get my gardening hands on a garden again.  It really is true, "A garden of friends is always in bloom."  Daylily Soup will take on a different light for the time being, and will probably be a blog of my life and times as a gardener/photographer with posts about the gardens and blooms of others as well as my Atlanta adventures.  I'm really looking forward to visiting the fabulous Atlanta Botanical Garden.  Don't worry, I'll take you all along too.  Hopefully, I'll be able to post some 2014 daylily blooms before I land elsewhere, but I'm not sure if I'll see their smiling faces this year as we've had a very cold spring.  At least they'll have good babysitters. :-)  Well, I better run.  I'll see you on the other side.  Until then, I'll leave you with my cool weather friends, the Dutch Irises.  Thanks for stopping by. :-)

Dutch Irises - Cool Weather Friends

'Tis the Season for Orchids!

Just a note to wish you all a very happy new year!  May 2014 be our best new year yet!  There will be lots of big changes in our lives here at the Daylily Soup garden in 2014, so I hope you'll stop by often to see what's going on.  I've certainly enjoyed your visits, comments and friendship in 2013.

For now, I'd like to leave you with these beautiful buds and blossoms from two of the resident orchids.  'Tis the season for orchid blooms around our home!  By the way, I found a great tried and true mail order source should you need a fix. ;-) You may have to wait a bit for a shipment now as it's too cold to ship currently.  Here's the link:  http://www.orchidsbyhausermann.com

Until next time, let's keep on shining!  

See you in 2014. :-)

Water Witches, Devil's Needles and Hobgoblin Flies, Oh My!

 Since we've either walked willingly, tumbled or been shoved through the doors of October with Halloween now upon us, I was inspired to write a post about some of my favorite garden visitors.  Known in different parts of the world as "Water Witches," "Devil's Needles" and "Hobgoblin Flies," dragonflies never cease to amaze with their stellar aviation skills, tissue paper wings and jeweled, colorful bodies.  Although some see them as a bit spooky, they are considered holy creatures in many parts of the world as well. 

Lately, I was lucky enough to get a striking green "Water Witch," and a lovely azure "Hobgoblin Fly" to pose for a photo shoot.  Here are the local spooks:

Water Witch

Hobgoblin Fly

I do hope all of the "Water Witches," "Hobgoblin Flies" and "Devil's Needles" will stay around to decorate my garden for Halloween!  Should  they cause any mischief, I still have my blue glass bottles out in the garden turned upside down on garden stakes to catch any misbehaving spirits (according to old garden lore). 

"We're all only fragile threads, but what a tapestry we make."

-Jerry Ellis

Daylily Soup Goes on Safari!

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to share a little Alabama safari I went on today with you. 

I donned my leopard Crocs!  

What?  A girl has to be stylish!  

Have you had time to compose yourself (I just know you were amused by my fashion statement)?  Okay, here we go ...

I had already spotted my "object of interest," so I flew like the wind (as leopards do) along a path on this lovely bank.

Aha!  There he is!

He (I just think it is) tried to hide from me, but he underestimated the zoom on my lens!  He looks like a "Brutus."

Brutus was hovering to the left of this area.  I was out on a little peninsula.

Peaceful "looking" water.  Probably something much bigger than Brutus lurks beneath!

These ridges are wild pig paths.  There were no sightings on this safari, which is all for the best since they are aggressive!

On the way home, I was hoping to get a good shot of my favorite heron.  There he is up on top of the covered dock (he does not appreciate my visits).  This was a little too far away for me to get a good shot (a very clever fish sighting spot though).

Until next time, all the best!

:-)

Lake Tahoe Cottage

IMG_0946, a photo by LaLens on Flickr.

Hey Friends,

I recently took a trip to the Lake Tahoe area where I snapped this photo of an enchanting cottage and garden (this was in South Lake Tahoe just across the California border from Nevada). This fabulous garden seemed well established with many glorious perennials in purples and reds. I've decided garden fairies are certainly living here. Do you see them? I think mine have migrated for the summer to get away from the heat, and this is probably where they can be found. :-)

Until next time, let's keep on shining!

Good Hair Days!

Yep, you guessed it!  Some daylilies have good and bad hair days.  The endearing 'Sebastian the Crab' who is still settling in here at The Daylily Soup Garden, is almost unrecognizable on bad hair days. On those days, I stare in disbelief and wonder how Sebastian ever ended up here.  He looks like he's been living the fast life for sure!  Then there are good hair days like today when I am entranced once again. :-)

'Sebastian the Crab'

Until next time, keep on shining! :-)

P.S. This is another one of my phone posts, so please excuse any "unusual" formatting.

A Day in the Garden!

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to chitchat a bit about the lovely gardening day I had.  Being a morning person, I woke up bright and early.  This habit annoys the "night owls" in the house. :-)  During daylily season, I always take a quick look at the main daylily garden right away.  Surprises await me!  We've had very cool nights lately.  Just for the record, Southern daylilies do not like cool nights.  There they stood this morning!  The daylilies were huddled together in the main bed with petals folded tightly.  I hoped they wouldn't pout the day away!  While I was waiting on the lilies to quit huddling, I cooked a batch of hummingbird nectar, and "escorted" the crazy neighborhood cat out of the garden three times (he hasn't figured out this garden is for the birds).  I guess you're wondering what I mean by "escort."  Well, with this stubborn feline, it means chase to the back of the garden and through the thicket, and/or sprinkle/blast with the hose (yes, I said it).  He can't be reasoned with any other way.  Anyway, back to the daylilies, the sun did shine upon them, and the main daylily bed was one big, beautiful blast of color by 10:00 a.m. with daylilies dancing and waving in the breeze.  Here are a few photos from my day in the garden if you have a moment:

'Spacecoast Ojo Rojo'

'Octopus Hugs'

'Springfield Clan'

'Spacecoast Mulberry Motif''

Inherited ... I call it 'Lemon Spider'

Inherited ...

Inherited ...

Pineapple Sage

I pruned the pineapple sage that's planted in the herb garden, 

and was wearing a fab pineapple perfume with mid notes of sage after that. :-)

This is along the path to the back deck.  

I've had lots of fun with this little gardening space.  

That's lavender in the big pot (one of my impulse buys at Publix). 

 I'm delighted it's doing so well because I don't have a good history with lavender.

Me ... gardening like a rock star!  lol

Until next time, let's keep on shining! :-)

They're Back!

Hey Friends,

I know this blog has been terribly neglected lately.  It's a wonder it isn't just totally grown over with weeds!  I've turned into a traveling gypsy, and have been to Illinois, Nevada, California and Virginia since March, so life has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Hmmmm, maybe I should temporarily rename the blog to Daylily Whirlwind.  Sometimes, I just click my heels together and repeat "There's no place like home."  Anyway, I'm home for a while and what a time to be here!  Showtime has begun for the dayliles, and it's been lots of fun so far.  I'm trying to stick to my resolve to quit moving them around just for the sake of "rearranging," and that's turning out to be a good thing (I did move a few to sunnier spots though).  It's amazing how much taller they are once they've been left alone to settle in for a couple of years.  Here are a few blooms of late I'd like to share with you:

'Cameroon Night'

 This one resides near the back of the main daylily garden (referred to as The Daylily Soup Garden around here).

It shines like a beacon back there!

'All American Chief''

 Brilliant!

Super tall, re-blooming, large spider that seems to glow.  

I never can quite catch the elusive beauty of this one in a photo.

'Texas Big Bend'

This has been one of my favorites for the past two years with its beautiful color, substance and ruffled edges.  

This bloom is huge and some have compared it to a fancy squash bloom.  

What a fancy squash bloom!

'Rip City'

This tall bearded iris is a keeper.  I bought it after reading reviews that it will bloom in hot climates when others don't.  

Well, I have not been disappointed, so if you're looking for a rugged, heat tolerant bearded iris, this is the one for you!  

'Rip City' has bloomed consistently since landing in my garden even when it wasn't particularly babied.  

We all know which flowers get babied in this garden, don't we? ;-)

Clematis

'Firefly Frenzy'

This is 'Firefly Frenzy's first year anniversary in the garden, and look at all of the buds!

It doesn't quite look like it did when I bought it but it's still settling in.

 

Crazy Garden Getup

 Sometimes, one just has to get out to the garden with coffee in hand right away!  

Hence, more crazy garden getups!

Yes, that is a gown with the gardening bogs!  LOL

What's your favorite bloom of this group?  I'd love to hear.

So glad you stopped by!

All the best! :-)

Gonna Garden Like a Rock Star!

Yep, gonna garden like a rock star in the Daylily Soup garden today! LOL. An update will be along soon unless I'm locked up in "the big house" for my rock star behavior! I'm on my way out the door in my gardening getup of gray safari cargo pants (protection from fire ants), blue flowered gardening boots, white flowered gardening hat and red gardening gloves ( I'm not hard to spot in the garden). What's your favorite gardening getup? Hope you have a lovely day, friends! :-)

Daylily Soup goes to Illinois!

Hi Friends,

I must warn you, this post is being created totally from my phone, so I'm not quite sure how the final post will look. I just got a new phone since the old one decided it didn't want to perform as a phone anymore, and am unable to upload photos for use on my blog as I used to. The former phone just didn't want to ring when someone called (now, that's a problem). Anyway, I recently took a trip to Illinois where I braved the snow and ice complete with a winter storm. It was quite pretty but I am so glad to be back in Alabama (yes, I've become a sissy when it comes to cold weather). The beach is the place for me! Hope you enjoy some of my photos from my little adventure. All the best, friends! :-)

View from the rental car line ...

At the hotel ...

This view wasn't my cup of tea ... homesickness was setting in but I would persevere ... :-)

Winter storm on the way ... supposed to fly out the next morning at 6:00 a.m.

My view before the de-icing!

Back home again ... southern sunset. :-)