Archive for June 2015

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (Garden Edition)

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Every spring Jim and I drop a stupid amount of money at the garden center instead of our kids' 529s. We get seduced by the gorgeous hot-house grown plants and walk around with the big flat handcart instead of the regular old shopping cart. We know that a puny shopping cart will not be able to hold all the plants and bushes we will plant and lovingly coach into huge mountains of garden delights.

 What this means is that Jim and I live every spring in an eternal state of hope. THIS will be the year!  The hydrangeas will bend with blossoms the size of melons. (OMG which reminds me of this time my BFF and I were coming out of a dance club and a drunk guy asked her "How are your melons smellin?" Charming). The roses will bare-knuckle fight each other for a spot to bloom.  The lavender will grow so big and so lush that all the linen that is in my basement waiting to be sewn into something will ache to be joined with it it in sweet little sachets. 

What does Dr. Phil say?  The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior?   So logically we should know that this is a daydream and all we will grow is mounds of dirt topped with mulch.  . Anything that we do manage to grow will get eaten by those sonsofbitches deer.

Which brings me to my current state of gardening affairs which I like to call The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

Here is The Good:  We purchased an IncrediBall hydrangea last year and it was a twig when we last left it. It didn't have a blossom and it was less than a foot tall. It was a sad, sad, hydrangea. I fully expected it to off itself over winter. Instead though it grew to over 4 feet tall!  And yes, those sonsofbitches deer have taken a few inches off in some areas but I'm ok with it since it seriously took off!  You can't even see all the blooms it has.


hydrangeas


Now The Bad:

Last year my sister-in-law sprinkled some wildflower seeds over a mound of dirt. What popped up was a mass of brightly colored zinnias. There was easily a trillion!  I can do that! I purchased a large bag of wildflower seeds and planted them here and there and in some pots. Anxiously I awaited my vibrant flowers to spring to life. Here is what I got.


WEEDS.  I successfully grew planters full of weeds. Yay me.



Now The Ugly:

Our driveway is lined with hedges, not sure the kind, but they get trimmed into neat round balls. This year we decided to let the flowers bloom on them which means they had to grow out of their shape. Then we got some rain and they are flailing every which way now.  It's almost as if they are all trying to pick up the same dollar bill. Or they are the senators trying to stab Caesar. I think this is actually called growing willy nilly.  But the purple-pink flowers are so pretty that we couldn't bring ourselves to shape them up. Sorry neighbors!

flowers bushes summer spring garden

What are your gardening successes this year? 

Cheers!
Jenny

Tie-Dye Your Summer Birthday Party

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tie dye party kids art
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Ellie's birthday is in June and I was wracking my brain trying to think of an idea for her birthday party. We have been through daisies, goldfish, butterflies, and Frozen. She adores painting and loves bright colors so when I found out about Tulip's One-Step Tie-Dye Kit I knew that a tie dye party was in order!




Summer Wreath Beach Inspired

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summer beach inspired wreath
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I adore the beach. One of my favorite times of the year is when we take our annual trip to the beaches of North Carolina with my sister and her family. Molly and Ellie spend the week running around with their cousins and I find myself sitting by the ocean reading a cheesy romance. Perfection.