Stargazer Lily

My daughter gave me this stargazer lily for Mother's Day. The three buds just kept getting bigger and bigger and I couldn't wait until they opened. And here's the first flower! So beautiful. I actually took a tape measure out to the garden and it's 9 inches across! And smells heavenly - like a gardenia. I can sit at my computer desk which is across the room from the window that faces my garden and smell it all the way across the room! It's the first thing you smell when you set foot on my patio. Thank you, Rebecca, for such a beautiful addition to my garden.

My garden

One of my favorite pleasures in life is gardening. It's so rewarding and I have a real passion for digging in the dirt. All winter long I wait for that moment when the ground is warm enough to start planting. I'd like to share a few of the photos of my garden, though it's been very hard to pick just a few photos.

When I first bought my house back in 1974, one of the few flowers that were already planted on the side of the house were Oriental poppies. They've been one of my favorites ever since. Here's a poppy with a Gerbera daisy.

I don't like to buy annuals because I hate to see them die off in the winter. But I couldn't resist this Mandevilla last year. And luckily I was able to winter it in the crawlspace. It survived the winter beautifully so I'll do the same with it this winter.











Cone flowers have spread like crazy in my yard and I have quite a large section of them now. Here's a little bee enjoying them. I let the flowers dry and in the fall, the seeds attract gold finches. They have quite a feast on them!












These day lilies are such a delight. While the blooms only last a day, they are such beauties. And this year the blooms just keep coming and coming, more each day. Such a pretty sight.













I love an English garden look with scattered flowers everywhere. Such a peaceful place to sit and relax. If I can ever find time to do that!