A golden hue in the garden

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Hi there! Well the good news is that summer isn’t over yet. 🙂 And honestly, there were even some decent spells of weather this past week. Just not last night, or this morning! What a storm that passed through our area! Our pear tree did not fare well, unfortunately. We’ll see if it is save-able. But most of the rest of the garden seemed to do O.K. (gladioli aside).

There are still lots of sunflowers blooming. And now they are joined by rudbeckia Goldstrum and persicaria Blackfield. There are still some dahlia that haven’t bloomed yet. I’m waiting … patiently. I cut a few Sweet Pea bouquets this week that were quite large – they are blooming like crazy! And I made another arrangement, this one with a ‘copper toned’ color theme. I added something more unusual to it too, just for fun!

I’ll be joining Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme. It’s fun to see what’s blooming in gardens around the world!

I hope you’ll enjoy the tour.

In Peace,
Dana

Persicaria blackfield and rudbeckia goldstrum in among birch trees

1 & 2 – Persicaria Blackfield and Rudbeckia Goldstrum. These beauties are in among my five birch trees. This little garden bed has hellebores in bloom in the winter, bearded iris in early summer and now these two colorful plants for late summer and early fall. I’m happy with how it changes through the seasons with minimal work from me!

Collage of flowers: Lilies, sunflowers and a single gladiolus

3, 4 & 5 – Clockwise from top right: Lotus Dream lilies, sunflowers, gladiolus (unknown variety). It was a rough start for the lilies since the lily beetle got ahead of me (I eventually got rid of all of those pesky beetles!) but the lilies are still flowering and not looking too badly. More importantly, they are smelling beautifully! I continue to cut the sunflowers and they continue to bloom. There are always bees around, and now butterflies, too. The Gladiolus is a beautiful vibrant red! I had to cut this today as it was knocked in the storm. It currently has flowers open going all the way to the top (this picture was from a number of days ago). It is truly fabulous.

arrangement of flowers with sunflowers, dahlias and artichokes

6 – Floral arrangement. I used a glass ice bucket for his week’s arrangement, with marbles to help stabilize the flowers. I started with a bunch of sunflowers, some chocolate colored, some rust colored and some golden. Then I stuffed the arrangement with as many copper colored dahlias as I could fit! The floppy, tall, yellow sunflowers were added next. It was at this point that I decided I wanted to bring in a different color. I took a quick walk around the garden when I noticed the globe artichokes and that was it – decision made. Purple would be the final color! And when you cut them just as the flower turns purple, they will actually hold that color even as the artichoke dries out (for those of you who like to work with dried flowers).

Thank you so much for visiting! I appreciate your taking the time to stop by. Any favorite flower? 🙂

Euphoria in the garden

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Collage of dahlias and one picture of Dana next to the flowers
It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day which was perfect for a bike ride! Here’s me in the ‘cutting garden’ afterwards. The dahlias are all looking so pretty!

Hi there! Well, today I’d like to confess that I went for a very enjoyable bike ride. It doesn’t happen every time I go out, but lots of times I can feel the benefit of exercising, specifically a very happy feeling due to a rush of dopamine!

Dopamine is a chemical released in the brain that makes you feel good. 

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/

Today when I returned home, I was completely overwhelmed with ‘happy feelings’ for my garden. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and everything just looked wonderful (remember, I was on a bit of a natural ‘high’!). Despite the dopamine, though, I know how much joy my garden brings me, and I’m just glad to be able to acknowledge those feelings of gratitude. There is *always* something that needs to be done in the garden – usually weeding! But there is also always something to be grateful for. It’s so nice to be able to take it all in and enjoy what I have right in front of me.

I hope that you are able to enjoy happy feelings in what you do, too!

In Peace,
Dana

There’s a change in the air but the plants don’t care!

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Hi there! Ever notice that there is a change in the air in August? Maybe it’s a change in temperature, or maybe it’s just natural excitement as talk begins about the kids going back to school or college. I’m in no hurry to rush summer along, but I can feel that things are changing. My flowers seem to be happy, though! The dahlias are blooming, the hydrangea are filling out, the butterflies are visiting and the sunflowers continue to bloom.

I’ll be joining Jim at Garden Ruminations for our Six on Saturday meme. It’s a lovely way to see other gardens from around the world!

I hope you’ll enjoy the tour.

In Peace,
Dana

Hydrangea 'Vanille Fraise' Paniculata 'Renhy' and Agapanthus Blue Umbrella

1 & 2 – Hydrangea ‘Vanille Fraise’ Paniculata ‘Renhy’ and Agapanthus Blue Umbrella. The Vanille Fraise hydrangea’s flowers have never been as big as this year. And they are so full! The Agapanthus has been moved around the garden a couple of times, never blooming before this year. I’m not 100% sure it is completely happy where it is, though, as I think it would prefer a bit more sun. I’ll be on the lookout for a new location!

Two pictures of butterflies (Red Admiral and Peacock), Pink Olivia Rose Austin roses, and California poppy (orange) with yellow potentilla.

3, 4 & 5 – From top right: Pink Olivia Rose Austin roses, Red Admiral butterfly on Buddleia Buzz ‘Dark Pink’ Butterfly Bush, California poppy (orange) with yellow Potentilla shrub, Peacock butterfly on Buddleia Buzz butterfly bush.

The first thing I noticed about the roses, after seeing the pretty flowers and buds, were the leaves, which are a beautiful green. This is quite noticeable in my yard at this time of year as it is not uncommon for the rose shrubs to be covered in black spot! What a treat to see this shrub looking so well.

I had the pleasure of weeding near the butterfly bush this week. It is now quite fragrant, and attracts so many butterflies to its sweet flowers. One day it was only covered in Peacock butterflies, but the next time there were three varieties (the third being small Tortoiseshell). What a treat!

flower arrangement of sunflowers and dahlias and Japanese anemone

6 – Flower arrangement with sunflowers, dahlias and Japanese anemone. Dahlias: ‘Hartenaas’, ‘Great Silence’, ‘Creme de Cassis’, ‘Wizard of Oz’. This week I’ve made a pink themed flower arrangement. I like the challenge of finding enough flowers in the garden to make an arrangement!

Thanks so much for visiting. I’m hoping I’ll have more dahlias blooming next week to try another arrangement! 🙂

August is blooming (and swimming)!

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Hi there! All of my pictures today were taken in the two minutes of sunshine that we were blessed to have! 🙂 I hate to make the weather such a terrible topic, so I’ll just mention that the rain has persisted. Oh sure, we’ve had some breaks here and there. I even managed to go on a fairly dry bike ride the other day. But boy has it rained in between! You know who loves that, right? HYDRANGEAS! They are looking mighty fine. The roses are the main flowers unhappy with the wet situation.

The sunflowers continue to bloom and show off their beautiful faces. The dahlias are starting to pick up the pace of their blooming (not all have bloomed, yet, though). Three of the blooming varieties (American Dawn, Totally Tangerine and Copperboy) were planted specifically for creating sunflower arrangements. I used them for the first time today and was delighted with the result!

Otherwise, I’ve been trying to get in and tidy up the garden, a little at a time. I’ll get there – eventually! Do join me as I partake in the Six on Saturday meme, hosted by Jim at Garden Ruminations.

I hope you enjoy the tour!

In Peace,
Dana

Little Lime hydrangea

1 – Dwarf little lime hydrangea. These guys are so happy with the wet weather we’ve been having! They do not get big, which is exactly why I chose them. They start out white-green, then go more lime and they now have shades of pink. They did not look this nice last year, when we had very little rain and they were being watered by me.

Clockwise from top right: Buddleia BUZZ 'Dark Pink' Butterfly Bush, Delphinium Shelby and Monarda Fireball (bee balm)

2, 3 & 4 – (from top right) Buddleia BUZZ ‘Dark Pink’ Butterfly Bush, Delphinium ‘Shelby’ and Monarda Fireball (bee balm). I gave the dwarf butterfly bush a super hard pruning this year. I was doubtful for a while whether it would bloom. But blooming it certainly is! It is a lovely fuchsia color, offset nicely against the yellow potentilla flowers. I know I’ve mentioned the ‘Shelby’ delphinium before, but it is still blooming beautifully, so I had to give it another shout out. Finally, the Monarda ‘fireball’ is a new favorite. It smells lovely (I have a thing for scented plants!) and attracts bees – hence, it’s nickname ‘bee balm’. The color is supposed to be red, but it is more of pinkish hue of red.

A flower arrangement of sunflowers and coppery/orange dahlias in a pottery container

5 & 6 – A flower arrangement of sunflowers and dahlias. How fun is that? And what a great use of a pottery biscuit jar (we’ve never put cookies in it). The other flower I hadn’t mentioned is the Verbena Bonariansis (groups of tiny purple flowers with long stems). Dahlias: Totally Tangerine, Copperboy and American Dawn. The coloring on the American Dawn is a lot more coppery than the coral I was expecting – but I do love it! I like to grow sunflowers that have smaller flower heads, which are more manageable in arrangements. There is a nice mixture of sizes here, and colors. And both sunflowers and dahlias have a nice long vase life!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Did you have any favorite flowers?

A turbulent July is nearly gone

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Hi there! And I must say that we are quite happy to say goodbye to the soggy month of July. Thankfully, it did pass quickly. I’m full of hope that August will be nicer!

Speaking of bad weather, the rain also rather messed up my lavender schedule. There were many delays in harvesting it, due to the rain. Thankfully, I was able to harvest most of it. The good news is that it dried out really quickly and I’ve already made a couple of lavender wreaths. 🙂

The other news for July is that my dahlias are finally starting to bloom! They have grown big enough for me to stake the area and provide supports for them. I did this after some strong winds completely broke off one of my plants at the base, leaving it useless for this season (and with loads of teeny tiny buds on it!). I had everything set-up to do, but didn’t think they were big enough yet… Lesson learned.

I’ll be joining Garden Ruminations for our Six on Saturday meme. I hope you’ll enjoy the tour!

In Peace,
Dana

A lavender wreath hanging on a red door

1 – Lavender wreath. I’m going to say that all of my wreaths are bespoke, because no two are alike! They tend to come out a bit quirky, swishing here or there. One thing I definitely do, is completely cover the wreath in lavender. I like to use a huge amount! This one took a few hours to make. I used floral pins to keep the lavender in place on the straw wreath.

Delphinium 'Shelby'

2 – Delphinium ‘Shelby’. This is such a lovely two-toned blue with purple. They are short stems, thankfully. This has helped them with our windy weather.

Collage of dahlias clockwise from top right: 'Creme de Cassis', 'Wizard of Oz', 'Hartenaas', and 'Totally Tangerine'

3, 4, 5 & 6 – Dahlias! Clockwise from top right: Creme de Cassis, Wizard of Oz, Hartenaas and Totally Tangerine. It’s still early days for them, but I’m so excited because they are all just so lovely! Some of the plants are relatively short, too, so I’m hopeful they won’t be damaged in poor weather. I can’t wait to work these guys into some flower arrangements! Stay tuned!

Thanks so much for stopping by. Do you have any favorite dahlias that you think I should add to my collection? 🙂

When your lavender is ready but you are not

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Hi there! That’s right, July is the time to harvest lavender. I also know this from how many visitors I’ve had to my ‘Step by step instructions to make lavender wands‘ blog post! After our trip last week to Nashville, Tennessee, for my daughter’s Irish dancing, I arrived home to lavender perfectly ready for harvesting. But I was too tired! And then the seemingly non-stop rain began. It became a case of second guessing when the rain would stop, when the lavender would dry out enough after the rain stopped, and then when to actually cut it. I’m happy to report that I was finally able to harvest quite a bit of lavender. There’s still more, but the rain has returned again and has been relentless.

I’m so thankful to have had the chance to go to Nashville with my daughter, and we had a wonderful time (and same with our trip last month to New England). But boy do I feel that I’ve missed so much in my garden this year. I’m glad we had a couple of days where we were able to get a lot done to tidy it up. And all of my plants have been happy about the rain! Hopefully, we’ll get some more time to enjoy our summer and time in the garden. I think everyone’s fingers are crossed that the good weather will return!

I’ll be joining Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme. I hope you enjoy the tour!

In Peace,
Dana

harvested lavender and a lavender wreath

1 – Lavender! The picture on the left is what I harvested to make the wreath my daughter is holding. Funny enough, the row of lavender in her picture is a different variety, and is actually a few shades darker. I did not harvest that because I really like the look of it in the garden, and honestly, it peaked while we were away. Maybe next year I’ll take a section or two.

sweet pea posy

2 – Sweet pea. A staple in my garden. This scented posy was actually picked last week when the sun was visiting briefly. The picture I took of this week’s posy was so dark, I opted not to use it!

Lichfield Angel David Austin Roses and pink Oriental lilies

3 & 4 Lichfield Angel David Austin Roses and pink Oriental lilies. Most of my roses are now taking a bit of a rest. But the Lichfield Angel roses still had quite a few flowers on them. They are a very pretty creamy off-white color, and as they age their tips turn pink. I decided to cut them and bring them inside, because the branches were quite weighed down. The great thing about these roses is that their stems have no thorns! The pink Oriental lilies are heavenly scented (my personal opinion)! On Instagram I talked about the red winged scarlet lily beetle that I thought was going to destroy my lilies completely. I was constantly squishing either the beetles or their yucky slug-like larva. I’m glad that the lilies survived, though, even if their greens don’t look very nice. The lesson is to be on the look out for lily beetles from the very start of the season!

Delphinium and coleus

5 & 6 Delphinium and Coleus. The delphinium is Blue Ocean. It is two toned and very pretty. I’ve learned that their stems are very fragile! I have to be extra careful when I cut them for arrangements. The coleus situation is somewhat disappointing. I planted them from seed in March. But they would have needed special attention while I was away during our heat wave, and they definitely suffered. They have finally made a comeback, but it’ll be the end of the summer before they are at their prime! I’ve made a mental note to start their seeds in January next year. 🙂

And that’s it for this week’s Six on Saturday. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Summer Solstice behind us now

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Hi there! The summer is well underway now, and I am still trying to catch up with all of the growth (read: weeds!) in my garden from when we were away. Ireland has had an amazing stretch of warm weather the past six weeks. My roses have absolutely loved it, and they are the highlight of my post today.

I’m joining Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme just to get back into the swing of things here. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana

Boscobel, James Austin and Olivia Rose Austin roses

1, 2, & 3: David Austin Roses: Boscobel (salmon color), Princess Anne & James Austin (bottom middle and bottom right, a bright, deep pink), and Olivia Rose Austin (medium pink). They’re gorgeous and they are fragrant. I love ’em!

Lichfield Angel roses, alstroemeria, and delphinium

4, 5 & 6: Lichfield Angel David Austin roses (cream), pink alstroemeria, and blue delphinium. I made an arrangement with these lovelies earlier this week. The Lichfield Angel roses tend to be a bit floppy, so I used some wire to keep at least one of their heads up. Some floppiness is ok, but it’s really nice to see their smiling faces, too!

Quite a quick one this week. I hope you’ve enjoyed it nonetheless!

Here’s to enjoying our gardens in peace and harmony with our surroundings. ❤️

A Voyage ‘Across the Pond’ on Cunard’s Queen Mary II

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Hello! I hope you will excuse me for not having posted in a while. There’s lots for me to write about, but to start, I’ll begin at the beginning. My husband and I took a trip, and what a wonderful trip it was! We had never taken a cruise before, and we decided that taking a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean was how we would start.

From the logistics side, we boarded Cunard’s Queen Mary II in Southampton, England and then traveled overnight to Le Havre, France. The next evening we left Le Havre and seven days later arrived in New York City, USA.

The Queen Mary II did not disappoint. It was designed with a nod to traditional, old world charm. It is quite majestic, while still being warm and welcoming. Importantly, there was something to do at all times! We danced, ate, played table tennis, watched live shows and interesting talks, listened to talented musicians, enjoyed the fresh air, relaxed in the hot tub while enjoying views of the Atlantic, and of course, we ate some more. There was never a dull moment, and thankfully, it was a smooth ride.

The Queen Mary II is an ocean liner, which is built and set up differently than a typical cruise ship. The main difference is that an ocean liner has more stability. Since we didn’t really know how we’d fare on the open sea, we booked our cabin lower down (on the fourth deck, of thirteen) and in the middle of the ship. At 250 square feet, it was a nice sized state room with a desk, couch and best of all, a sheltered balcony. We appreciated being able to step outside and see the vastness of the ocean and breathe in the fresh sea air. I was impressed with how beautiful the dark blue coloring of the ocean was. I’m very happy to say that neither of us had any issues with sea sickness. We enjoyed mostly a calm sea with only one day where the rain and choppy waters kept us from walking around the outside of the ship. On that day, the ship did seem to rock a bit more than usual. 🙂 There were also a few foggy days.

We enjoyed ourselves immensely! We were like two giddy kids, exploring every inch of the ship and trying so many of the activities on offer. The only disappointing aspect was that the formal afternoon tea in the Queen’s ballroom was a bit too crowded for our liking, but it certainly was an interesting experience. Given all of the delicious food we were enjoying, we took advantage of the gym on board, as well as walking around the outside of the ship (three times around was a mile!). We learned early on that there was a library onboard, which we visited on the first day. Of course I borrowed gardening books! 365 Days of Colour in your Garden by Nick Bailey and Great Garden Design by Ian Hodgson gave me loads of inspiration. But I also borrowed a book of short stories called Evening in Paradise by Lucia Berlin. It was very good, and perfect to relax with in between our activities.

Every day was a new adventure, despite being completely at sea! The week flew by and we were sad to see it end. (Did I mention that they also had a nightclub? This was fantastic as I love to dance, and for five nights the clocks were put back so we even gained an extra hour on those nights!)

There was quite a build up, too, to our coming into port in New York City on the final morning. In the captain’s report the day before – he gave us updates every day at noon – the captain had told us that we’d be passing under the Verrazzano Bridge at 3:30 AM and would pass the Statue of Liberty at 4:00 AM. Not wanting to miss the chance to see this, we set our alarm and joined quite a few other passengers on the top deck at 3:15 AM. Sure enough, we passed right under the bridge at (exactly!) 3:30 AM and then saw the Statue of Liberty at 4:00 AM. What I found truly amazing was how the ship could turn itself around in a very tight half-circle and then ‘back’ into the harbor! It was a marvel to experience on such a large ship. After enjoying the views and after the excitement died down, we then went back to bed for a few more hours before it was time to disembark in New York City.

I would highly recommend this trip. It was simply a wonderful way to cross the Atlantic! After this, we spent time visiting family and friends in the States, which was so lovely, too! We eventually flew home, quite happy and rather exhausted! And while we had so much fun being away, it is now quite nice to be home again.

In Peace,
Dana

Paraic and Dana in front of the Queen Mary II in port at Southampton, England and our Stateroom

Our Stateroom.

Different entertainment options on the ship

We enjoyed the entertainment every night, from Motown to Jazz to Classical and Pop.

Dining aboard the Queen Mary II

The food was delicious, the service was wonderful and the experience was fantastic!

views of the sea through out our journey

We had varying weather, but for the most part, the seas were calm. (Top right picture is of me on our sheltered balcony.)

ping pong, hot tub, and desserts on the Queen Mary II

There was always something to do! We enjoyed table tennis, relaxing in the hot tub, and of course, indulging in some very nice afternoon treats!

Picture of Dana and Paraic at the masquerade ball, and two other formal nights.

There were two formal gala nights, one of which included a masquerade ball. There was an especially festive atmosphere on the special occasion nights, and most people had good fun with it.

The main gathering area of the ship.

The main reception area.

Night time views of the Verranzzano bridge and the NY skyline and the Statue of Liberty

It was quite an experience to pass under the Verrazzano bridge. There is just 13 feet from the very top of the ship to the bridge at high tide! Seeing the New York skyline at four in the morning from the ship was quite the experience, as well.

And that’s the end of our very enjoyable Trans-Atlantic voyage. Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂

Planting out the seedlings

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Hello! Well there certainly was some excitement this week when the rain finally stopped and the sun shone brightly for two days in a row! I celebrated by planting out most of my seedlings, including sweet pea, pumpkins and sunflowers. Now the fun part starts: keeping the slugs away!

I want to back up a tiny bit and talk about the seedlings. I’ve learned the hard way that the stems of pumpkin plants are fragile. One snap and that’s the end of the plant. My typical ‘flip the pot over’ into my hand ended in disaster last year. So I’m happy to report that there were no snapping of stems this year. The main reason is that I no longer flip them. 🙃 That’s just not the best way to get them out of their containers. It also helped to grow them on a couple of weeks longer, so they were definitely stronger.

The sweet pea were also started a tiny bit earlier this year. They grew long and leggy quite quickly, so I kept pinching them back which seemed to strengthen them and encouraged them to grow more stems.

The sunflowers were an interesting bunch. I have several different varieties, but they have not all grown equally well. I have my hunch as to which ones will perform the best – those that from very early on had multiple leaves and a strong stem – but I will give them all an equal shot!

The biggest issue I now face is that of slugs. They can destroy all of my work in a very short period of time. I’ve already removed several from the beds and from some of the plants. They come out in the late evening and early morning, and they camouflage perfectly in the soil. And don’t be fooled by size, even the teeniest of slugs can do serious damage! Hopefully, I can get the plants all settled and growing before the slugs do major damage.

I’m joining Garden Ruminations for the Six on Saturday meme (because it is fun to do so!).

Enjoy the tour of my garden!

In Peace,
Dana

image of pumpkin plant, sunflowers and sweetpea

1, 2 & 3 – Pumpkins, Sunflowers & Sweet pea. I’ve placed eggshells around the plants to deter the slugs. Honestly, I don’t think it works, but I feel better having at least tried it. One side of the arch will be covered in sweet pea, while the other side will have pumpkins growing on it. That’s the plan, anyway!

slug on a pumpkin plant

4 – Slug. Yup, I took a picture of a slug. This guy was quite long and easy to spot. I also tend to look harder around the leaves that have damage done to them. I’ve found that ‘hunting’ them down, both morning and night, is the best way to deal with them – and always with gloves.

Full view of the raised beds with the new seedlings in.
full view of garden with narcissus and raspberries

5 – View of the raised beds from both sides (after planting). In the bottom picture you can also see the raspberry plants. The border includes lavender on one side, Rosemary on another, little lime hydrangea on the far size, and beech hedging with containers of hosta on the last. Seeing blue skies is such a treat!

cherry tree at sunset

6 – Cherry tree at sunset. I couldn’t resist taking this picture. I was working on the other side of the garden and the lighting was just so perfect here that I was enticed to come over. I’d like many more days like these, please!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Do you have any (organic) means to get your slugs? 🙂

When everything (isn’t) coming up roses

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Hi there! I know it is so much more fun to talk about all the wonderful aspects of gardening, but sometimes, it’s a good idea to cover the ‘ugly’, too. Today I’m talking about tulips and something called ‘tulip fire’.

Tulips are a bulbous herb, that are planted in the fall and flower in the spring. They are considered perennial, as they should return every year. In truth, I have found that only in rare instances do they return year after year. It isn’t uncommon to have them dwindle in numbers as time goes on. In the worst case, they come down with tulip fire. Here’s what I’ve learned about that:

Tulip fire is a fungal disease of tulips caused by Botrytis tulipae, which produces brown spots and twisted, withered and distorted leaves. It is so named because in severe cases plants appear as if scorched by fire.

The Royal Horticultural Society

My experience is that the leaves look terrible and they don’t actually produce flowers, or if they do, they are of very poor quality. The solution is to dig up the bulbs and throw them out (not on the compost). Also, it is advised to not replant tulips in that spot for at least three years.

While one way to prevent tulip fire is to ensure the bulbs are of a high quality, with no signs of the black mold on them, I have had the misfortune of tulip fire occurring on subsequent years after planting. For this, there are no preventative measures.

Playhouse with tulips and bleeding heart

Here’s my story of how tulip fire wiped out a full bed of tulips. In the fall of 2021, we planted 60 bulbs each of Tulip Mascotte (fringed tulips) and Tulip Lilac Perfection in front of our playhouse. They were amazing that first year!

Tulip Lilac perfection and Tulip Mascotte
Tulip Lilac Perfection.

They were truly fabulous tulips! There were so many blooms that seemed to last forever. And of course they made great cut flowers, too.

Tulip Mascotte in a vase
Tulip Lilac perfect in a vase

And now we turn to what they looked like on year two (this year) …

Tulips with tulip fire fungus.
Tulips with tulip fire fungus dug up for disposal.

It was pretty heart breaking to go from 120 beautiful tulips to this dreadful mess, and in just one year. But there’s no point in dwelling on it. That’s just the risk you take with gardening. I have some tulips in the garden that have returned for many years, as well as tulips that seem to live by the moto ‘one and done’!

It’ll take more than one or two cases of tulip fire to keep me from planting tulips in different places around the garden, though. They’re just too pretty. Nevertheless, I’m now on the lookout for an alternative to tulips for this spot in front of the playhouse.

I hope you never experience tulip fire, but if you do, you know what to do. 🙂

In Peace,
Dana