Back Home Again

Welcome home...there was a perfect bloom on my rose bush by my front porch when I got back from Birmingham. Is there anything more beautiful than a rose? The fragrance, the colors...who but a magnificent God could create such perfection?

I returned from Birmingham on Sunday evening while there was still enough light to water my gardens and inspect how things had grown in the five days I was gone. I am slowly learning about plants and gardening but have figured out a lifetime will not be long enough to really become an expert. This year I decided to try out a few new annuals in my beds and added several perennials in my quest to have a low maintenance yet showy flower garden.
I salvaged two small, sickly-looking verbena from the half-price annual section at Wal-Mart because I liked the challenge and I needed something for a sunny planter. They took to my TLC like wildflowers and in fact, I found out they are both perennial and wild in some parts of the US. I love them because they put out a purple flower--my favorite. Come fall, I will transplant my "annual" and cover it over and enjoy it next year.

My mom has had hen and chick plants for as long as I can remember. This spring, a friend shared with me several plants she had divided and now I have one too.
I also planted threadleaf moonbeam coreopsis in the sunny bed in my backyard. In the container they looked tall and compact so I planted them in the back. Out of the container, they spread out so now they short and wide...I see transplanting in their future!

I definitely got two sedum from friend but the bloom is a mystery to me because there are so many varietals of sedum that until I see a flower I have not idea what color or variety I have growing out there. The brave little transplants withstood the shock of a new home and have looked droopy and pathetic; when I got home on Sunday I noticed there is a bloom shoot developing so soon I will know.

You've been so patient to stay awake through my flower ramblings. I am back at work and missing my sweet Celeste. It is a bittersweet moment when I have to leave her...I am so proud of who she is and how she lives her life. She is right where God would have her right now and yet, I wish for some more time in her presence. For now, these special moments will have to suffice. Maybe someday, God will see fit for us to live in the same area again. Living in His wil and in His time, that's the best we can ask for!