Noname's "costume"

Noname has finally decided what she wants to be for Halloween!

A gargoyle!

The Build-a-Bed Workout!

I've been raking...

And raking....
and reading...

and more raking...

and digging...
and more raking...

until finally....

Ta-da! My new lasagna garden! Doesn't look like much, does it?

I am so tired of raking! :)

Here are the plants in the new bed:

Bearded Iris ("Clarence," "Cherub's Smile," "Full Tide" and "Immortality")

White Lantana

Pinks (Dianthus)

Crassula somthingorother ;)

Cobweb Houseleek (Sempervium)

Tawny Daylily & "Stella D'Oro"

Liriope (Monkey Grass)

Garlic Chives

Cinnamon Basil

Agapanthus "Queen Mum"

Madagascar Periwinkle

Dwarf Phlox

Spider Flower (Cleome)

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea)

Spider Lily (Lycoris radiata)

St. Joseph's Lily (Hippeastrum)

Bachelor's Button

Sunflower (Helianthus)

I can't wait 'til they all come up!

Ya know, it sure would be nice to have another bed...

Where's my rake? :)

Fun with Aloe vera

Okay, I know technically it's not Aloe vera any more, but I can't spell the other name. ;)

The ''gel'' from this succulent is often used on burns, sunburns, and is often called "The Medicine Plant."

It's probably the succulent I see the most, where it's thriving in a windowsill.

But this plant is useful for so much more...
It makes a great booby trap...
It's fun to take pictures of...

It makes a great Lego Army guy hideout...

Or a hedge....or a weapon...

The statue of....liberty?
:)

What's Going on in the Garden

I can finally call it a garden now, instead of a "yard!" Amazing what a new border,

a fence, and a deck can do!

My newly-acquired DOUBLE purslane hybrid, "Sleeping Beauty," in a strawberry pot with some succulents.
Beehive ginger, or summer tulip

I haven't gotten any actual beans, but the flowers are pretty! :)
My first ever dahlia, "Lorana Dawn."

A cute little chair by the front door, with chenille plant in a basket.

I finally got some water lettuce and water hyacinth! I love this trio of pots. :)

I got a bridge! :) Isn't it adorable?

More purslane

:)

Noname's Photo shoot

She loves to sing...

Super-fluff!

:-)

The Fairy House...in a Clock

Again, not exactly a recent project, but I thought I might as well post some pictures. I made this out of an old clock. It was sooooo hard to find something out of which to make a bed, but I finally settled on a matchbox (gotta love those things!) covered with blue velvet, and a pink canopy over the top. It STILL wouldn't quite lay flat, though.

If you look really closely, you can just see the little door at the top, right above the hands.

Here's a better view of the inside, and the entrance in the back.

.

The oxalis on the right doesn't look happy. It has sent up so new leaves and flowers, though. Her garden is coming along, too :)
I planted wheat grass around the path and behind the house. It filled in the extra space nicely, but then it got rather ambitious and started aiming for world domination, so I cut it back severely.
:)

The (fairly) NEW Fairy Garden

I suppose "new" can't really be used to describe this project any more, since I finished it about two months ago (yes, I have been being blog-lazy). I made it in an old galvanized tub we had been using as a water garden after Mom kicked me out of the kitchen. ;) It makes a great home for the fairies. There's a little gravel path running through the garden, a stream with a pool, and one of the fairies seems to like strange and/or exotic plants, because she has a rock garden for her echeveria, bronze-leaved oxalis, and more (hey, who says fairies don't like succulents too?).

A view of the fairy community garden on the hill...
I love the "shrub" tumbling over the fence. Looks like some visitors are chatting.
I love violas. They always look like they're smiling. :)
On a completely different topic, we now have chickens! We got them around Easter, and this picture was taken shortly after. I won't show you what they look like now, because...well, I'd rather just pretend they're still cute little balls of fluff instead of...never mind. Adolescent chickens are...I'm just going to say that they're not quite so cute anymore.
The little red one is Chloe, the white one's Sunny Annabeth (how many other chickens do you know that have middle names?), the two black ones are Tweety and Bianca (please don't ask me why Jess named a chicken Bianca, because I've no clue) and the brown one's Cookie. I believe their life goal is to

a) scratch up all the grass in our yard (which is okay by me, 'cause I'd rather have an alpine lawn anyway, but I'm not going to get started on grass)

b) catch and eat every bug on the surface of the planet

c) find a way to escape from their run ASAP

They tend to run back into their house whenever startled. I think it's strange that they're frightened so easily. What are they, chicken?

We are enjoying those last few bearable days before summer hits. I can't believe they actually have TULIPS blooming right now farther north.

Well, thanks to a recent Christmas gift (is it waaay late or waaay early?), we now have a sparkly, glittering, gorgeously blue swimming pool in our side yard. I'd post a picture but,

A) I don't have one

B) I couldn't figure out how to put it on the computer 'cause I can't figure out the new camera. Oh well.

The filter needs to run and stuff, so it'll be tomorrow before we can swim. I don't know if I'll make it 'til then. Excuse me while I find my goggles. ;)