Flowers around my yard

[Esther]

Retaining wall garden along pool.


Long view of 60% of same garden.


Maybe Dianthus?? These were planted last year as annuals but they survived the winter. The odd part is that the flowers didn't stay true to the color they were last summer.


More Dianthus? 


This is the biggest Lupine.

[Esther]

Here's a little stray Jack in the pulpet. I thought I took all my wildflowers out of this garden but two Jacks escaped my shovel.


Blue irises




Bleeding heart, hostas, and silver fern.


Coral Bells


A plant like this grew out of nowhere in a planter two summers ago. I let it go to seed. This thing got maybe 4' tall and seeded all over. Here is one example of what has started already this year from a seed. Last year I pulled up every one I could find and seeds are still sprouting.

[SueSTx]

   Pretty

[KatFish]

Very nice!  I love the Lupine the most 

[Indiana Karen]

Very pretty Esther.  Your pool looks so clean and refreshing.  We don't have the lupines around here, I always enjoy looking for them when we go north.  I love Jack in the Pulpet and have transplanted a lot of them from the woods into my hosta beds.  I'm interested in knowing what your volunteer plant in the last picture is.  They grow wild around here.  Last week I did some weedeating out around our barn.....wiped out everything but just couldn't get rid of them, I kinda like them!

[Esther]

Thanks folks. I know they look just like yours but seeing we are a sharing bunch, I thought I would.
Oddly, the pool hasn't been vacuumed yet since taking the winter cover off. We were out of filter powder so just got the PH up to where it should be and smashed up some chlorine tabs and put them in the skimmer. Didn't have any Shock either. Then I brushed everything towards the bottom drain and turned the filter to pull from the bottom. It cleared up right away. It will be vacuumed today----ya know----grandkids want to come this weekend.

It's funny, dealing with pond water quality and pool water quality is soooo different yet the goal is to have clear water either way.

As for the volunteer, I knew a couple of summers ago but don't now. It seeds all over the place so am now sorry I let it go to seed back then. Yes, I liked them too. The leaves are real velvety and it's an impressive large plant.

[HOWELL]

All those plants are lovely......
One more reason of wanting to be there.

[Holldoll]

beautiful! I think it's interesting to see how different things bloom at different times around the country. Our irises are long gone now but you are WAY warmer than we are!

[miguynmkoi]

You beat me to the punch Holldoll....It must be way warmer in Esther's neck of the woods.  Flowers look great and so much color.  Absolutely love the Jack in the pulpit plant.  So green and lush too!  Every time the temperature threatens to warm up here it cools down.  My plants and veges are having a difficult time growing or hibernating 

[Esther]

This heat came on all of a sudden and not a gentle increase either. It is waaaay early. The flowers are all waaay early too. It's not uncommon to be wondering if it is smart to open the pool for a couple weeks yet. Ours isn't heated and we no longer use the heat cover. But, mercy all of a sudden it was 89-90 and we don't normally have that heat much in the middle to end of summer. I suspect that this year will be a bit of a struggle keeping the pond clear and also the pool.

[Kittyzee]

Beautiful pics of your flowers Esther!  That plant with the thick, soft, fuzzy leaves is a mullien..the flower stalks grow sometimes 4' or higher, right?  I let them grow in my flower beds if I'm lucky enough to get a volunteer.  I even bought a peach colored dwarf at a garden center a couple of summers ago, but it didn't return the following spring.  DH is gonna kill me for this, but he's always called it a 'toilet paper plant'--he's a farmer ya know and sometimes get stuck out in the field--if you get my drift--

Your pool looks so inviting.  It HAS been way too hot here for being this early.  All of my plants are setting blooms at least a month earlier than they should be.  But I'm enjoying all the color.   

[Esther]

You are right on KZ. That's what it is. It is very impressive. But this one sent babies growing EVERYWHERE. The one in the picture grew to that size just this spring and momma was let grow summer of 2008. That area is just pretty much just bushes and we mulch around them and keep the weeds down because it is at the north end of the pool. And toilet paper plant is a fitting name. And of course I understand what he means. I've had to be innovative when we were working on our duplexes and the water was shut off for whatever reason.  5 gallon bucket lined with a plastic shopping bag works well for solids and just dump the liquids down the basement floor drain. Don't ask me how I know.

[tweetybaby2005]

Ester, very beautiful flowers indeed!!     Your pool looks so inviting.  We are hitting mid to high 80s here and the humidity is a killer...

Kuan

[Kittyzee]

Yup Esther, we've got a lot of 5 gallons buckets around this farm too....and I WON'T ask you how you know.....

[Ky Kim]

Splash.....a splash of color here and there, and a big splash in the pool. Everything looks great. I think its going to be a very hot summer. We've got to get our pool open soon, I'm ready.

[LynneNY]

Your flowers are all so colorful and pretty.   

Your red flowers are dianthus.  I have  pink ones that return here in zone 6, even though they are sold as annuals here too.

[Ky Kim]

I have pink ones too, I've had them probably 8 years or so. They come back each year bigger and bigger. I need to relocate them, but just as I do...they would prob die.

[tinkster]

beautiful!  Your lupine is beautiful!  I hope mine reseeds and comes back thick like yours.  My favorite is the japanese painted fern.


tink

[Esther]

Those ferns are have some different characteristics. They gotta stay watered or they DIE! They do not grow in a circular manner much, they just kinda spread. They are easy to dig and tear the clump apart to plant somewhere else.

[Marie Fisher]

Beautiful Esther -- all of it. Pool so clear!!!   an old friend of yours asked me
about you last week,Billy Bates.   Said tell you hello.

Marie Fisher

[maryvonne]

Nice flowers, Esther. I really like the Irises.

Maryvonne