New Trees & Spring Blooms

Hi there friends.  I hope you enjoyed your weekend more than I, who battled a head cold much of the time.  I'm beginning to feel normal again and apologize to anyone who had to actually converse with me over the past few days.  This cold made me hard of hearing and gave me that feeling of being trapped inside an echoing bubble!

I couldn't let an entire spring weekend go by without getting out in the yard a little bit.  We had some major installations from our landscapers on Friday with the addition of a Dogwood tree, a Cherry tree, seven Encore azaleas and three knockout rose bushes.  We've lost a few trees since we moved in seven years ago due to age so it was time to replace with a few new ones.  Fortunately the shrubs and trees survived the strong Friday night storms with no damage.

Dogwood

Cherry

Here's some other things blooming around the yard this time of year.

Encore Azalea

Iris

Dianthus - need to be divided badly this year

Rose

I also moved my five year old Carolina Jessamine vine from a pot on the back deck to a new home where I hope she'll have more room to stretch.  She's now lives in a back corner of our property where I hope she'll "dress up" the chain link fence a bit.  She lost a lot of her leaves but I hope she'll bounce back beautifully later this year or next spring.

Carolina Jessamine

I picked up three 1 gallon "Mildred" azaleas at Pike Nursery for $10.  They bloom in an orchid purple color and are also located in the back corner of our property next to the Carolina Jessamine.  Did you know Pike offers a lifetime guarantee on their azaleas?  Love that!

1 gallon 'Mildred" Azalea

I love planting marigolds on the back deck because they're known to repel mosquitoes and you can't get enough of that down here in the South!

Marigold

Love our Red Tips that tower over our play set and our back deck.  They provide a lot of shade, privacy for the hot tub and year round interest with their foliage.

Red Tips

I hope to share some of these little herb pots as gifts soon!

Basil and Sage

Got around to re-potting my Miss Kim's Lilac a few weeks ago, one of my Mom's favorite.  We bought it together last year when I was pregnant and I've been "nursing" it on the back deck ever since because I had read they are difficult to grow here in Georgia.  I plan to plant it somewhere special this fall in honor of my amazing Mom.  Any other Southerners in zone 7 out there have luck with this lovely?

Miss Kim's Lilac

This old container belonged to my husband's grandmother and I can think of now greater way of honoring her than filling it with sprawling flowers that will bloom all season.  It sits on our front porch, along with some rocking chairs.

Petunia, Lithodora and Sweet Potato Vine 

And of course, my favorite yard accessory...my little man, Luke.  Love this kid.   He's growing like a weed and becoming quite the little helper.

Other exciting news that happened this weekend....My baby Jett decided late last night to start taking some steps after his night time bath.  We got it on video and he was SO proud of himself.  It is so amazing watching a little one take their very first steps.  Getting teary eyed just thinking about it.  

I hope you all have a lovely week.  Thanks for saying hello.