Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gardening ~ the good, the bad & the ugly (real ugly)

You may remember these from here.

Yesterday they looked like this.

And today they look like this. Sorry for the slightly blurry photo, but mommy was nearby and I didn't want to make her too nervous.



In between rain drops I've been busy planting. A few pots for the patio containing lantana, purple fountain grass and sweet potato vine. Lantana is such a great flower for attracting butterflies and that is definitely good.


A pot of coral colored geraniums in a tall plant stand to sit right next to my favorite chair on the front porch. I will enjoy it's beauty while I'm enjoying my morning coffee or reading a favorite book or magazine. An added bonus is that I can see this beautiful flower from my kitchen and dining room. No doubt about it that is really good.



A good looking iris.





Pretty purple clematis
Oh so very good.


I'm hoping that everybody who comes up my front steps will feel good when they pass by the six pots of impatiens I planted.


Of course I feel good when I reach into my mailbox which is currently surrounded by these pretty clematis.





The beauty and joy we can receive from our gardening efforts are definitely a good thing (Hi Martha). But there are a few things in the garden that aren't so good. In fact they're just plain bad. Take, for instance, those pots of impatiens I planted on my front steps. Only one day after planting them I was watching a squirrel sitting on my window sill fluffing his bushy tail. I thought he was so cute ~ until I later found out that he jumped off the window sill and proceeded to dig up some of the impatiens I had just planted. This would definitely fall into the bad
category.
Another bad thing has happened and it involves the trellis you see pictured above.



It also involves this plate. See those morning glories on the plate?
Well. . . you may remember the last part of this post.
Oh how I envisioned those morning glories winding their way up that trellis right next to this vintage plate.
I planted seeds plenty early, they sprouted, I planted them in the ground and then watched them disappear. I have no idea what happened. I wasn't going to let that get me down so I soaked some more seeds overnight and planted them directly in the ground. I watched them like a hawk and they never came up. Need I say it?? This is definitely bad. Bad & sad & it makes me mad. There ~ now I feel better :-)


***** WARNING - UGLY PART AHEAD *****

If you are squeamish especially when it pertains to reptilian things in the garden, close your eyes now or turn your head and scroll past the next picture real fast.



If you were brave enough to peek, it's not quite as bad as it looks. This is only the skin. Makes me a little nervous to think where the rest of him went. This is the UGLY side of gardening. Since I began gardening in the south I have seen some huge snakes. One year I had one a few feet away from me and it had to be at least five feet long. I have a real phobia when it comes to them and almost gave up gardening that year. I think I would have for sure if I didn't enjoy it so much.



I guess gardening is a lot like life.
We take the good with the bad and hope to avoid the ugly all together.
But the beauty and contentment we receive from this hobby are so rewarding that we continue on. In my case a little more cautiously.






21 comments:

  1. Kim,everything is so beautiful!All but that snake!I do not like them!Have a great day! Blessings, Faye

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  2. I have enjoyed your flowers this morning. You have a jump start on me in the south. We are having a long cool rainy Spring here in central Illinois; much different from what I experienced for 40 years in Texas. I'll post what I have as soon as I can. I don't miss the snakes. Thanks for the bit of sunshine and beauty...
    Debbie

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  3. I agree, all good but the reptile.......so, so pretty flowers! But the snake, yep has me skiddish too about gardening. I haven't seen one in a while, so I am ok!! LOL. Love the hydrangeas and the clematis, but really love it all!

    suzanne

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  4. That snake skin would have made me jump outta MY skin!

    Do you think the snake found the seeds delicious?

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  5. Oh Kim! You are brave to garden. I'm sure a person of lesser strength would've given up...someone like me. Loved the witty things you shared today...so cute and made me laugh.

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  6. Your pictures are absolutely gorgeous...except the ugly one...I hate snakes or any kind of reptile..but being a gardening have to take the bad with the good! Thanks for sharing such gorgeous flowers and colors. Have a great day. Miss Bloomers

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  7. Hi Kim ~ love your flower pics...just beautiful. And those little birdies are adorable too! As for the snake skin...ewww, I freak out when I come upon toads and frogs in my garden; snakes would definitely do me in!

    Hugz,
    Michele

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  8. Kim,
    I would for sure feel good walking up your steps past all those pretty flowers!
    The little baby birds are adorable!

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  9. All of your flowers look so pretty and your photos of them are really good!
    Really cool to see the baby birds hatching out of the eggs.
    Snakes don't really bother me ever since my son had one as a pet when he was young.
    And once a black snake found it's way into my kitchen and was crawling around on my cookie cutters up on the wall. I thought it was pretty neat that it could crawl on them like that. :-)
    Black snakes are good ones though and eat the mice.

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  10. Your flowers are beautiful. I'm like you...running out to plant in between rain showers.

    Now about that snake...the rest of him is off eating something. He's doing his job! He won't hurt you. :)

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  11. Hi Kim
    I love your blog.
    This has been the year I have wanted to quit because of snakes.
    We just keep finding them every where .
    I simply don't mind that they have a purpose but I do wish I could just garden without ever seeing them.
    No such luck they just keep popping up in different places.
    So I guess I have got to learn to be calm .
    Your photos are fabulous.
    Thank you so much for sharing.
    Have a wonderful week.

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  12. I think you took just the right message from that! I don't mind snakes much (they make me jump when I first see them, then I'm OK) but then again, I don't have five-foot ones in our yard!

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  13. Great photos...all but the snake photo!! Check out one of my recent posts about an awful trick my boys played on me. It involves a big, nasty snake!! Hate those things!!

    Have a great night!!

    Jen

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  14. What a fun post, Kim. I came over to visit from "My Cup Runneth Over". Congrats on winning her giveaway! Love your blog. Your flowers are beautiful...not so much for the snake skin..hahaha... I will be back again soon.

    Stay Cozy, Carrie

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  15. Hi Kim
    Your flowers are lovely. Isn't this time of year in NC just wonderful? I encountered one of those 5 foot snakes in my yard. It scared me to death! But I found out it was a good kind. even so I keep my eyes open when I'm digging around in the dirt.
    Hugs, Rhondi

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  16. You have a beautiful garden for sure and I know it is so rewarding. I am not a gardener, no green thumb here, but I certainly enjoy other people's efforts. Indoor plants is more manageable for me and I don't have to worry about snakes! Twyla

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  17. I line my flower beds with plates
    I find at the thrift store
    for anywhere between 10 cents to
    50 cents. Mine is an on going
    process.
    Pamela (MI) in Ohio

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  18. Kim..I loved your post today. I read every word! I didn't turn from the snakes but I am not fond of them eithers. I give them LOTS of room. We have rattlers out there..but I haven't seen one in years.
    The little squirrel was probably using your pot of Impatience to hide his stash! LOL Your flowers look lovely. I sort of gasped when I saw that you had planted Morning Glories. As lovely as they are..I would never plant them where I could not get at them to control them as they are SO invasive. I had to pay someone a couple hundred dollars to remove mine. They went covered my fence beautifully and then covered the neighbors tree and nearly killed them..however..I did plant again..but this time only where I could have complete control
    Hmmm..I wonder why they did not come up. Strange..unless something stole the seeds? Did you look to see if any of the seeds were still around? Odd.
    Oops..mouth here...sorry!

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  19. Loved your pics.

    It's just about time to start the real good gardening here. I did a bunch of clean up today. My bulbs and perennials are coming up. Time to buy annuals tomorrow.

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  20. Kim, First of all, congratulations on your special gift you received from "My Cup Runneth Over". Secondly, this post is so creatively done. I remember reading it yesterday and then was interrupted and forgot to comment on it. The nest of birds is so perfectly captured. How did you do it? Your flowers are beautiful! I like how you placed the blue and white dish in your flower bed...great idea. As for the snake skin...I think I might have freaked if I would have discovered that in my flower bed. Hope you have a relaxing weekend.

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  21. Hi Kim,
    Your flowers are gorgeous, so colorful and pretty. Now that snake......eeeek! I'm scared to death of them. I don't even like long crawly worms.

    Enjoy your gardening, despite the bad. Something good always comes out of it.

    Have a great weekend.
    Hugs,
    Donna

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