This Perfectly Imperfect Life

It's late July in my garden, and the Coneflowers are blooming away! I can't get enough of taking photos of them, every day, at different times of day, in different light. There aren't as many of them this year, so I'll have to be sure to save seeds and get them planted for next. Soon, the Zinnias will be blooming, and as the coneflowers wane, my focus will switch to them, and their colorful, happy faces. The late Summer and Autumn garden has always been my favorite! What's blooming in your garden now? #dirttherapy #summertime #gardenwalk #julygarden #summergarden #apartmentgarden #coastalgarden #inmygardentoday #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

Deadheading the roses on this cool & cloudy Friday morning. 🙌🏻 Usually it's a more peaceful time, but the family of squirrels living up in the maple tree was causing a ruckus most of the time I was out there with their shenanigans 🙄 So I found myself more annoyed than usual, but for me, deadheading & weeding are always a time for me to get things out of my system (like journaling, or prayer, or rearranging my bookshelves), as is much of my time in the garden, so it's never time wasted. What do you do to work things out, de-stress, or heal? Enjoy your day peeps!  #morningmotivation #gardenwalk #upheavalintorevival #rosechat #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #gardencritters #friday #june #junegarden #springgarden #fridayfavorites #booknerd #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

SO much rain from these coastal storms, complete with thunderstorms mixed in, and the gardens have gone from loving it to drowning 😐 And I can't wait to check the basement again 🙄 We'll have gone from drought to the exact extreme opposite if this keeps up. But, there's only a chance of showers between later today and Monday (as of now 🙄) so hopefully we all get a chance to dry out this weekend!  #friday #morning #gardenwalk #morningritual #morningmotivation #rosechat #roses #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #coastalgarden #raindrops #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

Sunny Knockout's in full bloom & surviving the rain 💛 Good morning & happy Wednesday ☺️  #goodmorning #gardenwalk #morningritual #morningmotivation #nofilter #roses #rosechat #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #yellowrose #plantastar #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

🎉 And good morning & happy Saturday! #goodmorning #happysaturday #nofilter #gardenwalk #morningritual #morningmotivation #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #rosechat #simplepleasuresgreatestjoy #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

With Azaleas like this, who needs filters?! 😍 Good morn & happy Thursday from me & my garden 💚   #nofilter #springtime #morning #gardenwalk 💚 #morningmotivation #azaleas #azaleas #inmygardentoday #apartmentgarden #springgarden #maygarden #spring #may #pink #myperfectlyimperfectview #thisperfectlyimperfectlife 

Bleeding Heart Petunias, Verbena, Superbells Hardy Azalea Wave Petunia, Geranium Bleeding Heart

Happy July everyone! Things have slowed down quite a bit here in the Portable Homestead garden.  The roses have finished their first round of blooms, and they're taking their time getting to a second. But the hostas, annuals and day lillies have taken over with theirs.  Slowly and surely the 'from seed' containers are beginning to bloom: Zinnias, marigolds, tomatoes, hyacinth bean climber, nasturtiums.  And the coneflowers are starting to bloom again in the raised bed.  The aphids have been formidable foes, as always, which means daily garden walks are taking longer than usual what with hosing them off the plants or spraying them with soapy water.  I hope to troll a few garden centers during this holiday weekend!  Rugosa and hostas are at the top of my list.  How are things growing where you are?  What's at the top of your gardening wish-list at this time of year! (For the week ending 7/2/15)

A sampling of what's blooming here at The Portable Homestead for the week ending 5/15/15. The azalea, hostas and bleeding heart are really taking center stage now! Another wacky weather week as well. Started off feeling like Summer and by Wednesday it was in the 40s and 50s again! And thanks to those early warmer temps, I'm dealing with rose slugs and spider mites in May vs July or August when they usually appear en force. He'll hath no fury like a gardener with critters infesting her roses! It's soapy water time...

A sample of what's blooming & growing in the garden for the week ending Friday, 5/8/15. Cleanup around The Portable Homestread has been slow & steady over the past couple of weeks, and I'm happy with how everything is shaping up around the yard, in the garden, and on the front porch. Seeds I direct sowed last Sunday have already sprouted! I'm still holding out hope that at least one of my Julia Child floribunda roses makes it, but it's looking rather more likely that neither will.  The lettuce pictured above (7th from the top) is actually from last year! I direct sowed the seeds in the raised bed, but what seedlings weren't eaten by the resident rabbit were drowned in a flash flood from a severe thunderstorm. I can't believe the lettuces have returned this year after all that plus the stormy and ridiculously cold winter that just passed!  Also on the return after a year or two...

A sample of what's blooming here at the Portable Homestead for the week ending 4/30/15.  The first photo, of the ranunculus, I took at the nursery on Monday and just had to share it! With colors like that, who needs filters?! 

A sample of blooms for the week ending Thursday, 4/23/15. It has been a crazy week weather wise, from Summer warmth to flooding rain and thunderstorms to frost and freeze watches and warnings! Most everything seems to be doing alright, although, whatever was iffy before this crazy weather week (like my 2 Julia Child floribunda roses!) may be done for, despite 2 strait nights of covering them for protection against a freeze. But, we'll see. The Weeping Cherries have been putting on such a show this year, I cannot get enough! Photos upon photos, of course! What's blooming in your garden this week?