Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

The month is June, the subject is roses.  I am going about the neighborhood to see how many roses I can capture.

This creamy yellow beauty is in  my neighbor's garden

This rose greets me every morning.

It seems I'm not the only one who loves roses.  I spied these on my walk around the neighborhood.

To see what's blooming around the country visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens .

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Spring came to Chicago last week and it put on quite a show.  The Chicago Flower and Garden Show, that is.   Gorgeous, bright flowers dazzled the eye and lifted the spirit.

Meanwhile in my indoor garden a lonely Christmas cactus has produced one bloom and the Pointsetta still thrives under the grow light.    Soon trays of sprouting seeds will take up most of the space.

I visit the blogs of my Southern friends to see what Spring, which has been in swing there for a month already, has brought them.   My daughter sends me pictures of the trees in bloom in North Carolina.  Later this week Spring weather will visit Chcago for a day or so with promises of temperatures in the 60's. 

For winter-weary Chicagoans Spring is as "slow as molasses in January " but for now we see hopeful signs.

Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in America.

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

A Flower to Greet You

A Flower is given the center of attention in the Entrance

This century-old solid oak glass panelled door is the entrance to Sweet Home Chicago.  When I first moved in many moons ago the usual lace curtain hung over the glass and hid the true beauty of the door.  Now a flower centered in the faux stained glass panel will greet visitors when they arrive.    The circle around the flower is left clear which is why you see no color there.  The faux stained glass provides privacy but allows in light as well.

I agree that its hard to beat an original but my home has only one.  It was in bad condition, but given its age it was to be expected ,  so we had it restored.

 I copied borrowed some of its pattern in my faux stained glass window.  As you can see flowers and plants were a popular motif for these early American craftsmen.

 If you'd like to create a faux stained glass window , acrylic paint , made especially for glass makes it an easier project.  It is time consuming but as the paint is water soluble any mistakes can be washed or scraped off  if you don't like the finished product.

Meanwhile over in the indoor garden the roses are in bloom .

To see what's blooming across the USA visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens , the creator of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

 

   May Flowers by Moi

Here we are in the first GBBD of the new year 2011.    Naturally the only thing still in bloom at Sweet Garden Chicago is my Christmas poinsetta , some paper whites and the flowers I paint.

But I have a lot of green -rosemary, cacti, ponytail palm and geraniums.  The geraniums always look sickly but when I put them out in the Spring they perk up real fast so I always save them in the Fall.  Coleus is another wonderful annual that makes a good houseplant but I was too late in taking my clippings in this past season.

 

No blooms but lotsa green

My new grow light keeps the pointsetta blooming and the rosemary fresh.

While in Carolina for Christmas I shall never forget the scene - beautiful velvety faces of pansies peeping up at me from their white blanket of snow.

 Happy Bloom Day and don't forget to visit Carol over at May Dreams Gardens who created this wonderful occasion.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

                I must have flowers, always, always, always. -Claude Monet

And so can you if you have enough light to sustain colorful blooming indoor plants.  If you don't I suggest that you purchase a grow light or lamp to keep them happy during long, low-light winters.   I was never able to keep persnickity rosemary alive but she is now on her second season inside.  How I love her pungent smell and taste.

The poinsetta, christmas cactus and paperwhites are my Christmas favorites and I'm hoping that Santa will bring me some orchids to add to my indoor garden collection.

After blooming all summer my Mandevilla is dropping its leaves one by one and has been relegated to a corner where she will rest for a while .  Soon she will recover and send out new growth.

My indoor garden cheers me up on cold gray winter days and it makes me feel as if I'm in a greenhouse.

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for sponsoring GBBD and for encouraging us to have flowers year round.

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day at Sweet Garden Chicago Nov.2010.wmv

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden ChicagoAll rights reserved

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day-Sept.15,2010

Below is the Fall garden project I began on labor day .  I've turned my entire back 40 into an ornamental kitchen garden, combining fruit, flowers, vegetables and herbs.

I've also added blueberries - a Northland and Bluecrop which is planted in almost total acidic pine fines.  Its hard to get enough acid for blueberries so I'm adding an acidifier as well.

Bluecrop Blueberry -one of the finest cultivars.

My pattypan or scallopini squash is bearing its second crop.

Sweet Autumn clematis has bloomed and is sending its fragrance all over the garden.

The tomatoes are still ripening and I'm waiting for the eggplant to bear.  Of course I'll pull some tomatoes green to fry up.

The weather has been fantastic and there is still much to do before the snow flies. At our annual garden center sidewalk sale I bought a coldframe and vegetable and herb seeds for Spring planting. 

Happy September bloom day to all.  Visit Carol at Maydreams Gardens to see what's blooming all across the US of A.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day -July Superstars

High summer and July has been a hot, humid month with above average rainfall.    The garden is prolific with blooms from many colorful perennials.  Here are the super stars of summer :

Rosy Returns Daylily

Gooseneck Loosestrife

 Peppermint twist Phlox

Rudbekia, of course

and Limelight hydrangea near the fence

Bee Balm

My 2 favorite annuals :  Dianthus and Coleus

Rose of Sharon -one month early

Go visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming in gardens across the country.

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY-MAY-BE

This May finds me lawn-less at last. I thought it was a small patch of lawn until I started digging it up. Then I had to pull out countless tree roots and dig out the periwinkle that crept in from next door. I gathered enough rootings to plant the entire space, which saved me a bundle as they're around $35 a flat now. All this done during my little Sweet Pea's nap time. It doesn't look good now but it has a long season to grow and should fill in nicely by Fall. Can't wait until Spring to see my new blue-flowering periwinkle lawn.

May has confused itself with April and we've been saturated these past few days with up to 4 inches in suburban areas. That's more than the average total for the month.


The fragrant Korean dwarf lilac is in bloom as are the 'Lorelei ' iris. The orange iris would've been opened if we'd had more sunshine but its been Irish weather all week.


The gorgeous white snowball viburnum that belongs to my neighbor flows over into my garden and leaves its sweet fragrance. The Forget-me-nots have appeared and so have the Dianthus from last year. My Christmas Poinsettia survived as you can see in the photo above. Some deep purple pansies love the recent cool weather and have hung on longer than expected.


Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming around the U S of A.




Sweet Home and Garden Chicago All rights reserved

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY -APRIL 2010

 Front garden of Sweet Home & Garden Chicago

Back Garden

It's April bloom day and things are busting out all over.  As you can see above, the usual suspects are in bloom :  Daffodils, Tulips, Forsythia, Muscari, Bergenia, Carol Mackie Daphne, and my Asian pear, to name a few.

One more wonderful 80 degree day and everything else will awaken from it's long winter's sleep.  The Crabapple tree in the front garden is about to emerge as is the Betty magnolia in the back.

By all counts, Spring is one month early this year.  Let's hope it will not hold any nasty surprises in the form of late freezes and frosts.

Visit Carol of  May Dreams Garden to see what's blooming all across the USA.

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
All rights reserved

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY

How many of you still have your Pointsettas from Christmas? Mine has outgrown its 4 inch pot and as you can see has put out a lot of new growth. All credit to the grow light.

In just 5 days from now, Saturday, March 20th to be exact, Spring will come to Chicago at 12:32 p.m. From this day forth light and dark will be equal. New life and growth will begin.

Today I went in search of Spring, for flowers to display for our monthly Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day sponsored by Carol of May Dreams Gardens . Despite the past few days of Spring-like weather there were no blooms in sight.

Alas, I searched for Spring elsewhere . Here inside Sweet Garden Chicago :

This beautiful Oncidium blooms from Spring til Fall

This gorgeous Phalaenopsis
has been blooming for several weeks now

Close-up of the " Moth Orchid "

It's Spring in Gethsemane's Greenhouse

It's Spring at the Chicago Flower and Garden show

The first flowers of Spring : Daffodils

And its Spring all year long with these whimsical flowers that need
no water or sun. This is a shot of one of my neighbors front yards.

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
All rights reserved

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

IF NO ONE HAD EVER SEEN A FLOWER
EVEN A DANDELION WOULD BE
THE MOST STARTLING EVENT IN THE WORLD.

-Helen Keller

Winter lingers on but a hopeful sign of Spring is evident as the days grow longer. On this February bloom day a foot of snow covers the garden but beneath the white blanket is nature's bounty waiting for the right moment to emerge in all her glory.

Thanks my grow light I can enjoy the beauty of my indoor garden. My poinsettia has thrived in the rosy glow of the light and the cacti have put on new growth.

Here's a close-up of a terrarium I made with some cacti.

My paperwhites are in bloom.

And the rosemary that usually dies right after Christmas has put out new growth.

Winter is about 4 months too long here in Chicago but growing an indoor garden, blogging about gardening and painting have helped me maintain my sanity . Yesterday was a balmy 32 degrees but the sun was out and so were many winter-weary Chicagoans, I among them.

Head over to Carol at Maydreamsgardens to see what's blooming both inside and out across the USA.

Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
All rights reserved

GARDEN BLOGGERS BLOOM DAY-JANUARY 2010

Click to Enlarge

I could show you my red pointsetta which is still in top form due to the rosy glow of the grow light above it and my other indoor plants but I'm sure that by this time most of you , like Jodi at Bloomingwriter, are thinking of ways to get rid of them.

About the only thing blooming right now is my imagination and you can see the results of it in my painting above, titled Wildflowers.

We've been in an artic deep freeze for 13 long days and the end is just now in sight . Never thought that 32 could feel so warm. The weather has been erratic almost everywhere, with a rare 27 degrees in Florida . Unfortunately the cold has done a lot of damage to crops .

My grow light, I'm happy to report, is working. I see new leaves on the rosemary which would normally be dead by now. I'm hoping to have some blooms on the succulents for the February bloomday.

Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming around the U.S. of A .



Written by Carolyngail

It's May in December at Sweet Home and Garden Chicago

The First of May by Moi

After a few days of bitter cold you know there's nothing blooming outside this 15th of December. That doesn't stop me from dreaming about Summer so I took up my brush and created a wildflower meadow full of colorful blooms. I imagine myself in the merry month of May walking in the lovely meadow with the warm sunshine beaming down on my face.


Dreaming about the garden in May is just one way I pass the long, cold Chicago winter.


Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens , the originator of our Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. She just might be hoeing her indoor garden with her teeny tiny hoe.

NOVEMBER BLOOMS AT SWEET GARDEN CHICAGO

Click to enlarge

What's still in bloom and leaf ? Viburnums , oakleaf hydrangea, mums, dianthus, ornamental grasses, curly fox sedge , autumn joy sedum and the last rose of summer , the Knock Out which just keeps on going until winter rears her ugly head.

Pardon me, am I dreaming or is this November ? Days of sunshine and temperatures in the 60's and 70's have more than made up for a dreadful October. As you can see from the above collage there's still a lot going on in the garden.

A year ago the most beautiful flower came into our life -Lathyrus odoratus a.k.a. Sweetpea. Lea is celebrating her first birthday on GBBD and Granny is throwing her a little party. Never thought I'd find a hairless, toothless human that needed to be fed and diapered frequently so precious. Babies are just like seeds. They don't look like much at first sprout but then they soon grow into a beautiful flower.

OCTOBER BLOOM DAY

Autumn Moon Japanese Maple : Beautiful year round but more so in October

Close Ups of October blooms

In the Limelight : Hydrangea and Azalea in Fall dress

October opened with record cold and has continued its chilly grip, killing many of the tender perennials and annuals. It has been the coldest October in 82 years. I am not ready for such an early cold Fall and so Providence, hearing my heartfelt plea, will send some nice warm weather this coming weekend.

There's still so much left to do in the garden. I'm dividing and transplanting perennials and I have Spring bulbs left to plant.

Visit Carol at Maydreamsgardens to see what's blooming this October.

GARDEN BLOGGERS' BLOOM DAY-September

The above photos are the short shots of some of my flowers:
Host, geraniums, Korean mum, fuschia, Proven Winner petunias and Profusion zinnia

The long shots of my September garden

September and summer is finally here. We're enjoying hot, sunny dry days and cool mornings and evenings.

The petunias gave out early this year no doubt due to the weather - too much rain, not enough rain . I was really surprised by the Proven Winner dwarf petunias and how well they did. They've been blooming non-stop all summer and I didn't have to deadhead them at all.

AWESOME AUGUST GBBD

Close ups of my August Blooms

Reflecting back to May and my newly planted garden bed

The long shot shows how well the border has filled in

What's blooming in your neck of the woods? Visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens and share your garden.