Sunday, June 25, 2017

Gardening in Chicagoland: June 2017

Front Yard: June 2017

We had two days last week to sneak out and catch sunlight--between storms.
The few days we have been able to work has been spent in the backyard 
reconstruction, planting pots, and basic clean up. 

Our season is way behind 
this year in Chicagoland from weather and specifically temperatures going from frost
 to 90's to cold to constant wet.

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The Creeping Sedum along our beams softens their edges and are blooming like crazy.
The white pole was a squirrel protection for a feeder, that has deteriorated, another REDO project.

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Creeping Sedum. I bought a flat of 12 plants maybe 6 years ago. 
I dig up and divide every year to edge the beams in the yard. 

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Scattered around are pots and planters, which are between lush from rain, 
or anemic from the lack of sun. 
My Geranium on there right, is not happy. A transplanting maybe in the works for it.


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Early morning light is always the most interesting for photographs.

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This was a Caladium I bought fully grown. My Caladium  bulbs froze when I planted them in early May, even in the greenhouse.


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I have three planters along the garage walkway--I added some new items along with the potato vine which does wonderful here. Note all the debris--from our storms.

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This green and white crawler---is some sort of succulent. I have lost the label. 
I will buy them again, it has tripled in size in two weeks


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I think this OLD chair takes Shabby to a new sad level. Another Redo on the horizon.

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And this poor OLD bench will bite the dust at the end of the summer. Particularly, the salt from winter---which we must put on this corner has eaten the legs. 
The bench has been hung on the wall, I have some OLD porch posts to REDO here. 
Meanwhile, color greets you at the front of the garage.

 Clean-up  has been hard to keep up with---with back to back storms.

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This clematis and frozen, it's early growth stopped in its tracks, but its coming back now.

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Along with the rain, we are now dealing with an excess of bugs everywhere. We use as many 
safe and organic products as possible. Soap water works the best on the pots.
We live in a lake community---where everything ends up in our lake, so it's a GREEN thing to do.

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I don't know if everything this pot will make it, but love the crazy giant frond things, 
I've used potato fine, bluebonnets, 12" Marigolds.  

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My pots are in various states of blossoming. Too much rain fills all the saucers, I finally removed them until the pots dry out. Dianthus, purple petunias and golden baby tears.

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 Golden baby tears, petunias, impatience and Coleus in this pot.
My pots should be lovely in a month. 

The front arbor is lush---
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The front arbor is lush---Climbing roses are crazy with blooms. This is after I clipped blooms off.
---for this is a 50% shade spot.

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Early in the morning, it's full sun here. Lilies and Tiger lilies are the next bloom. 

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Under the maple tree on the front walk, my Tea Roses from Mother's day last year.

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A giant variegated Hosta---All the Hostas are HUGE this year. 


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Under the maple tree are planters, Coral Bells, Tea Roses, a Mum, and Hostas. 
The hanging pot is new Impatiens I haven't seen before, almost a ruffle. We are sticking to 
peachy/orange tones. I use purple, red and limes as a loose color scheme.
The OLD urn is one that I bought last Fall in a thrift store for $3.00. I love it here. 


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Under the front windows of the house, 
The ornamental grasses have morphed and are out of control. 
I have Astilbe, Iris, Giant (red) Sedum and Marigolds in here. 
All my other perennials have froze out, sadly.
The bird houses are all in need of freshening. 
This area needs a major GREEN REDO.

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I want to make the mosaic ball the focus, some serious digging maybe required.

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On the porch we have four long planters with flowers/herbs/and lettuce mixed together. 
I'll share more once we get the gutters cleaned and the porch presentable. Sigh!

Well, I have to go spray for bugs and pull more weeds, and chop more overgrowth. 
OH, and DUMP saucers full of water, 
BLUB, BLUB, BLUB, from wet Chicagoland. 

Happy Gardening!


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.
 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!




Sandi








Thursday, June 22, 2017

Junkin' Finds: Early June 2017

Not too many goodies this month. Most of my spare change has gone to the garden. But I did find some OLD things, and some to REDO. Remember thrift shopping is a GREEN way to support many causes and keep things out of the dump.


The fairly NEW white metal pitcher in the upper left with Sunflowers was $2.00 at a garage sale, it probably won't leave the table until Christmas


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This lovely OLD earthen dinner plate is a brand called Scotch Ivory. It is a sponge print, as well as the green leaves are hand-painted and reminiscent of Blue Ridge pottery here. SCOTCH IVORY made many patterns.

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Made in Scotland, with a mark of B.P. Co. Ltd. Here is an interesting .matching chocolate pot.
Britannia Pottery Company was in Glasgow, Scotland and in business from 1896-1935. The mark has a seated full-face Britania in the circle which dates this piece from 1920-35, or as early as 1915. 
Another company with the same name operated in Staffordshire,  England and  shouldn't be confused. 
This is a bit of a sleeper and is worth way more than the $1.00 I paid for it. HMMMMM!


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This fairly NEW jewelry box is a medium size all-wood and nicely finished. It has great wall hardware on the back--and will be perfect in my bathroom-as is, unless I paint it blue in a REDO and the pink insides have to go.


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I love that GoodWill is finally matching up cups and saucers. 


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Definitely OLD and used, this is a creamy white clay body with a whitish glaze with the cobalt underneath. Cobalt blue is very strong and is the reason the potteries used it as it can penetrate almost all gloss glazes even whites. Stable---it provided consistent results even when there were gross changes in temperatures in kilns. The three crown/waves (Scandinavian) were the key to looking for this as the signature is a bit illegible until you see it clearly.

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The pattern is SHANGHAI by Rorstrand (with two dots above the o) in Sweden. This company has been in business for over 300 years and is still going strong. The cup and saucer date from 1915-25, and must have been very popular over the years.  


These adorable cordial glasses by Delft were made for a chocolate mint liquor popular in Holland and are probably only vintage. 
The detail is amazing and they are also on a creamy clay body. I had to keep these. These were shoved in a plastic bag hanging on the Great Bags of Crap wall at Savers for $2.00.

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These were also in another bag for $1.00. Really! 
----they are perfect and adorable, with the Made in Holland stickers and 
the Delft Blauw signature on the bottoms. Most of the blue is handpainted with only the 
Windmill scene as a transfer.


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A bunch of immaculate linens at my favorite thrift store, bundled 3 for 50 cents.
The green ones are cotton and will make great rugs in the Barbie House.



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These are tatted, two with lovely lace pattern, i haven't seen before.

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Both of these are unusual, the top one is crocheted, while the bottom is tatted. Rarely see small square 
doilies.   All together I think I spent $1.25 on these. These will be reused in projects a GREEN thing to do. 

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And a super sturdy lidded basket for $3.00. Always handy for portable storage. 

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May your GREEN Junkin' and  huntin'  be fun and successful!


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.
 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!




Sandi







Thursday, June 1, 2017

Ode to Iris



MY IRIS have BLOOMED! 

The cool wet weather, apparently was ideal for  Iris. The blooms are huge and abundant. 
The history of Iris meanings include Faith, Hope, and Wisdom.

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Cultivated all over the world, Iris are found in Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and North America.

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There are over two-hundred varieties of Iris, in all colors. The Iris takes it's name from the Greek word for "rainbow", so apropos, when Iris come in so many colors.


Dark purple Iris can denote royalty---with that rich velvety purple.

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Yellow Iris can denote passion---I guess this one represents royal passion. Iris have also been used for perfumes and medicinal purposes.


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Iris were linked to royalty, and the Fleur de Lis of France is an idealized representation of the flower. I love this striated bright purple and white.

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In any color they are gorgeous. This rust is particularly rich. 
Mine have burst into bloom in the last three days of real sunshine.

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Iris have also been linked to courage and determination. The lime-yellow Barberry is a wonderful contrast.

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The foliage is particularly strong this year. But the stems have leaned over on many because of the water content of the flowers and so many blooms. These happily reside in vases in the house.

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Peach Iris, who knew---these look like petticoats with their ruffly deliciousness.

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The Ancient Greeks' Goddess Iris, was the messenger of the gods and acted as a link from heaven to earth. Purple Iris were planted on graves of women to summon the Goddess to guide the dead in their journey to the heavens.

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My friend E's Iris at the end of her street. The dew dripping on the petals.
Ancient Egypt also marveled at the exotic blooms. Drawings of Iris have been found in a number of ancient Egyptian palaces.

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And there are more---waiting in the wings, I can't wait to see what colors these are.

Information above gleaned from this source.
http://www.proflowers.com/blog/history-and-meaning-of-iris

Another source of the symbolism of the Iris, https://symbolsproject.eu/explore/plants-and-vegetations/iris-/-lily-/-fleur-de-lys.aspx

Some of my Iris were from Breck's and planted two years ago. We chose Iris (some are twice bloomers) for their flowers and their foliage. The spiky lime leaves go well in our landscape. Here is a selection of Breck's Iris shipping in Fall, HERE.

I receive no reimbursement or products, this is simply the flowers we chose from personal experience.

Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.
 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!



Sandi




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Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Chicagoland Spring Garden


I'm certainly not sorry to say good-bye to May, here in Chicagoland. 

May was cold, wet, cloudy, crabby, with a rare chance of sun. 
The ground was so saturated, hubby had a hard time getting anything tilled until this last week.

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This is what our garden normally looks like by the middle of May.
Everything neatly planted and mulched.
This was pretty much why I didn't post much in May---toooooo depressing.


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Instead our started plants were hunkered down in two green houses.

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 We burned up two heaters this year, sigh. 

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A rare day without rain, so we tried to transplant plants to bigger containers. 
I think we had hail the next day.

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The extra greenhouse was for seedlings and was crushed a few days later from bad weather
Those are all our tomatoes, on the table seats straight ahead. The small green house on the right was ripped up, and now the plants were too tall for the big green house. CRAZY!


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Then we began our garden demolition. Carpenter bees, and age had done a number on our lattice, rails, fencing and walkways. Our white lattice was remnants of my antique/craft shop I had for 10 years, and we used this in the garden for 10 years, so I guess we have been GREEN and did well with that as a REDO. 


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Hubby began the long process of dismantling. 
Our neighbor loaned us a huge truck jack, and we jacked up the beams that were buried. We are still doing a REDO with them, for the base of the new green house. 
Meanwhile, the entire yard was a disaster.

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Slowly, hubby stacked the usable pieces. We finally were able to burn a few nasty ones.
We will still use the plastic lattice for beans, pumpkins, and squash vines. 

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The Grand wasn't the least bit deterred from digging in her sandbox.

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I planted lemon grass in our pots for mosquito repellent. It's amazing how large it grows and is 
great for soups and Oriental dishes. I add my annuals for color.
I gave up planting annuals in the ground a few years ago, and keep to very few here and there. 
It is much easier to move pots around with color, where you need it.


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We kept some areas clear. One of the rare pictures of the grand and not of her butt, she is so fast.
 Most pictures have her half out of the frame.


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A lucky photo with the Grand in the middle of the frame. 

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In the middle of our yard the clematis finally started to bloom last weekend. 
A few birdhouses have had to been relocated.  Both of these had birds in them.

I never got pictures of any tulips. Hail and wind damage, and they were wiped out.

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This was the poor daffy's smashed to the ground from heavy rains. 

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We are working hard now, everyday. No rain forecasted until the weekend.
Stay tuned for the new garden reveal when we get it all planted. When ever that is. 
Our tomato plants are now two feet high and have out grown the greenhouses. 
They are vamping on the patio---waiting to grow--maybe tomorrow, 
if it doesn't rain, snow, or hail...LOL

Happy Spring from Chicagoland.


Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.
 Please do not use photos without linking back to this blog without my permission. 
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle

I will be sharing at these fine Parties!


Sandi




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