Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Gardening and Pets

Like everyone else we've been busy. We hosted a garden party recently at our house which kept us hopping for a few days; preparing the food and spiffing up the garden. We got lucky, the weather was perfect.

 I'm happy with the look of both the Comtesse de Bouchard and Perle d'Azur clematis in the Moongarden.




Florida Sieboldii is blooming nicely on the arbor.




Speaking of the arbor, Kim recently refinished our glider.
It was formerly purple.  (My idea.)  Kim chose the new colors which I think look great.




I'm enjoying this Lysimachia punctata, but it is supposed to be 'Alexander' - "White edged leaves........"
Which is why I bought it, for the nice foliage.  You can see it's all green now.
Oh well, the flower structure is nice too.



The back porch has shaped up nicely.  We've added the banana on the right and quite a few new container plants.
Felix is enjoying his nap time.



Our service berry tree has always been popular with the robins, and we've seen some cedar waxwings lately also.  But the funniest thing is to see the big hens jump up to snatch a berry for themselves.



Speaking of hens, we've had the little girls out in the garden lately.  Here they're charging through the back porch.



Felix shares the "watering hole" with them.



Felix attempts to play.  They're just his size after all.



More attempts at playing.
The chicks don't get it.

We have had some difficulty getting them together with the big girls.  They spent two days in the coop together before we had an injury.  So we've separated them again.  Both sets seem OK when they're together in the back yard so we'll continue to work on the integration.




And we're trying to tame down these three new ones in preparation for adoption.  A neighbor moved out a few months ago - without three of their five cats - and one of the ones they left was pregnant, of course.
We've been taming the mother down and she allows us to pet her, (but don't try picking her up), and we recently gathered up her three kittens.  They aren't happy but they're eating and using the litter box.
(We'll be having the mom kitty spayed soon.)



Hope your summer is shaping up nicely.  Happy Summer Solstice!

13 comments:

Emily said...

oh, those kittens! such beautiful blue eyes.

i keep meaning to post the photos i took at your party. the four of us were wandering around totally stunned by everything. glad i brought my camera.

Tatyana@MySecretGarden said...

What a great post! I read it with a smile! Watering hole picture is wonderful!!! Your plants look great, and I love your clematis. The kittens are adorable. Thank you!

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

Your gardens look wonderful. Know the garden party attendees were thrilled to see the beauties in your garden. I think that is the best photo I have seen of 'Florida Sieboldii', very nice.
Love those blue eyes on those cute kittens.

Rosemary said...

Lovely garden bench , hope you get a moment to enjoy it. Love all the "livestock" :-)

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Perfect for garden party!!

Anonymous said...

oh to have been at your garden party! It had to have been wonderful ~ just look at the surroundings. I LOVE your back patio. The columns make me drool ~ so cool. I can't remember noticing them before??? What a relaxing place to be. I would live out there most of the summer!
Sorry the girls are not all getting along. I'm sure that's not what you envisioned. Is it just the age difference?? or personality clashes??
Your new kittens are adorable. I don't understand how people can leave pets behind? They must not form emotional attachments. My pets are my family ~ so I wouldn't ever consider it.
Your garden looks great Victoria.

Lublyou said...

Gorgeous garden!
My husband and I are moving to Idaho in 2 weeks! So excited!

LJB said...

I'm generally much more of a dog lover than a cat fan, but those baby kitties are just too cute for words.

garden girl said...

Your garden looks so beautiful! Love the refinished glider. The new color fits it beautifully.

With all those chickens and kitties, looks like your hands are pretty full. The kittens are beautiful.

Jennifer said...

Wow, I can't believe how big the baby chicks have gotten! I think it is great that the cat doesn't bother them, but wants to play. When I get some chickens, (hopefully someday soon!) it will be tricky to get the dogs not to terrorize them. Your garden is looking great and I love that clematis flower.

Anonymous said...

I loved seeing your garden at the garden party! It is absolutely beautiful and packed with so much personality and charm! The clematis were beautiful and Florida Sieboldii especially so. I thought it was a passion flower at first! Loved seeing your chickens first hand as well as the koi and Felix. The new kitties are adorable too! I thought I might run into you at the Garden Tour but we must have traveled different routes. Thanks again for inviting me to your Garden Party!

GRACE PETERSON said...

Those kittens are too cute but what about Felix and those hens? How sweet is that? I hope the new and older hens will be nice to each other. Maybe you can have Felix referee. :) The photo of your back porch is amazing. I love the pillars with the vines growing up them and the wall decor and the plantings. Outstanding!

I had the chance to buy a bargain 'Florida Sieboldii' Clemmy several years ago. I will always regret not getting it. Your blossom is gorgeous.

Love your moon garden too! Great post!

Unknown said...

So adorable!