Our huge bridal bush just bloomed beside the corner of the house, it seems for Mary's graduation. At the side of the yard are the big purple iris blossoms. They smell just like grape bubblegum and they can fragrance a whole room. Mary made bouquets with the irises and the white flowers from the bridal bush.
Also, we grow the big feathery ferns to put in flower arrangements. And then I have rose hip bushes. The leaves on it are a dark brownish purple. Mary put these leaves in her arrangements, too. The pink bleeding hearts were in bloom and she put them in her vase. They were just lovely bouquets.
I have the pinkish purple yarrow that is about to bloom here pretty soon. It is mixed in with catnip that has a blue flower on it. I have these planted by the step coming up my walk. Yarrow is very easy to grow and the blooms stay out at least a month. Yarrow is a wonderful healing herb and I dry this herb for tea. (If you hang your blossoms upside down, they will keep their colors when you go to dry them for the winter.) Also this year, I planted the yellow yarrow on the opposite side of the step as the pink. Yarrow is so hardy and comes up every year and spreads easily. And to me, the more flowers the better.
I also have herbs growing along the front walk. I have mint that is getting out of hand and I love it when it does. I would rather have a mint cover for the yard than grass. "Grass," I tell Jim, "is so boring."
I used to have moon flowers up by my door, but someone I know thought they were weeds just before they bloomed and accidently pulled them out. So Papa went and bought me another package of moon flower seeds and I will plant them today. Moon flowers come out in the evening and stay out all night and part of the next morning. They are as big as pie plates and white and absolutely gorgeous. When I first had mine and they bloomed one evening, I got so excited I went and gathered up my neighbors to come and see them.
Papa is not quite the free spirit that I am and, well, when he accidently pulled out my starts to my moon flowers last year, he thought he was pulling out my giant sunflower starts. He doesn't appreciate my sunflowers in the front yard. But I love them, as the goldfinches come and eat of the seeds in the fall.
I do have a sin to confess. I could murder Jim when he pulls out my flowers that come up on their own, like the volunteers. I mean that makes me livid ... just so mad. I have to pray about this. I often tell him "Do not get near my gardens." Well, he don't appreciate my herbs like dill growing everywhere. I have those onions that grow every year, winter onions, and they are liable to grow up in the middle of the yard sometimes. Papa don't appreciate it. I should be more sensible than I am, but I just can't help it. I am a free spirit. I guess I will have to curb my free spirit, though, huh?
The hops I planted a few years ago is taking over, too. Now that I do thin out, the kids tease me so much about it and show it to all their friends. "Thats hops. My mother will make beer with it." I really won't. I got it to make herb pillows. I need something to put me to sleep. ZZZzzz.
Speaking of which, Papa is about to get up for work.
