Two for One!

I am excited for the wonderful weekend ahead of me!  

I get a two for one on this weekend!  

My son is getting married and then we get to celebrate the 4th of July!

27 years ago I couldn't have

imagined where we'd be now- from
his first steps, college and now these
steps down the aisle!

It's going to be a great day!

We couldn't be happier for the

two of them and are looking

forward to this great day!

 This is a picture from the place the

reception will take place..

 There any many options on how to

decorate it- It's absolutely huge!

 Of course if you know me, you know I am 

enthused about the grounds and all

the beautiful shrubs and flowers they

have to enjoy.  They'll probably have

to sound a horn to get me back inside

and stop touring the grounds!

The cool thing about this place is it's loaded

with photo opportunities

So this will be what I am

doing on Saturday....

Then we celebrate the 4th of July and

our country's independence!

You're a grand old flag,
You're a high flying flag
And forever in peace may you wave.
You're the emblem of
The land I love.
The home of the free and the brave.

Ev'ry heart beats true
'neath the Red, White and Blue,
Where there's never a boast or brag.
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
Keep your eye on the grand old flag.

 Have a joyous holiday weekend I know I will!

Hugs...

Fairy Gardening

Welcome to my fairy garden! 

 I've named it

 Stoney Hollow...

 Come and take a tour with me!

Stoney Hollow is aptly named since stones 

seem to show up all the time!  The center of 

 Stoney Hollow has a rather large rock

that seems to be where this fairy

community began!

To the far corner we have the 

fairy meeting center, where each

night they gather, have their dinner

and make decisions about what jobs 

need to be taken care of!

You are welcome to visit  and

have a bowl of Fairy Dust Soup

with them! 

(It tingles in your mouth and 

warms your belly!)

These fairies not only take care of the

stones and place them all around-

they also tend to the flowers and plants!

This fine fairy loves to take care of the

flowers and put them in pots.  She

loves to share them with the others, so 

they can have them in their homes!

  This little guy is taking a rest today....

there has been so much rain lately

he doesn't have to water the plants.

 These fairies have been doing a lot of  

landscaping this year and added some 

new fencing!

They've even added a new bird bath!

 She's in charge of the pond, she keeps

it clean and feeds the fish!

 This fairy keeps an eye out for rabbits! 

They've been having some problems with 

them eating their plants and flowers!

 The fairies would like you to join them in

a cup of tea!

She's all ready for you!

 After you have some tea you are welcome

to come around and see

where the fairies live!

 This door leads you to their homes

inside the giant maple tree.

 Sorry no pictures can be taken inside

as this is a magical place and you

can only enter with special

permission!

 She's in charge of sweeping off

all the stones!

Thank-you for visiting us at Stoney Hollow

and we hope you will come back soon!

I'm linking  up with 

The Little Round Table's-  Link Party

This Week in My Garden 

Enough rain Thank-you!

Everything is wet....I'm anxious to get outside

and trim some shrubs and see the sun 

shine again! It's been raining 3 days straight

and they say more is coming!

These Violas seeded themselves into the 

pathway...I call them volunteers!

The plants are heavy with water...

a puddle sits in this leaf....

I have been waiting for these red peonies

to bloom...it's been raining so much

they are all laying with their faces down

I hope to see the sun tomorrow so I can

get a nice picture of these!

The Endless Summer Hydrangeas are full of

flower heads...It will be quite a show

when they start to bloom

The mulch is soggy like a bog right now,

on this side of the path is a group of

Limelight Hydrangeas I planted last year.

Below them are some Elijah Blue Fescue that

are being dwarfed by the hydrangeas. I
should probably move them...they like sun!

This is early evening and I tried to get off
some shots, but it's so dull and dark already
I didn't get very great pictures.

This is one of my favorite Hostas called
Great Expectations

It's very large and has very thick heavy leaves.

(Don't forget you can click on the picture to enlarge)
This was my favorite shot this evening...a
flower  coming up under the leaves
of the hosta....

Up around the corner is this group of
hostas... this picture didn't do it justice.
I'm pleased with how they are filling in.

 A shot of the "island" as I like to call it-

I have 4 hostas on the left called
 "Remember Me" that I would like to pop out
and move. I don't know why I planted them
in a tight row.  As you can see the Japanese
Forest Grass (Hakone) has taken off this
year.  It was dragging it's feet for two years
after I split it up and spread it out.  I gave
everything a shot of an organic fertilizer
this year and I think it's working!

Just to the right a closer shot with the fountain

It was getting dark quickly...I like how the
wet stones look so old world...

Have you been getting a lot of rain?
We have had more than our share lately!
I hope this weekend will dry up and we
can see the sun again!

Peonies and Bling

 I'm a little obsessed with the Peonies at this point!

Of course it's not hard to love them!

 I brought one in that still had more opening to do and put it in with some Lilacs and Violas

 This smelled really good!
 Didn't last long though!

 This is where my peonies are...out front on my island in front of the house.  We live near a busy road so we put this island in many years ago to help cut down some noise and joined it with the big blue spruce tree that was growing there.

 There are some red ones behind these pinks that will be blooming soon.  

The purple Salvia is blooming real nice and the Hardy Geraniums too!

 On the other side of the island is this a John Franklin Shrub Rose that is just starting to bloom.  So far the rose chafer's haven't gotten to it yet.  They can munch this plant and destroy it in a couple of days.  They seem to come on when it gets hottest.  We've been having some rather comfortable weather so everything is still safe!

 This is a metal plant stand holder that I have a metal oval shaped bucket hanging from with annuals planted in it.  Asparagus Fern and New Guinea Impatiens

 I added some bling to it! See the bumble bee!  Found these at Cracker Barrel!  They are for indoors but I've adopted them to the outside!

 This is my other plant stand with more bling! This one has Swedish Ivy and Begonias (I didn't realize it matched my Hostas so much!)

See the Dragonfly! More bling!

I hope your gardens are growing well too!

I'm joining
 http://www.thelittleroundtable.com/2011/06/this-week-in-my-garden-june-21-2011.html
for This Week in My Garden