Bees Are A Gardener's Best Friend, A Giveaway!

Where would your garden be without the Bumble Bees, huh? You gotta love these guys who just come along and pollinate your little garden and ensure that you will have seeds after your blooms, for free! 

If you're anything like me, you collect seeds and scatter them in the hopes that you will score some free plants. Hooray! It doesn't always happen, but when it does it's literally a gift from above.

I can't give you blooms or ensure that the bees will visit your garden but I am happy to share my love of gardening and appreciation of Bumble Bees with all who love these little guys by giving away 

TWO Busy Bees Wool Felt Runner Kits. (10"x26")

Kits include the pattern, all the wool felt you will need to complete the top, the backing and I'm even adding the the embroidery threads and needle to ensure that all you have to do is remove the sizing and start crafting. 

It's a sweet pot  and all you have to do to be in the drawing is leave a gardening tip in the comments. Thanks for sharing your tips, and joining in the fun. Good luck!!

Winners will be drawn next Friday 7/6/2011

All anonymous posts will be removed. 

You know who I am, 
what makes you think I don't want to know who you are? 
Check the backlink on your post to make sure it goes to your email address or your blog.  You should be "linked" to your comment, in some way.  I appreciate all your comments but I will not hunt you down to give you a prize or post a "looking for" . I will contact the winner via email. Sorry. 

Summer Blooms

One of my favorite Summer pastimes is gardening. It had been years since I ventured out into my garden at our old house. Mostly maintenance work since I quit smoking and being in the garden was my "trigger". My flower beds were mature and some of my plants grew to almost six feet tall. I had a small garden and my motto was, "If it doesn't bloom, I'll dig it out!" Pretty straight forward. 

When I purchased this house, one of the most overwhelming tasks I knew I would have to undertake would be landscaping. If you have ever been to Lowe's, Home Depot or God forbid, your local nursery, you know that gardening is not inexpensive, and that shopping for plants takes on a whole new meaning when you are going through pot after pot looking for plants that have "babies" that can be divided in the fall and net you the largest bed. Getting a bang for your gardening buck takes work!

Before I could start planning my garden renovations I had to wait and see what was actually planted in my space. I knew that with two Koi ponds in the backyard and a  stone wall this was no ordinary garden. This must have been a gardener's garden, at some point. With that in mind, I waited patiently for the garden to come alive. 

The Winter Landscape looked bleak. Only the hardscape told me this garden would be magnificent.

It seemed to take forever but eventually Spring arrived and it brought Bearded Irises, flowering trees. Tons of Lily of the Valley but no tulips. Sigh.....

The Irises were beautiful but what I really wanted to know was what color the Daylilies would be.

 Summer brought beds of Original Orange Day Lilies. Yes, that is their real name  (Hemerocallis Fulva). I am thankful they are not pink. I am thankful they are plentiful and I am thankful that unlike the Hostas, they bloom big and bright, and I will not feel the need to dig them up. LOL. Yes, I have been digging up plants... lots and lots of them. I have started replacing plants I don't care for with plants that remind me of home, my old home, my first home. A backbreaking job for sure, but one that has already started to show promise.  

I found Catmint, Salvia and Jacob's Ladder at Lowes. My first thought was "Oh, they're so small!" but alas, I know they will soon grow to rival the ones I left behind... and they have taken off running. I feel hopeful that my garden will soon reflect not what someone else left behind, but the love and care that I put into it. One plant at a time.
Hope your garden is blooming and calling to you. Have fun!!!