Spring Is In The Air! {{Happiness}}

While sitting at my computer, doing layout work for an eBook, the sun came out. I couldn't help myself. I had to drop everything and went outside to work in our gardens. This first photo proves to me that alien species definitely exist in our world (because this Iceland Poppy definitely has an extraterrestrial-shaped head and the blossom currently looks like a little tongue). [Double-click any photo to enlarge it.]

Here's a ground cover plant that I have growing in the back yard. I bought this about three years ago and it's really taking off/spreading out. (I feel so thankful for colorful low-to-the ground foliage such as this because while I remove more and more lawn (to increase depth & color as well as be more environmentally conscious in my gardens) I can still see all the way to the fence line. Short plants like these also enable the dogs to play in the yard with very little lawn

Last year, while shopping yard sales I bought these flower boxes for about $4 each. They were red and we painted them green. I thought I had found such a great bargain until I paid for the new brackets to hang them with. All the same, this embellishment really adds a lot of personality to Dougs & my house. (I just love them and can hardly wait for the plants to grow and spread out!)
Gotta love having fresh herbs from the garden. Rosemary is one of my favorite garden herbs as it looks beautiful year-round (even when not in bloom). My husband enjoyed a sprig of purple flowering Rosemary with his pasta tonight!

Here's a snapshot of my utterly divine late-flowering cherry tree. It is just now coming into bloom (more than a month after everyone else's cherry trees have lost all of their flower petals. I just LOVE being a little different -- or a little "off" season. :-D

The soil in our yard has been so rocky that I've made fun use of all of the stones I find while I'm gardening. This display is next to our koi pond. The heart-shaped stone that I painted came from my former home, on a creek bank. (You know you're a rock collector when you're willing to pack stones for a household move!)

Here's my native salmonberry bush ... a small plant I rescued (in affiliation with the Native Plant Society) from a site that was going to be bulldozed. This will be the bush's second season in my yard and I'm hoping to finally be able to taste its pinkish-orange fruit this summer. I'm particularly fond of any flower with five petals (like a pentacle). It feels very protective and magical to me.

Amazingly enough, I found the following flower basket and organic insert at the dollar store! The plants inside cost quite a bit more ... but I'm really glad I bought this iron shepherd's hook to hang the display from. It really adds a whole 'nother level to my gardening.

Finally ... in my backyard I have this beautiful flowering vine that I believe is a clematis (it climbs a trellis and I give it hardly any attention at all but it lavishes me with beauty just the same). I planted this three years ago and have never been sorry that I did. It almost matches my flowering cherry tree!

* Interested in books or if you're writing an eBook ... check out my other blog: http://villageofRavena.blogspot.com!