Making things pretty

I love my vegetable garden, but my real passion is my flower beds.  They have been left behind or forgotten, as I became a mother, to one child right after another, and the need to grow food instead of flowers became a necessity.  I love to transform an eye sore, into a beautiful flower garden, and with my husband's help, we have done this many times!  I'm finding more time this year to keep up with my flower gardens, and I'm enjoying it so much!

I love perennials.  Lillies have become a new favorite of mine, because they are so easy to take care of, they continue to grow and spread with each passing year, and there is such a huge variety to choose from.  My husband loves hosta's, and so we have started pairing the two together, and they, together make for a beautiful flower bed. 

It's that time of year again, to start adding a fresh layer of mulch to my flower gardens.  We have been cleaning them out of all weeds and dead foliage, and they are finally ready to look pretty again!  It's always so exciting to the kids when the load of mulch is delivered... it's as if we were getting sand.  They could play with it for hours.  They are always eager to help as well!

We spent most of yesterday mulching around our apple trees and the (below) flower bed.  It looks so fresh, clean and alive! 

This flower garden, wasn't even here a year ago, when we moved in.  We collected flagstone from around the yard, to use as an edging and got straight to planting.  In about a week or two, the lillies and hosta's will be in full bloom and I will definitely be posting more pictures!

The garden below was also not here a year ago when we moved in.  This was the contractor's trash pile.  It took us days to clean up and clean out all the debris, but was well worth it!  We filled the garden with lilacs, hostas, lillies, hydrangeas, rose of sharon, holly hocks and two dwarf crab apples.  We also added a children's picnic table and old fashioned riding horse.  There is a flagstone path through the center of the garden.  This is by far, the kids favorite spot in the yard. 

My sister was visiting from Iowa, last night and snapped this beautiful picture as the sun was setting behind the trees.  This is my project for the weekend.  This garden is in desperate need of some fresh mulch, and I cannot wait to see how it looks when I'm all finished!

The kids all adding a decoration to the garden to create a more whimsical feel.  This is by far  my favorite spot in the yard.  I am looking forward to the summer as each flower takes it turn to bloom.  From my garden to yours...

♥  Shannon