Love, Joy and Peas: May 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

Primroses, Roses, Begonias, Dahlias and Lobelia

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The yellow primroses that my kind friend Mary gave me last year have multiplied and I'm thrilled. They brighten up a mostly shady part of our yard and are visible from two different windows.

The hot pink and light red roses seem to be doing the best this year and are still covered in beautiful, bright blooms. The Mr. Lincoln rose we planted last year has only produced one flower so far but it was huge and delightfully fragrant.

The yellow nonstop begonias are still going strong and I love their very large flowers (much larger than the traditional begonias we have in another area).

Last week I shared my new yellow and sunset dahlias and mentioned that we also added a burgundy dahlia and here it is. I think the sunset dahlias are my favorite but I love them all.

I debated between sharing this lobelia photo or one of my echinacea photos. The lobelia is thriving in my window boxes and the echinacea just started blooming this week. But I had a much nicer echinacea photo in this blog post and don't think I've shared a lobelia photo before so picked the lobelia. They are more of a true blue in person even though they look kind of purple in this photo.

That's all for this week's garden tour. I hope you'll join me again next Friday to see what's blooming in my Maryland garden.

I love hearing from you and I'm always interested to learn what's blooming in your area! And what your favorite photo of the post is. Last week the sunset dahlia won the most votes and is the reader's favorite. Thank you for visiting and may God bless you!

Related posts:
Sunset dahlia and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/05/raindrops-on-irises-roses-dahlias-and.html
Pretty echinacea and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/little-bees-and-big-flowers-this-week.html
Four fabulous dahlias: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/four-dahlias-and-dianthus-for-floral.html

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Moose, Bunny and Baby for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! Moose the cat loves to tour the garden with me. She doesn't seem to have any hunting instinct so the yard birds and bunnies are safe.

Moose is a geriatric cat, at 19-20 years of age. At one point she weighed 13 pounds but now she hovers around 6 pounds. Her abundant fur hides her extreme slimness but other than arthritis and random dementia related yowling she seems very healthy and happy.

This cute and wild yard bunny is enjoying a cool shady spot.

Inside, my little Baby cat (who turned 15 this year) relaxes in her special cat bed. Even though she looks much smaller than Moose the cat, Baby currently outweighs her. Moose just looks larger because of all her extra fur.

Moose is more photogenic but Baby is my favorite cat of all time. I think she's adorable even in a blurry picture. Few people ever get to see her outside of photos because she's feral born and tends to hide whenever we have company but she's devoted to me and I adore her.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you and those you love!

Related posts:
Funny St. Patrick cat photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/funny-st-patricks-day-photos-of-moose.html
Moose in a sombrero: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/moose-cat-rocks-sombrero.html
Christmas cat cuteness: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-cat-santa-and-reindeer.html

Friday, May 22, 2015

Raindrops on Irises, Roses, Dahlias and Primroses

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" Last week I mentioned that my yellow irises would be blooming soon and, by God's grace, they are now. They're my favorite both because of their color and their lovely scent. I think they look even nicer with raindrops too.

Our rose bushes are full of flowers. I love the heavy bloom when they first start out for the year but appreciate that the roses will continue to produce flowers through fall.

The dahlia tubers that we planted aren't near blooming yet so hubby kindly bought me three smaller dahlias (yellow and sunset shown in this post and burgundy/deep red perhaps in a future post).

The primroses started blooming too. I love their deep pink veins.

This is the sunset dahlia I mentioned above. These flowers are just starting to open.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Which was your favorite photo from this post? What's blooming in your area this week?

Related posts:
More raindrops on pretty flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
More irises: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/yellow-blue-purple-and-white-irises.html
Mandevilla, petunias & more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/mandevilla-roses-dianthus-and-petunias.html

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Mom and Dad Sparrows Feed Babies

Happy wild Wednesday! While I didn't get a great photo of the male and female sparrows feeding their cute baby birds I think the videos are nice (they're below) but figured I should lead with a decent photo. So the cute peekaboo bird above won the prime location. He's actually hiding behind a bird feeder (which I cropped out) peering at me. He'd duck behind the bird feeder and eat and then peek at me again. Cuteness in my own backyard.

I'm not sure what I did wrong but I can't insert text below the next photo, which is of the baby sparrows in an old birdhouse in our side yard. Then the two videos are of the dad and then the mom feeding the cute baby birds. I hope you enjoy the photos and videos.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless the cute wild birds and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Wet & wild birds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/wet-wild-birds.html
Snow birds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/01/snow-bird-photos-and-haiku-poem.html
Cute chipmunk: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/03/cute-chipmunk-on-bird-ball.html

Friday, May 15, 2015

Irises, Pansies, Begonias and a Rose with Tiny Bees

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The irises and roses have started blooming and I think they look especially pretty with raindrops on their petals.

Most of my neighbors have already pulled up their pansies but as long as they look great we're letting ours stay. I did plant other flowers in between the rows of pansies though so once they start to fade there will already be established plants in their area.

This pale yellow rose, which I think is a knockout rose, smells lovely and the bees (even the teeny tiny ones in the photo above) seem more drawn to it than our other roses. It was also the first to start blooming this year.

These deep purple/blue irises smell lovely too. The only iris we have that smells nicer is our giant yellow and that one's just starting to bud. Maybe next week I'll have a yellow iris photo to share.

This is my first ever nonstop begonia. The largest flower is almost four inches across. I wish I'd asked the nursery worker what they used for fertilizer because the new blooms coming in are much smaller. But they're still a lovely yellow which brightens up a shady corner of our side yard, which I appreciate. That's all for this week's post. I hope you enjoyed my flower photos and pray that God will bless you this spring and always!

Which photo(s) did you like best? What's blooming in your area?

Related posts:
Yellow irises: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/yellow-blue-purple-and-white-irises.html
Kenilworth irises: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/flowers-at-kenilworth-aquatic-gardens.html
Iris buds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/04/tulips-fire-poker-lilies-japanese-maple.html

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Heartie the Cat for Wild Wednesday

Happy wild Wednesday! I met this gorgeous big cat on a recent walk and thought he was so wonderful I had to share him with you. He inspected me with his serious stare (made less serious by the lovely heart shape made when his front paws are placed together as in the photo above). I don't actually know his name but I think of him as Heartie.

After examining me for a moment he must have decided I was ok as he came running towards me and rubbed against my legs doing that lovely tail hug thing some cats do (they wrap their tails around your ankle or wrist like a little hug). Of course I responded by giving him a good petting session which he seemed to love.

I've never seen Heartie before even though I occasionally walk by the house he was guarding. I wonder if he's a foster cat as I suspect the house he was guarding belongs to an animal fostering family (I see lots of different pets there). If he is a foster cat, his foster family and any animal welfare agencies trying to place him are welcome to use these photos in finding him a forever home. If not his family is still welcome to the photos for personal use.

Maybe someday I'll get brave and knock on their door to find out Heartie's story. They have (or are long term fostering) a little dog who needs the wheelchair apparatus you can see on the right side of the photo above. So I suspect the family is full of kindhearted people.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless Heartie, his family and you too!

Related posts:
Patriotic Moose the cat: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/patriotic-moose-cat-photos-fourth-of.html
Christmas cat photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/12/christmas-cat-santa-and-reindeer.html
Moose the cat in a sombrero: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/moose-cat-rocks-sombrero.html

Friday, May 8, 2015

Lilacs, Azaleas, Dianthus and Dahlias for Floral Friday

Happy floral Friday and welcome to this week in my Maryland garden! Last week's post featured our old fashioned lilac and this week I decided to lead with our reblooming lilacs. They are absolutely covered in flowers right now. The last photo in this post has another photo of them from a little further away. If we are blessed, we'll have blooms trickling in through early fall.

We have five azalea bushes and they're at peak this week.

This dianthus survived an early spring transplant from our window box to the ground. We might have gotten earlier flowers had we left it where it was but I wanted to try a new window box arrangement this year and it seems happier in the ground.

The pansies are still looking nice but I got a great deal on some miniature dahlias so I planted a row of them in between the pansies. The tulips have passed but I'll leave their foliage up for a while to gather nutrients for next year's blooms.

This is definitely peak week for the lilacs. What is your favorite spring flower?

Hope you enjoyed my garden photos. May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Raindrops on roses and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
Dahlias and dianthus: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/four-dahlias-and-dianthus-for-floral.html
Mandevilla, dianthus & more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/mandevilla-roses-dianthus-and-petunias.html

Friday, May 1, 2015

Pansies, Primroses, Lilacs and an Angelique Tulip

Happy floral Friday! It's another exciting week in my Maryland garden and I hope you'll enjoy this week's flower photos! I'm thrilled that the pansies are still going strong (we planted them last fall).

The first set of primrose flowers have passed but the later bloomers are still going strong. This bright pink petaled and yellow and white centered plant is one of my favorite primroses.

The old fashioned lilacs (pictured above) are in full bloom. The dwarf rebloomers are just starting to flower but bees are enjoying both already.

We still have Angelique tulips in the front yard and they look so full that neighbors have asked if they're miniature peonies.

The burgundy primroses are also lovely. Which was your favorite photo from this post? Thank you for visiting! May God bless you this springtime and always!

Related posts:
Last week's primrose and blind baby finch: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/04/primrose-blind-baby-finch-angelique.html
Big yellow primrose: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/little-bees-and-big-flowers-this-week.html
Evening primrose: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/day-lily-primrose-echinacea-petunia-and.html