Love, Joy and Peas: rose

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Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Tidy Tuesday Tip: Consolidate and Containerize

Happy tidy Tuesday! I think I took the rose photo above on March 9th and in the photos below you can see that they've held up pretty well. But that has nothing to do with Tidy Tuesday. The main point of this post is that if you don't have time to do a real clutter busting session, consolidating and containerizing works really well.

On weekends that I'm too busy or health challenged, things pile up on our table. Yesterday, when I was walking by after getting the mail, the gloves were in a stack on top of the scarf which was on top of the pile of hats. It didn't look that bad because it was all stacked together (consolidated). But I thought it was a great opportunity to demonstrate consolidation and containerization. So I spread everything out and added the mail that I hadn't already recycled (I like to recycle what we don't need as soon as I bring it in).

Yes, I wore all that stuff since last Friday. No, I am not a minimalist.

You can barely see one of them but there are three jackets hanging off chairs around the table. I prefer to put my jacket away right after coming inside but if the kittens are eager to play they'll jump in the closet and I have a hard time getting them out. So I just wait until they're asleep.

Everything that was in the first photo ("before") is still represented here in this first "after" photo! Although the bag got cut off so you can just see just the edge of it on the left. All I did to get to this point was to stack all 3 jackets on one chair (consolidate) and put everything that was spread all over the table and didn't belong there in the brown paper bag (containerize). Then I put the brown paper bag on one of the chairs. Instant improvement!

Fastest tidying tip - just dump everything in a container and get it out of the way. Now, don't get me wrong, that's not true organizing. But if you just want things to look better fast, it works.

I then put the jackets and everything that was in the brown paper bag away. This is what I prefer my table to look like. Streamlined with a few accents on the far end. I could do without the accents but there's space and the plants like it there. The table is in a central part of our home so it's a nice place to see flowers regularly.

Although I didn't recycle anything except the paper bag in this post, the Great Clutter Purge of 2017 continues. I have been releasing clutter. It just hasn't been very photogenic. Hopefully next week will lead to some great photo ops. Only God knows!

Hope this quick tip was interesting or useful for you! If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Refrigerator front organizing: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2017/03/quick-refrigerator-front-clutter.html
Great Clutter Purge 2017 Intro: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2017/02/great-clutter-purge-of-2017-january.html
Linen closet organizing: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/from-disaster-to-delight-organized.html

Friday, September 16, 2016

Bright Summer Flowers: Dahlia, Tithonia, Rose, Marigold and Salvia

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The dahlias are still putting out nice sized flowers and this pink one is a favorite.

I think some of our tithonia plants (also called Mexican sunflowers) are over six feet tall. The butterflies and bees love them and I occasionally even see a hummingbird visit them. They are especially precious to me because I started them from seed.

These creamy knockout roses smell like a mixture of honey and lemon.

I love the contrast between the giant yellow marigolds and the blue salvia. You can also see some red zinnias in the background.

Because this pretty butterfly was kind enough to open its wings for a photo I thought it deserved to be included in today's post.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Butterflies on tithonia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/08/butterflies-on-mexican-sunflowers-at.html
Dahlias and marigolds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/08/dahlia-marigolds-zinnia-butterfly-bush.html
Funky flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/05/funky-lavender-thyme-allium-marigold.html

Friday, August 12, 2016

Cool Flowers from the U.S. National Arboretum's Asian Collection

Happy floral Friday! This week features flowers from the U.S. National Arboretum's Asian gardens. It's a favorite place of mine to walk in the summer because it's mostly shady.

I'm guessing that these purple flowers are a type of aster. I liked both the open flowers and the unfurling buds. So did the bees and a few moths.

This little pink rose was a pleasant surprise.

These neat daisy like flowers appeared to have hollow petals.

The yellow day lily looked especially striking against the variegated shrub's leaves.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Secret shady gazebo: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/05/secret-gazebo-photos-haikus-short-poems.html
National Arboretum flowers & bugs: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/08/national-arboretum-flowers-insects.html
Amazing day lily colletction: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/07/beautiful-day-lilies-and-day-lily-haiku.html

Friday, July 22, 2016

Apricot Rose, Pink Veronica, Dahlia, Zinnia and Day Lilies for Floral Friday

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" I'm loving our new apricot (light orange) rose flowers. So are the Japanese beetles but I pick them off as I see them and enjoy the flowers despite the bites taken from them.

Last year we planted bluish purple veronica in our main flower bed and it survived the winter so this year we put in some pink veronica and I think it's beautiful.

This Mr. Optimist dahlia was a great surprise because the tuber survived the winter in our raised bed. I don't think any other dahlias have ever survived the winter in my Maryland garden before. It was one of my favorites last year and I couldn't find any locally this year so it's extra nice.

This is my first giant red zinnia flower of the year. I grow them from seed so they're extra special.

The orange-yellow day lilies are blooming heavily. It's nice to have early, mid and late blooming day lilies to extend the day lily delights in our Maryland garden.

That's all for this week's mini garden tour. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Flowers and funkiness: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Orange rose bud: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/05/big-yellow-irises-and-multicolored-roses.html
Fun flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/10/autumn-maryland-garden-flower-photos.html

Friday, June 10, 2016

Rose, Purple Coneflower, Shasta Daisy, Sweet Pea and Zinnia Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The roses are at peak glory with beautiful flowers covering the bushes.

The echinacea (also known as purple coneflower) is just beginning it's season.

This is the very first shasta daisy flower of the year here in my Maryland garden.

I'm not sure if this is year two or three for our sweet peas but from two surviving plants we now have about an eight foot diameter spread of their vines.

Last week I finally planted my giant red zinnia seeds but my kind husband bought these mini zinnias for me while I wait for the giants to grow. It's nice to have color in the zinnia areas already.

That's all for this week's mini garden tour. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Which was your favorite photo? What is your favorite flower scent?

Related posts:
Bees on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/busy-bees-on-beautiful-blooms-zinnia.html
Giant zinnia and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/zinnias-roses-joe-pye-weed-day-lilies.html
Butterflies on coneflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/butterflies-and-bees-love-purple.html

Friday, May 27, 2016

Roses, False Goat's Beard and Dahlias by Ben Wheeler

Happy Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" My kind husband offered to take photos for today's post so hearty thanks to him for being our guest photographer this week and generously sharing his flower photo artwork!

The false goat's beard is a plant he selected and is thriving in our deepest shade garden bed.

We have three of these bicolor dahlia plants. He picked one and I picked two. I also planted two new tubers this week so hopefully we'll have flowers from them in a month or two.

I think this is our "Mr. Lincoln" rose, a deep red rose that smells divine. A dear friend recommended it a few years ago and I loved it so much I put in another one this spring.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless Ben and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Zoo animals by Ben Wheeler: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.ru/2015/07/ben-wheelers-zoo-photos-for-wild.html
Macaw parrot by Ben Wheeler: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.ru/2016/03/macaw-parrot-photos-by-ben-wheeler.html
Cute cat by Ben Wheeler: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.ru/2015/07/black-cat-pink-tongue-cuteness-photos.html

Friday, May 20, 2016

Big Yellow Irises and Multicolored Roses

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" I'm always excited when my honey scented yellow irises start blooming.

They smell as nice as they look and we've already had some bees enjoy them too.

This week also marks the start of heavy rose blooming season. This yellow rose has a soft scent.

This is our very first orange rose bloom. I think I planted it last spring but we didn't have any flowers until this week. Better late than never!

This hot pink/red rose is one of about five bushes and they usually put out flowers through frost.

As you can see, it's a great week for Maryland flower gardens. I hope you have some lovely gardens in your area too. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Irises and roses with raindrops: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/05/raindrops-on-irises-roses-dahlias-and.html
Yellow irises at Kenilworth: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/05/flowers-at-kenilworth-aquatic-gardens.html
2014 big iris photos: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/yellow-blue-purple-and-white-irises.html

Friday, February 12, 2016

Blue Ribbon Winning Flowers

Happy Floral Friday! I found this post in my draft folder (it was supposed to have automatically posted in 2014 but obviously something went wrong) and figured today was as good day to share it. I hope these blue ribbon winning flowers brighten your day!

"I'm blessed by my county fair awarding at least 12 of my flowers blue ribbons this year! The red dahlia above is one of my actual flowers entered in the fair, photographed two days after the judging occurred. In the interest of sharing good photos of pretty flowers the rest of the photos below are representative of what I entered but not the actual blooms entered.

If you've been following my blog you know I love dahlias. The dahlias received the most blue ribbons (they have different categories for different size and color dahlias). I have only been growing them for a few years but I get a lot of joy from their vigorous flower output and variety of blooms.

The tithonia I grew from seed also won a blue ribbon. The bees, butterflies and moths love them.

This is actually a Mr. Lincoln rose, which I didn't enter as it wasn't opened yet at fair entry time but the pink hybrid tea rose I did enter won a blue ribbon. You can see a similar rose at the bottom of this post (it's the last photo).

The white cosmos I entered looked better than this one currently blooming in my garden but this is currently the only bloom on the plant.

What a fun blessing to have my Maryland garden recognized in such a way. If you're local the fair runs through Sunday and in addition to the flowers there are a lot of neat exhibits (bee keeping displays, chain saw carving, photography, 4H, animals, crafts, herbs, an 88 pound watermelon and more). May God bless all the fair volunteers and may He bless you too!

What is your favorite part of a county or state fair? Do you have a favorite fair memory to share? I'd love to hear it!"

Related posts:
Flowers, freeloaders and funkiness: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Raindrop flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/raindrop-drenched-rose-cosmos.html
Vibrant spring flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/05/dahlias-ranunculus-azaleas-lilacs-and.html
2013 County Fair results: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/county-fair-photos-haikus-and-results.html

Friday, August 14, 2015

Rose, Zinnia, Dahlia, Salvia and Obedient Plant Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The roses look especially nice with dew or raindrops on their velvety petals.

The zinnias are doing great and I think this little pink one with light green petals around the center is especially cute.

Dahlia production has slowed so they probably need fertilizer but this pretty yellow and red bicolor dahlia still has a few blooms.

This week our blue hummingbird-attracting salvia started blooming. I haven't seen a hummingbird on it yet but we have a few that visit our feeders and I hope they notice these flowers too.

The obedient plants are blooming nicely and often are covered in bees and a scattering of butterflies.

It's a pretty time of the year for Maryland flower gardening and I do love our flowers. Hope you enjoy this week's photos! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Fun flowers and insects: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Dahlias and butterfly flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/dahlias-day-lilies-butterfly-weed-and.html
Raindrops and flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/chrysanthemum-obedient-plant-tithonia.html

Friday, August 7, 2015

Summer Roses, Golden Sundrops, Dahlia, Joe Pye Weed and Day Lily

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" Happy August too! The weeds are having a field day but thankfully the flowers are still more noticeable. I think this is one of our "Senior Prom" roses, the first group of rose bushes we planted after we moved here.

Our golden sundrops (also known as heliopsis summer sun) are still going strong and when I'm behind in deadheading them the golden finches feed on them. By God's grace, in late September/early October I plan to stop deadheading them and let them set plenty of seeds for the birds over the winter.

The magic sunrise dahlia is still my favorite this year but all of the dahlias are beautiful.

Two weeks ago I posted a photo of our little Joe pye weed at the budding stage and now it's in full bloom and the bees are enjoying it.

The pretty yellow Stella d'Oro reblooming day lilies are usually our first to flower in the spring and now that most of the big ones are done they've started blooming again, which I definitely appreciate. If we are blessed, they will bloom on and off through first frost. One of my super kind neighbors was getting rid of a clump of them this week so we have a new one to add to our collection (thank you!).

Thank you for joining me. May God bless you this August and always!

Related posts:
Joe pye weed buds: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/sunrise-zinnia-pink-rose-sunrise-dahlia.html
Sunflower, day lilies and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/sunflower-day-lilies-vinca-and-mystery.html
Raindrops on dahlias and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/sparkling-chrysanthemums-dahlias-zinnia.html