When in Pain: Piddle Around the Garden

I could not find anything to take my mind off the pain of my toe. I tried TV, magazines, talking, etc. I tried walking around, and led myself outside. I stayed out there a few hours pruning, searching, and watering. I cleared the table on our patio and moved the seedlings back by the shed. Here are my painted pots, Dahlia's, and rescued Walmart mini-roses on our back patio.

Here's my little blue table and chairs: bought these for $10.00 at a garage sale in RPV California. They have been green, red, and now blue. Love this blue.

Front porch is looking cozy, too. Look at all those bulbs! (And the houseplants in their new pots, LOL).

This is the far end of our backyard, and our firepit.

The lilacs are the stage where you can't help but smell them when you pass by.

The milk pod plants have returned. These are too wierd! It took me until last summer to figure out what they were. I removed them the first year, assuming they were a weed. Squeeze a pod, and you're dripping in a creamy, sticky, white liquid. Ick. But eye-catching when they bloom and reach heights of 7 feet tall approx.

And the hostas are so gorgeous right now. When we moved in to this house nearly 3 years ago I did not know what a hosta was. I didn't know perrenials from annuals. Nothing. I taught myself everything; the month we moved in the local paper did a huge article on hostas. I learned how to care for them, how to divide them. Since then I have divided nearly all of them. If I counted, I am certain I would exceed a hundred of these guys. I have grown to love and appreciate the colors of the leaves. I still have not pinned down the varieties we have, but I think this one is patriot:

We have a lot less of this variety (30?). This is the largest plant in the yard right now.

And this is my favorite variety of hosta. We only have one, and I may have divided it last fall, I'm not sure. The flowers (when they emerge they are tiny purple bells situated along long tuberous stems) are thicker, sturdier, and darker in color, and the leaves are all green, no white. Lime on the outside, and dark in the center. This one is on the shadier side of the house, so it's barely emerging.

Oh, and I noticed the centers of my purple tulips are an indigo blue. How cool? I love my garden. What toe pain?