Easy Pieces

  

Do you find yourself adding certain easy pieces to the garden? Commonly known as the moss Rose, Portulaca grandiflora is one of my favorite yearly purchases to brighten the landscape. Although today’s image shows its tiny blossoms just waking up, the colorful flowers love full sun and can handle dry soil and drought. It’s a perfect annual to hang out by the rocks or add to a container planting on your terrace. Its low maintenance means less watering but the flowers won’t open when the sun is not out. But if you look closely, the blossoms remind me of a colorful umbrella.

What do you like to add as annuals to your small crevices or your containers? There’s so much to choose from but I always go back to my favorite. So I will wrap up this post with a quote from Robert Schumann, in Advice to Young Musicians. “Endeavour to play easy pieces well and with elegance; that is better than to play difficult pieces badly.” Portulaca grandiflora is one of those annuals for me. That’s why I gravitate to it.

The question for this sunny Wednesday – What annuals do you gravitate to and always add to your garden or container plantings?

Image of Portulaca grandiflora by Ann Bilowz ©  

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Tuesday’s Track

 

It’s just too darn beautiful a morning to get wrapped up in loads of words and thought. So on this Tuesday, let’s keep a simple track. The direction we shall go in, well, it’s a quick design thought on pathways. Just for the record, what materials you choose aren’t required to be elaborate or complex. A pathway's main purpose is to indicate where you want to direct traffic to walk, perhaps meander. It’s your lead, your path. What would you like it to be?

For example, this simple bluestone pathway set in the lawn leads you directly to where a visitor is intended to land. It is a subtle and less structured approach than a pathway made from bricks. Pick materials for a pathway that feel comfortable for you, your lifestyle and a choice that blends tastefully with the architecture of your home. And always pick a material and installation that can handle your climate and temperature changes. What works in a warm climate may not hold up in a colder, thaw and freeze type of weather.

As Libba Bray points out, “What happens if your choice is misguided, you must try to correct it but what if it’s too late? What if you can’t? Then you must find a way to live with it.” Fortunately, most paths we opt for can be altered and changed. As Steve Maraboli states, “The road to success is always under construction.” But construction is messy so choose pathway materials that best reflect you and your lifestyle so you can entertain and relax in your landscape rather than fret about the wrong choice.  

Images by Ann Bilowz ©   

If you like this blog, hope you check in daily. Like our fan page https://www.facebook.com/abilowz follow on twitter https://twitter.com/annbilowz or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at annbilowz@gmail.com You can ollow with visuals on Pinterest, too! http://pinterest.com/bilowzassoc/ and you can also find us on Houzz http://www.houzz.com/pro/bilowz/bilowz-associates-inc

Monday’s Literary Compost

 

It’s a rainy Monday so I’m looking through the literary compost to see what can make do. Let’s pull out an awesome perennial that’s a perfect choice for a late spring to early summer bloom. As you can see from the above image of this Geranium x cantabrigiense 'Biokovo', the pale pink to near white blossoms add a soft hue to the surrounding greenery often heightened during this time of year. This Geranium can handle full sun to partial shade. Its velvety textured foliage makes it a wonderful addition to the perennial border. Plus its hardiness zone is 5-9, which makes it quite attractive for many climates.

So while this weekend was a hot one to handle in this neck of the woods, there's some great planting weather headed our way. Seize the opportunity to get your woody plant materials and perennials in the ground. If you happened to catch last Friday’s flower choice, http://blog.bilowzassociates.com/2013/05/fridays-flower-choice.html here’s an updated image taken one day later of the Hybrid Tea Rose, ‘Peace’. It’s always nice to see what things can dare to be.

Though I may be short on my own words this Monday morning, Steve Maraboli captures it best with his words, ‘Dare to Be’.

"When a new day begins, dare to smile gratefully.

When there is darkness, dare to be the first to shine a light.

When there is injustice, dare to be the first to condemn it.

When something seems difficult, dare to do it anyway.

When life seems to beat you down, dare to fight back.

When there seems to be no hope, dare to find some.

When you’re feeling tired, dare to keep going.

When times are tough, dare to be tougher.

When love hurts you, dare to love again.

When someone is hurting, dare to help them heal.

When another is lost, dare to help them find the way.

When a friend falls, dare to be the first to extend a hand.

When you cross paths with another, dare to make them smile.

When you feel great, dare to help someone else feel great, too.

When the day has ended, dare to feel as you’ve done your best.

Dare to be the best you can –

At all times, Dare to be!”

Images by Ann Bilowz ©

If you like this blog, hope you check in daily. Like our fan page https://www.facebook.com/abilowz follow on twitter https://twitter.com/annbilowz or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at annbilowz@gmail.com You can now follow with visuals on Pinterest, too! http://pinterest.com/bilowzassoc/