Get Ready Spring, Here I Come!

Sugar Lips

Ordered my dahlias….

Fascination

And my cannas….  Lots more to do!!!!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wishing all my gardening friends a colorful bouquet of love!

You Rock my World

Yes, YOU rock my world!  In return I give you Pink Quartz, the rock of love.  When I brought this 85 pound symbol of love home to my garden my husband couldn’t believe I’d actually PAID for a rock!  Yep, I did!!  It was in February, I needed a lift and thought it a perfect Valentine’s gift.

As winter settles in, a blanket of snow usually covers my garden for months.  Not so this year!  We’ve had waves of snowfall then warm snow-melting temperatures, which means my garden is mostly brown with brief bouts of white blanket.  Without the snow I can see all the rocks in my garden, those I’ve dug up and those I’ve collected.  Yes, I collect rocks right along with plants for my garden.

If you’ve read some of my beginning blog posts you know my garden was hard earned via digging a lot of rocks out of the ground before anything could be planted.  Those rocks came in handy for many landscaping projects.

One of my spring projects will be renovating this terraced bed.  Now that I have a little more experience I can rebuild it much better than my original effort.  All last season as plants emerged I scooped them out so I wouldn’t lose any when I begin renovations.

I’ve always loved and collected rocks.  As kids, my cousins and I would walk the back alleys of our little town, picking up ‘pretty rocks’ that were white and sparkly from the gravel that was used in alleys back then.  I still pick up white sparkly rocks wherever I find them.

A friend gave me obsidian…. a truckload of it.  His dad was a rock hound and he has tons.

I use it to line paths, but it doesn’t show up as vividly as beach rocks do.

Another friend gave me rocks he collected for a patio.  After I built my patio I had enough leftover to build a small bench.  There’s still more waiting on inspiration for another project.

Yet another friend gave me river rocks when the floods of ’96 ravaged his part of Mosier Creek.  Rocks flew out of the rampaging creek, completely covering his property.  A few of his friends hauled out truckloads for our gardens.

I’ve received gifts of rocks and I’ve given gifts of rocks.  I love rock stores where you can buy shiny, smooth, colorful rocks.  I’ve given my grandson and nephew rock tumblers!

I have buckets of rocks waiting for homes.  Do you collect rocks?  Have a favorite?  Do share!

Thanks for stopping by, I truly appreciate your visits to my garden.  Especially this time of year when there’s not so much to see.  Until next time……