A little fun in the sun ...

Not a lot of blogging - or gardening - has happened at our house in the last 8 days. I've been out of town ... as in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

Beautiful Puerto Vallarta - with its lush mountainside and green waters of the Pacific. My husband and I treated our girls to a little Mexican R&R and what a delight it was. Mommy's Little Helper (MLH) poses next to the famed arches on the Malecon.

The weather was very warm but it was just what we needed. Lots of fun in the sun and ocean. All-inclusive resorts are the best - especially with kids. MLH must have had 30 "Version Strawberry Daiquiris"! This is what we looked out at EVERY DAY.

I never tired of the sunsets. I looked around at some landscaping but nothing was really all that impressive to take photos of. Besides I was there to smell like a coconut for a week and sit my lily white Midwestern self on the beach to celebrate my birthday and my eldest daughter's. :O)

My husband and daughters snorkeled off the shore near Puerto Vallarta at Los Arcos - a national park. They loved it!

So now back to reality and back to my normal life. The garden looked a little tattered when I got back home. Rain and wind had caused some havoc and the newly planted shrubs in the firepit area were in desperate need of TLC. This will be a busy week getting stuff looking good again ....

Hope to post new garden photos soon as I think some new blossoms are a week or so away.

Oh Caesar's Brother where art thou?

I never was a huge fan of irises. I called them the "devil" once to a neighbor, as I found them to be very pesky in the garden with their deep roots and mangy growing habits. It wasn't until a few years ago, that I decided to give them another try.

I found the Siberian Iris "Caesar's Brother" and irises are back on my good side. I love the compact clump it makes and the bright purple blooms. They are nothing like the iris that were at our previous house and I'm glad I didn't discount them altogether. Caesar's Brother is nestled between coneflowers (which have yet to bloom) and this petite "East Friesland" salvia in the front garden bed.

These gloriosa daisies have a very odd leaf/bloom shape to them this year -and are definitely different than others that I have in a different spot of my garden. Does this look normal?

One of my goals this year is to plant a perennial that has the name of each one of my children. Without getting into too many details ... I have two plants that have done just that ... I have three very stately hydrangeas, I just added this loosestrife (can anyone guess the name) and now I'm on the lookout for a plant with the name of "Kate" in it.

Any suggestions?

My darling Clementine!

Last year I raved about the Clementine Columbine and how I was going to try different varieties. Well, they are blooming now ... let me know what you think.

Clementine Blue. Love the deep violet.

Clementine Red ... much like the Rose I planted last year that's at the top of the banner of my blog.

Clementine White ... it's just ok for me. Not nearly as showy as the colorful varieties. Clementine Salmon Rose was a no show, unfortunately.

This was a plant from the free garden .... any ideas on what it is ... it kind of looks like a Forget-Me-Not but it's about 8'' tall. I'm stumped.

I had a lack of spring bloomers but my "Silver Princess" Shasta Daisy was a nice addition. I love daisies - kind of like Meg Ryan's character in one of my favorite movies, "You've Got Mail." Daisies - they're so happy!

Help me out here! My master gardener friend said I dug up a weed from that free garden dig. I think it's a sedum. Look at the rubbery leaves?!?!?'' Any ideas?

Every nice shady spot deserves a coleus. I couldn't resist this "Colorblaze Dipt In Wine". I have it in a cream can on my deck.

I planted this new "Fanal" astilbe in the front of the house. It really looks red against the green of the hosta but it's actually a lovely raspberry color.

The rest of the weekend I'll be digging out rock to add some shrubs in a new firepit area that we cleared out. It seems as if some friendly chipmunks found a cozy home in our hot tub over the winter and ate right through the electrical wiring. We were pretty bummed because the hot tub is not worth fixing. So we thought, "Let's make this area a nice fire pit spot!" And so the project begins .... I'll leave that for another post!