My Darling Little Spring Blooms…

Okay I have to show off these containers today.  They just look that darn pretty.  There are two of them at my garage doors and I try to keep something pretty in them all year long.  I can honestly say they looked good all winter, not that we had that much of a winter this year.  But the pansies bloomed almost non-stop.  Recently I added the gold tipped euonymus for an evergreen, “Carmel” Huchera, Purple Emperor Sedum, Red Hen and Chicks and from last fall an iris that I have no idea what color it is!  They are full, but as things get too big I take them out and place them in the garden.  But what I wanted to show you was my things from SEED!  

Just look at this Virginia Stock!  I absolutely love it! 

It is such a great filler and it came back the 2nd year from seed for me.  I love that!

Here is my other little darling blooming in the same pot.  Five Spot… isn’t it cute!

It is a tiny little thing, but I love the little purple spots, don’t you?

But it is the stock that I am crazy for… can you say more please?  Yes, indeed!!

I could photograph it all day...

Again, this is Virginia Stock from seed planted last fall. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

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~Brooke~

All photos of my own home and garden ©Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom

 Joining the following parties...

Saturday Show Off @ The Rose Garden in Malevik

Pink Saturday @ How Sweet the Sound

Show and Tell Saturday @ Be Different / Act Normal

Fill The Frame Friday - Crescendo Hybrid Tea Rose

Image taken by Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom, August 2011

To see more of the roses I grow click here.

Joining Chris Vancleave @ Redneck Rosarian for Fill the Frame Friday 

Thanks so much for stopping by!

If you are visiting for the first time, please consider following me. If you leave me a comment I will follow you back!

~Brooke~

All photos of my own home and garden ©Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom

Lilac Love….

Oh I am in HEAVEN!  The lilacs are starting to bloom!!!

The first one to open is the common lilac shrub, but really, what is common about this?

I have them down by the rose garden where I am sure to enjoy their scent.

Most of them I am training to be in tree form, isn’t this little guy cute!

I can smell them with the windows open in our family room.

This is Bloomerang, a repeat bloomer with a really nice scent, but smaller blooms.

But my favorite is and I think always will be…. Sensation steals the show!  Look at those gorgeous blooms!  Perfect lavender tipped with white edges!  Yummy!!

It is also trained as a tree at the edge of the fence to the rose garden.

I’ll post more pics as more of them open up.  I checked and these lilacs are blooming three weeks early from last year.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

If you are visiting for the first time, please consider following me.
If you leave me a comment I will follow you back!

~Brooke~

All photos of my own home and garden ©Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom

Joining Fertilizer Friday @ Tootsie Time 
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 
Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home 
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Sweet and Simple Fridays @ Rooted in Thyme
 

Pops of Red in the Spring Garden

I have to admit I do not associate red as a color in the spring garden. But of course I grow anything I can get my hands on and all are welcome in my borders. So when these red tulips bloomed for the first time this years I was quite fascinated. So much so that I took several pictures of them over the last few days. I now think I need to plant MORE red tulips… with some of those blue bulbs I’ve been wanting! Yes, that sounds like a good plan.

On with that thought, is this little primrose not the sweetest little thing?  I wish they bloomed longer.  This one is perennial and has multiplied a bit.  I saw more at Lowes but I think they were all annuals and a bit pricey.  I do think I will add more of these tough.  Speaking of I found a really pretty early dianthus called “Early Bird Radiance” It is suppose to bloom a month earlier than other dianthuses.  I grow several varieties of them, love their blooms and sweet scent.

Here is more about “Early Bird Radiance”

From Greenhouse Grower…

Dianthus 'Early Bird Radiance' has rich crimson blooms supported on sturdy, upright stems. The Early Bird series are early, long-flowering and fragrant. Masses of double blooms are borne above the dense, mounding, grassy blue-green foliage with a flowering height of approximately 9 inches. Spring or autumn planted baskets or containers will repeat flower all summer if dead headed and fed regularly. No vernalization required for blooming and they are hardy to USDA Zone 5.

Plants thrive best in loose, well-drained, neutral to slightly alkaline soils in full sun or part shade. Early Bird dianthus can be used as border plants, in containers or as cut flowers. With a clove fragrance, this selection attracts butterflies and has the added bonus of being deer resistant.

It looks really pretty and I love the red color and the early bloom time!  Look for it, I think you’ll want one too!  There are several colors in this Early Bird Series, I just liked the red to try… but I’m thinking of adding a few more now…. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

If you are visiting for the first time, please consider following me. If you leave me a comment I will follow you back!

~Brooke~

All photos of my own home and garden ©Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom

Won’t be long now…

And some delicious scents will be waiting for me in the garden.  Here you can see my Mohawk Viburnum is just starting to open.

I love the delicate pink in the buds, but it is the scent I have it for! 

Dwarf flowering almond is already in full bloom.  I thought it would have more scent, but it is not really noticeable.

But it makes up for that with these lovely blooms.

But what I am really looking forward to is the lilacs!

They have a ton of buds on them this year.  Aren’t they delicate and pretty?  I just love scents in the garden and the spring is a feast for our senses for sure!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

If you are visiting for the first time, please consider following me. If you leave me a comment I will follow you back!

~Brooke~

All photos of my own home and garden ©Brooke Kroeger – Creative Country Mom