After an absence of three years, I returned to Wears Valley. This was a favorite destination for many vacations that Spence and I enjoyed. Since losing him I hadn’t been back but the Smoky Mountains were patiently waiting for me. When I found a beautiful home on VRBO, I knew the timing was right to revisit the familiar and make new memories.
A compilation of photos from my first morning in paradise. Even the air here is different, pure bliss.
This week my Turtle Heads, Butterfly Bush and Garlic Chives bloomed, the gourds are growing larger and the Hydrangeas continue to add beauty to my oasis.
This week in the garden I was thrilled to find that three of my four hydrangeas are blooming. While it may not seem like a big deal to some getting them to bloom at all has been a challenge. I’ve added black-eyed susans to my 2019 garden while my morning glories and sweet peas continue coming up everywhere. Snapdragons from years past have re-seeded in between bricks on my patio and are thriving.
Using my PlantSnap app, I learned that what looked like zucchini (which seemed odd since I didn’t plant zucchini) is actually gourds. It seems seeds from old gourds, tossed behind my grill four or five years ago have decided to grow…..go figure!
The beauty of Nevada continues to thrill me. Since my sister and brother-in-law moved here last fall I’ve made several trips and am more in love with it each time.
One of the highlights, the pool at sunset overlooking the iconic Las Vegas strip, surrounded by mountains.
A week of extremely hot weather including several soaking rainstorms sent my garden into overdrive. Multiple varieties of lilies, my first hydrangea and black-eyed Susan blossoms and every variety of hostas sent up their blooms. This gallery represents a stroll through my garden today.
The word is out, butterflies are welcome in my garden…pass it on. 
At last my first Morning Glories of 2019 have appeared. In years past Morning Glories overtook my herb garden and naturally dropped thousands of their seeds. This summer as a pre-emptive maneuver I carefully pulled up the little ones as they started emerging and relocated them in other flower beds. A surprise was that a number of last year’s seeds dropped into neighboring pots and are coming up as “volunteers”. An unplanned siege by a maniacal woodchuck has limited the number surviving close to the ground as apparently they are delicious…don’t get me started.
I’ve also included other favorite photos from around the garden – moss roses, clematis and my pink lilies are adding to the beauty this week.
The garden continues to evolve, flowers on the way in….and on the way out.
After a week of sun and hot temps, my garden transitioned again as Zinnias, Lillies, Snapdragons and Hostas have burst into full bloom. Even between the bricks in my lower patio determined flowers are emerging, including the Snapdragon below.
After seemingly endless rain we’ve had two gorgeous, sunny days and my garden is responding with enthusiasm.
