Serene Scenery Sunday

Ha roo, pups and cool cats!  It's me, Zim, here with millions of pix today (OK, maybe not that many, but you may want to pull up a water bowl and get comfy...) to help you reach the Zen of Zim Zone.  Ready to have a look around?

Remember the rock-filled bed by our driveway?  You know - where Mom was going to put the 14" grass that was really going to be 14'?  Yeah.  Anyway, the Purple Love Grasses are doing pretty well and the sedum is going crazy like we hoped it would!

Variegated Sedum - Sedum Lineare 'Variegatum'

The Dragon's Blood Sedum is by the other rocks in the background; I'll show you some of our other Dragon's Blood Sedum in a minute!

Over here, on the side by Fluffy Black Cat's house (by where we fixed the retaining wall up a bit), the Liriope are doing great!

The darker ones are Big Blue Liriope and the sort of chartruese ones are Pee Dee Golds.  One of the Pee Dees is starting to bloom!

Liriope Muscari 'Pee Dee Gold Ingot'

It's their first year here, so Mom's all kinds of excited.

Just toward the back of this garden, Mom has more "first time here" plants.  She put in some Blue Queen Salvia -- and one of them is starting to bloom, too!!!

Salvia nemorosa 'Blaukonigin'

They'll hopefully get nice and full eventually - but for now, Mom is happy that they're alive and thrilled that one is blooming!

What else is back here?

Me - inspecting the gardens!

Oh!  See that tier down there?  There's a huge Austrian Pine down there and there used to be 1/2 a million Texas Quince.  Not DWARF Texas Quince, either.  Huge, invasive ones.  Well, thanks to Dad's muscles, some shovels, a pick-axe and who knows what else, there is now only one well-trimmed Texas Quince down there now.  Mom put in some more of the Big Blue Liriope, a couple Russian Sage plants, and some pots filled with Coleus.  She spent a lot of time in there this week, weeding and trying to pull more Texas Quince (not the dwarf kind) suckers out.  Here's a look at that tier:

Just down one tier from there is where Mom planted a bunch of Maiden Grasses that Dad dug up and split for her - and that's where some of the Echinacea are.  Here's a look at one!

Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow Wild Berry’

Pretty cool.  Those made Mom feel all kinds of good inside!  She feels really blessed to have something so beautiful growing in her garden!

While we're out back, let's have a look at the sunset!

19 JUNE 2012 sunset over the Flint Hills 

Looks toasty, doesn't it?  I hope everyone is remembering to stay cool and stay hydrated!

Let's get back to inspecting the gardens; how about we go over on the other side of the house?

King of the Mountain!

Yep.  We have big retaining walls over there, too.  Behind me, you can see some of the Maiden Grasses Mom and Dad put in last year.  They've really filled out nicely!

Along one side of the stairs is where Mom put some of the Dragon's Blood Sedum in last year.  Here's a look:

Sedum 'Dragon's Blood Red'

It's normally a bit redder-looking, but the sun was right smack on it, washing it out.  We'll try to get a better shot this week.

As I mentioned last week, Mom is growing some lavender for the first time this year, too.  One variety is in bloom!  (Sort of.)

Lavandula angustifolia

I know.  It's not much, but it's giving Mom hope.  And is teaching her patience!

Mom and I went for a ride this week and shot some pix of barns.  Here's Mom's favorite barn:

We've posted pix of it before, but it's worth seeing again, don't you think?  Plus Mom's photo skills are improving!

Here's another barn just down the road from that one:

I think if barns could tell stories, that one would have a lot to say!

I hope having a look around our garden and our little corner of Kansas helped you feel serene!

Keep cool, everyone!

Play bows,

Zim