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Sunday, May 15, 2016

Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  For this week's Serene Scenery Sunday post, I thought I'd just take you around the gardens here at Ao4 Headquarters.  Ready to take a look around?  We took a lot of photos, so I'll try to keep the chit chat to a minimum.

Here's a closer look at those Gerbera Daisies I showed you the other day:

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Gerbera Daisies

Despite Mom having thrown them in jail (I told you about that here), the Peonies are looking great!

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Skidmore Peonies

Out back, our first-year-ever Irises are looking awesome!

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Purple and light purple Iris
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Yellow Iris

Just up from the Irises is one of the Hummingbird Mint plants.  This is the newer one.  It isn't blooming yet, but it's growing really well:

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Hummingbird Mint!

When Mom went down to weed and water them, she discovered we have a couple interesting, new friends in our garden!  Check them out:

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Great Plains Skinks!

Mom had never seen one before, so she was really excited!  We wonder if we'll have baby Skinks soon!?!  (Oh.  And in case you were wondering, neither Cam nor I have seen them.)

Here's a shot of the Butterfly Garden - looking up into it from the backyard:

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The Butterfly Garden!

Mom was holding her iPhone through the fence to get that shot and couldn't see what she was shooting.  Just do the head-tilt and it'll look normal.

How about we go up top and check out the Butterfly Garden from there?

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"It's all down there, readers!"

Have I mentioned Mom not being able to see what she's doing when she's shooting in full sun?  I thought we should go down into the garden; Mom thought, given my propensity for sticking my snooter into flowers and wanting to hunt, that I should just stay up on the wall.  Fine.  (For now.)

Here's a look at the Hummingbird Mint that's down there!

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Hummingbird Mint (Agastache)

It's a different variety than the one down in the back garden.

Here's the Salvia:

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Blue Salvia

And here's a look at the Pincushion Flower:

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You can see why it's called "Pincushion Flower", can't you?  Cool!

Don't you think we need to take a closer look at the Hummingbird Mint?  Me, too!

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"Smells LOVELY!"

I know!  I got to go into the Butterfly Garden!!!  It was a first!  Mom said as long as I didn't stomp on anything and didn't try to eat her plants, I could check things out!  Awesome!

How about the Pincushion Flower?  Does it really have pins?

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"Just a LITTLE closer, Mom!  C'mon!  The blog readers want to know!!!"

That didn't go as planned.

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"Fine.  'Sit behind the Pincushion Flower.'  Got it.  Whatevs."

To my right (your left) is the Hummingbird Mint, and behind me is one of the Butterfly Bushes.

That's a wrap for Serene Scenery Sunday.  I hope you feel nice and peaceful now.  Oh.  And the Pincushion Flower just looks like it has pins sticking in it, but it really doesn't.  Trust me.

To see more of our garden pix, to include more photos of our Great Plains Skinks, click any of the photos above to head to our FlickR page!

Stay cool, everyone!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher 

15 comments:

  1. Maggie what a wonderful botanical tour guide you are! We don't know what is up but our Hummingbird mint is not well...no clue...even the leaves aren't pretty like yours. Maybe I'll get mom to send you a photo of it!
    Hugs and Happy Sunday
    Madi your bfff

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  2. *Big sigh*....so beautiful Maggie!We are feeling so very serene now, thanks so much for sharing!!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  3. Your garden is looking great. We are back to really cold temps for a few days to slow some things down.

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  4. Beautiful flowers, Maggie! The close-up of the peony is absolutely fabbers!

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  5. Oh wow!! We definitely feel peace looking at your pictures. Beautiful!!

    Momo & Pinot xo

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  6. Oh, we luffed the pic of you sitting nicely with the purple flowers. And mom luffs orange, so she really appreciated the pretty daisies.

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  7. OMD this was a GORGEOUS post... Love the pic of the Gerbera Daisy... butt the BESTEST is the one of the SKINKS that is COOL DROOL.

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  8. So pretty. Irises are Lady's favourite.

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  9. Maggie, you did a great job with the garden tour. Everything is looking lovely. We think that pincushion flower is very pretty - love that color. We have never seen nor heard of skinks - we are going to have to check our kingdom and see if any of them made their way east.

    Woos - Ciara and Lightning

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  10. How beautiful! Mom was planning on moving to Kansas when she retired from her job in Indy as she just fell in love with that state driving between Indiana and Colorado visiting her daughter. But then she met Dad up in the big Windy City. . . bwa har har. Now she has an ancient home in the middle of a huge city with NO land but she is just smiling and singing all of the time as she is just so happy with Dad, and their cute little house in an old Polish neighborhood. We loved the flower and the critters - enjoy!

    Abby Lab

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  11. Your garden is a wonderful place to take a visit, even by photos! So much variety and color. I can see why you want to stick your nose in all the flowers, Maggie. I would want to too!

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  12. Thanks for your in-depth investigative reporting, Maggie!

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  13. Wow, what great photos! Your photos are always so brilliantly in focus! Beautiful flowers! BTW, at furst we thought it said "stinks" BOL!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  14. The flowers are EXQUISITE!!! But...if I saw those new "friends" in MY garden I would be screaming my head off!! DakotasDen

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