Serene Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  For Serene Scenery Sunday this week, I thought I'd take you for a stroll around our backyard gardens - how does that sound?  Lots of pretty flowers and serenity back there!  Please get a nice drink of water and follow me on out there.

Let's start up in the Friendship Gar---WAIT!

"SKINK!!!"

OK, sorry.  Just ... a little lizard-hunting before we get started.  Those Great Plains Skinks have been sighted scurrying under our Skidmore Lilacs!  I must remain vigilant (and true to my Siberian high-prey drive instincts).

The pavers leading to the hose are ones that Cammie told you about a few weeks ago.  She supervised the whole thing.  Awesome, Cam!  OK - Friendship Garden:

"'Sit on the limestone and don't step on the tiny sedums and Butterfly Weed plants.'  Got it, Mom."

Mom was quite impressed by how well-behaved I was, by the way. Did I mention I'd already been on a 3-mile walk? And that she had treats? I'm sure those are unrelated coincidences.  Anyway, the Friendship Garden is one of our most serene spots.

Heading down to the Wildflower Garden, the first thing to catch your eye is the Coneflowers! Here is a look at a few:

PowWow Wild Berry Coneflowers

Mom doesn't like to play favorites, but yeowzers, just look at those babies!

Here's an overall shot of the Wildflower Garden:

"Right.  'Sit.  Stay.'  Whatevs."

In the foreground, you can see her other favorite Coneflowers -- here's a closeup:

Cheyenne Spirit Coneflowers

So colorful!

Speaking of colorful, to my left -- to your right from where I'm sitting -- are some Blanket Flowers!

Mesa Peach Blanket Flower

Mom has no experience growing these, but is really happy so far.

Speaking of happy ...

"Can we please get moving?"

OK -- if we run down the path a bit and stop here ...

"BIRDIE!"

Oops.  Sorry.  Where was I?  Oh, right.  Here we can see the huge white Rose of Sharon bushes down on the bottom tier.

Continuing down the path, below the Lavender plants, are our Crape Myrtle bushes.

"Oooh!  Go in for a closeup, Mom!"

Crape Myrtle, up close and personal.  Errrr... floral?

Aren't they crazy-cool?!?

Our daisies are still blooming!

Becky Daisy

I wonder ...

"He loves me, he loves me not, he loves me ... "

Moving right along ... here is one of the Butterfly Weed plants by the daisies:

Butterfly Weed and Becky Daisies

Mom took oodles of photos; she said I was a really good girl and was very helpful.

"I must not jump off the wall.  I must not jump off the wall.  I must not ..."

No, seriously.

"Ooooh!  What's that down there?!?"

Umm... I think this brings our garden tour to a close for this week.

"Boy howdy, that was fun!"

If you'd like to see more photos of our garden, please visit our FlickR Garden 2016 album!

Have an incredible Sunday - and remember to keep it serene!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher