Never take a fairy for granted!

As we all know, May is the month of fairies.  Spring has sprung, the flowers are blooming profusely and we are at the halfway point between spring and summer.  This is the time when the veil between the fairy realm and our world is at its thinnest.  It's a time to work fairy magic.  We respectfully ask the fae to protect our gardens, bless our homes and enchant our space with their magical presence.

In the past, the fae have come to my garden of their own accord without my doing much of anything besides growing their favorite plants and flowers such as Lily of the Valley, Foxgloves, Canterbury Bells and the like.  But this year, I was a little too over zealous about welcoming them back and maybe even a little too demanding.  To be honest, I was being outright impatient.  I was overly anxious to feel that magical presence that comes about on its own when you're least expecting it.

I went on a quest to fill up my garden as quickly as possible with their favorite flowers, and I presumptuously called upon the fae to make residence in my garden.  Perhaps I was disrespectful by taking for granted that they would come as they always do, because shortly thereafter I began to have odd problems around the house with this or that going on the fritz.  Now, anyone who understands the fairy realm knows they can wreak havoc on your home if you're not careful.  Disrespect them even the slightest bit and watch out!  So for about two weeks, it was one thing after the next.  On top of that, I had developed a pantry moth problem -- not exactly the winged allies I was hoping for!  My husband even joked with me that the fae were laughing because they sent pantry months in their place!

As I write this, things seem to be calming down.  I've kindly asked the fae to please stop with their mischief, and I've apologized for taking their presence for granted.  Furthermore, I decided to create a butterfly garden as sort of a peace offering.  We all know butterflies and fairies go hand in hand (or should I say wing in wing), so over the past week I've been doing research to find out what the best nectar and host plants are for my area, and I've started to create a beautiful butterfly garden.  Hopefully, this will help settle things with my enchanted, yet mischievous friends.

In addition, I'm excited to see what types of butterflies I can host this year in my garden.  In the past, I've had good luck with many types of butterflies including monarchs, black swallowtail, giant swallowtail, skippers and gulf fritillary to name a few.

As for the fae, they've quieted down.  But I know they are still present... watching over my magic garden and anticipating the coming of their new butterfly friends.

Clematis in Bloom & David Austin, Harlow Carr Rose

It's now April 8th and my clematis is in full bloom.  It's grown up out of its pot and attached itself to the wall.  I almost threw this plant away not realizing it would come back again this year.  It's making lots of flowers now and continues to climb.

My David Austin, Harlow Carr rose is in full bloom.  It's just a tiny rose bush right now but over time, it will become much larger.  The roses are very dainty and a lovely shade of pink.  They are smaller blooms, but with a very BIG aroma.  

First blooming roses, petticoat begonia and some flowers on the porch

Each year my rose, Sheila's Perfume, is always the first to bloom.  And she blooms A LOT!  This is a very fragrant rose the produces buds that will open up into very large, aromatic flowers.  I took a photo of one of her first flowers.  It won't be long now... the rest of my mini rose garden is soon to follow.  

While at the garden center, I heard one of the associates trying to convince a customer that Begonias weren't an old lady flower.  Excuse me?  What is wrong with old lady flowers?  Old lady flowers are THE BEST flowers!  Anything my Grandmother had in her garden is usually my absolute favorite flower!  So since I was standing right by this amazing, blooming "Rose Petticoat" Begonia, I quickly grabbed her and took her home with me!  Look at how amazing she is!  The flowers are gorgeous and they are also rather large and showy!  Never underestimate a flower that is not necessarily the latest and greatest new thing in the gardening world.  The oldies are the treasures of the garden... at least to me.

This is just a quck pic of part of the patio.  It was such a pretty day.

And here are some quick images I took of some of the flowers I currently have on my front porch.

Happy Gardening!

Volunteer Lily of the Valley

Last year (or maybe it was the year before), I had some Lily of the Valley pips that I'd purchased from Home Depot.  I planted them in this basket, but they only put up green foliage and never flowered.  I kept this basket on a lower shelf on my patio and pretty much ignored it because I figured nothing was ever going to happen.  It did get some water though since water from the other potted plants on the shelves above it would drip down into the basket.  Well what do you know, this year I saw some green coming up out of the basket with tiny white buds.  Call it fairy magic or maybe our winter was just a bit colder this year, but I was blessed with an additional Lily of the Valley bloom!  I just love these kinds of surprises!

My first David Austin Rose, Harlow Carr

I have always wanted to have a David Austin Rose.  They are some of the most beautiful and most fragrant roses I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately, with my limited space, I no longer had room for any more roses.  When I purchased my first roses back in 2013, I had no idea what I was even going to like or not like.  In fact, I hadn't even heard of a David Austin Roses at that time, because I was still very new to gardening.  

Well, this year I had an unfortunate incident with the very first rose I'd ever purchased, Sugar Moon.  She fell victim to root rot.  This is partially due to the fact that I have to water in the evenings and I can't see what I'm doing during the winter months when the days are shorter.  Sugar Moon just got too wet and I'm afraid I may have drowned her out and rotted her roots which had actually become root bound in her pot.  It was sad to say goodbye, but this opened up some space in my little rose garden and gave me the opportunity to purchase my very first David Austin Rose, 'Harlow Carr'!  I'm so excited!  I know the fragrance will be to die for so I cannot wait for her to bloom!

Lily of the Valley from White Flower Farm

Lily of the Valley is tricky to grow in Southern California.  It can be hit or miss due to our warmer climate.  This year I went to White Flower Farm (dot) com and purchased the pre-chilled pips guaranteed to bloom.  Lily of the Valley is special to me due to the fact that my Grandmother had them growing all over the front of her house next to the walkway.  So this year I was not going to go without the pleasure of being able to take in that oh so nostalgic aroma that transports me back in time to my Grandmother's house.  As promised, they bloomed profusely.

Camiella and Freesia

In a previous post, I wrote about the new (scented variety) Camellia addition to my garden, "koto no kaor."  I was not expecting any blooms until next year, but I believe she produced one flower especially for me because she knew how excited I was about having her.  The flower smelled so good!  I was grateful for the bloom and I am so looking forward to next year when she is ready to produce even more of these fragrant flowers!

Speaking of fragrance... I saw this pot of freesias at the garden center and could not resist the aroma of a full pot of them.  I do have some volunteer freesias tucked away in a pot with a foxglove that come back each year, but I couldn't resist these ones from the garden center since there were so many of them.