50 Things for my garden

                                                     

  So, it is Farmer's Market, hosted by Chris at Stuff Dreams are Made Of,  and I have finally got on here on a Saturday!  Sadly, here in Ottawa the Farmer's Markets don't start until May, and nothing can be planted until  after the May long weekend (usually around May 18-20), when the danger of frost at night is finally past. To cheer myself up because it is snowing today, and cold, I am going to blog about the garden I want this year.

My plan:
 I thought I would share with you my big plan for my garden this year.  I am turning 50 in May, and I thought as part of my celebration, I would plant 50 new plants into my garden.


 I have some roses (above), and peonies, which are the centers  of my garden and around which my garden is built. It's based on flowers for bees and butterflies, because I love the idea of feeding insects this way.  I get to see the butterflies, and they get much needed nectar  :-)  I do have a butterfly bush, which is the star of my back garden, when it blooms in late July.  Here is a link to a post I did two years ago about some of the little statues I put in my garden during the summer, and here is one about flowers in my garden, from last summer.

Below is a picture of my garden, in July, from this past year.  The butterfly bush is way in the back, between the phlox (the bright pink flowers) and the tiger lilies.

The big plant is phlox, a lovely deep.  

And in amongst the roses, I have these lilies.
                                     


Black-eyed Susans, my namesake!
                     
I even tried gladiolas the year before, of which this lovely pink one came up unexpectedly last year.
                                                                

 These are some of the flowers  in my  garden.  I love flowers, they delight my soul.  I find I am so happy after being around flowers.  They soothe me, and calm me, and I am deeply delighted by them.

So I want to celebrate my 50th by adding more flowers to my garden.

I thought I would ask you, dear blogger friends, what are your favourite flowers?  What do you like to see in gardens?  Do you have an idea or a suggestion for me?  I will as the summer goes on, show the ones I am adding, and give you updates through the Farmer's Market on how my garden is doing.  I will be making a list of 50 flowers that I want to add, once I can figure out how to add to my header pages with this new blogger update.

For now, I am so cheered up doing this post!  Thank you Chris, for holding the Farmer's Market on your Saturdays, and giving us a space to blog about our plants.

second-hand bookshops warning signs:

Second-hand shops. We have at least 10 here in Ottawa. I can't go in them. I spend money. I come out with armloads of books. Husband looks at me and weeps. I plan for another bookshelf. Wonder if he will notice if I pop in for the book I almost bought and now know I don't have....

This was from a comment I wrote on another blogging site, and as I wrote it I realized why I don't know how many used bookstores we have here in Ottawa: I can't go in them. Used books? $1 each! I can always find one to take home!!! It's hard enough not buying when I go into new bookstores (hence, I sometimes stay away for weeks at a time, and we have at least 10 of those also in Ottawa), but used bookstores? No, I know as I enter the door, that I'm coming out with at least one book, if not many more. I know there's a name for this...nope, not bookaholic....nope, not bookaddiction....booklove! Yes, that's it. I'm in love with books! And second-hand bookshops are irresistable for me. I know London England by Charing Cross Road and its many wonderful bookstores! Both new and used. It's the same with any city/town/village I've ever been to. Where are the bookstores? It's the first thing I look for. For my 50th birthday (still a few years away, hurray!), I semi-jokingly said I wanted to celebrate by flying to London and spending the weekend shopping for books on Charing Cross Road. I can't think of anything else I'd rather do, except maybe take a trip up to Whitby (our favourite seaside town in England) for one day that same weekend and spend the day there . And they had a used bookshop or two there, too, if I recall correctly! A fabulous one in the old part of town.....

Does anyone else feel that tingle of excitement when they spot a window full of books?