Weekly Winners: A Few of My Favorite Things

Canon A1000 IS PowerShot

Borrowed a camera for today's Weekly Winners, brought to you by Lotus at Sarcastic Mom.

It's not a Philly, but this Boston Fern sure is sittin' pretty in the early morning light on my screen porch.

This is Patch, peeking out from behind the wicker webbing in Baba's chair.

Watered some of the garden yesterday morning. The little pieces of "confetti" slashing through the air are actually sprinkler droplets.

Glad that pistachios are back on the shelves now!

An Azalea blossom. My Mom's favorite. Don't know the official name, but we call it the "Glow in the Dark Azalea."

So, which one do you favor this week?

Weekly Winners: A Flowering Mother's Day

Welcome to Weekly Winners, hosted by Lotus over at Sarcastic Mom. And Happy Mother's Day to one and to all!

To honor all of us today, I wanted to post garden shots. Taken with my sad little Nikon COOLPIX 4600, but flowers usually cooperate for me. They're just so in to showing off!

My Mom ~ the kids called her Baba ~ was a gardener. It's been three years since she died, and we're still keeping her geraniums in good shape. Of course, we take them inside in the winter. And give them used coffee grounds, on occasion, for breakfast.

The centerpiece of Baba's Garden was Baba's Bench. It's pretty old, and under the weather these days. Several decades of wind, rain, snow and ice can do that to a piece of outside furniture, which faced the elements 24/7 all those years! But I've figured out a way to make Baba's Bench the centerpiece of my garden, as well.

Azaleas were Mom's favorite flower. Might have had something to do with growing up on Azalea Lane. Or, it could also be because these flowering bushes are stunning. I planted three out back. Baba used to come over to admire my "green thumb," but she and I both knew that azaleas are such show-offs, they can take care of themselves.

Now, my SIL, Aunt Julie, really loves hummingbirds. So did Baba. It's far too early for hummers in my neck o' the woods, even though I live in slightly more temperate climes than most of the POPrs Family. So here is a hummer medalion I picked up at the garden store. It used to be on a long, sharp stake, so I poked it in among the flowers for many years. Unfortunately, wear-and-tear has left me with just the little birdie. Can't wait, though, 'til the real, live hummers appear on my back deck!

Finally, I learned to be a thrifty gardener from My Mom. Our local nursery has a "plant hospital," where they sell the sad little plants that aren't going to "make it" for 50 cents or less. Baba taught me that these are the "thrift sales" that keep on giving. Here's a Leopard's Bane, which cost me about 30 cents, and keeps coming back bigger and fuller every year. Mom once told me that when I was little, I called the plant "Leopard's Mane." I probably was thinking of a lion...I don't know!

I'm celebrating Mother's Day in the garden. What about you?