I May Have Made the Wrong Decision

Remember this spring when I spent days removing all of the fall asters from the deck side garden. When I had them all removed, I planted 6 packages of sunflower seeds. I imagined 6 varieties of beautiful sunflowers--different sizes,colors, and heights. Oh, it would be spectacular!

Well, they are finally blooming and here's what I got:

The few scrawy blooms are way down at the end. It was a bad gardening year--no rain--everything died out early. But geez, I never imagined it would look this bad.
This is what it used to look like with the asters. I thought they looked scruffy.

What was I thinking???

Remember those Sunflower Seeds I Planted in late May?

There were 6 packages of assorted beauties. I cleared almost the entire south side of the deck so they had plenty of room to grow big and strong.I hauled a couple wheelbarrows of new top soil and spread it all out nice and even. I put a ton of time and effort into this new garden area.

This is what became of the six packages.

Sad, sad, sad.

I cannot tell you how very honored I am that Marie at Thyme for Herbs, recognized me as a friendly, kind and courteous blogger.
The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.”


The Thoughtful Blogger Award is for “those who answer blog comments, emails, and make their visitors feel at home on their blogs. For the people who take others’ feelings into consideration before speaking out and who are kind and courteous. Also for those bloggers who spend so much of their time helping other bloggers design, improve, and fix their sites. This award is for those generous bloggers who think of others.”

When I come across a new blog that I like, I really do try to leave a comment to encourage the new blogger. I remember how it felt to think that nobody would want to read my drivel and then how exciting it was to get my first comment and every comment since. It’s still such a thrill to find comments in my mailbox!

I really hope people feel at home here. I realize it’s (if not impossible), at least awkward to answer every single comment (even though I do not get bombarded as some people do), but I try my best to make sure a new commenter is acknowledged. I know it takes courage to leave a comment and I want everyone to know I appreciate the courage, time and effort it took.

So, thank you, Marie. I am so happy that you find my blog a friendly place to hang out for a little while each day or so.

Sunflower Garden To Be

It doesn't look like much at the moment, does it?

I took advantage of the 55 degree weather when I got home from work and decided to begin removing the asters from this area.

I forgot what hard work it is to dig out deeply entrenched perennials! I removed 4 wheelbarrow loads (about 45 minutes of work) and decided that was enough heavy-duty digging for today!


I told DH to get some stain because NOW is the perfect time to stain these side panels. (We'll see how fast he moves to get the stain. Who wants to bet that it will be weeks before it's done?)

I am planning to make this side a sunflower garden. About two months ago I bought these seeds:

I will replace the soil I removed today with some of the top soil I bought last fall. I can't plant these until June so I have plenty of time to work on this area.

After the hard work of digging, I wanted to continue working outside. Something easy like trimming this butterfly bush was perfect.

People are always searching to find out how to trim a butterfly bush so I thought I would post these pics to show the before and after.


In the past I have cut it way down to about a foot above ground, but I want it to get a little bit taller than it did last year, so I am experimenting with this height.

I really don't do anything special. I just cut it down wherever I feel like cutting. For about five years now it's worked just fine.

What's with Blogger today? I tried 5 times to answer the comments on yesterday's post, but it would not take my password. I finally gave up trying. But do know that I appreciate your comments Kris, Pea, Giddy, and Jean!