Comments

1. 
   petebloom 07/27/2017

   Good morning Lily, you have taken me up close into your garden of lovely delicious colors, so close I can touch and feel its rich beauty. I can imagine the fun you have had creating it over time and taking photos here and there to enjoy and share. Thank you for giving me a special way to begin the day.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Pete! I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. I am enjoying it too, even though it feels like I'm starting over again this year.

2. 
   user-7008787 07/27/2017

   Lily, your gardens are absolutely beautiful I love the combinations! True Beauty!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you so much Linda. I'm glad you enjoyed everything.

3. 
   user-3565112 07/27/2017

   Good morning Lily, " I decided that if I could paint that flower in a huge scale no one could ignore it's beauty". oto is terrific Georgia O,Keefe The flower in the 5th. photo is terrific & one like that might have been what she was talking about. Shasta daisies were my Wife's favorite & the combination in your photo works.
   Good luck, Joe

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   I love that Dahlia to Joe! I'm going to have to try and save that one and winter it over for next year! I have two Hibiscus potted up as well, that I will be bringing in and overwintering. Last year I had 70 house plants by the time I was done bringing everything in. I hope this year I have room for them all!

4. 
   meander_michaele 07/27/2017

   Beautiful photos of beautiful subjects, Lily...you are definitely multi talented! That first picture is scrumptiously delicious...ha, or deliciously scrumptious...it truly lights up the page. You do a wonderful job of placing your dahlias so that they contribute to a very pleasing color story. Do you dig them up and save them over the winter or start out with new varieties each spring?

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thanks Michaela… I have great intentions every year of doing a wonderful job with pulling out my dahlias and saving them. I've gotten better over the last few years, but I don't do a very good job of caring for them over the winter. I just dump them in a box and then forget about them until spring. I do have quite a collection this year though so maybe I'll do better this fall. Hope brings eternal!

5. 
   user-7007498 07/27/2017

   Lily, how wonderful to start the day with your garden and beautiful pictures. The 1st photo is so stunning. I also love the closeup of the dahlia. The last photo is pretty cool. Love the use of materials and plants. The photo showing the garden and your house is so wonderful and welcoming. Thanks for sharing your photos today. It looks like your plants are doing well with the weather. We just ended a little heat wave here with temps in the high 90's, but we picked up 4 inches of rain spread out over the weekend. This has been a great summer for the garden. Have a great day.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Kevin. I will be sending in photos of the Gloucester garden tour shortly. Then you will get to see what's in the area around your parents. Hope you enjoy that too.

1. 
   user-7007498 07/31/2017

   Thanks. After you mentioned it, I was able to go on your FB page and see the photos you posted there. Beautiful.

6. 
   Chris_N 07/27/2017

   Thanks for the morning beauty, Lily. Delightful garden and great combinations.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Chris! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

7. 
   Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 07/27/2017

   Gorgeous, Lily. I grew that heart-shaped, deep purple sweet potato last year and couldn't find it again this year. One of the best! Your planter-birdbath-metal strap sphere combination is wonderful!!!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Tim. I'll take your high praise???!

8. 
   kathleendevericks 07/27/2017

   I love the way the light looks as if it's within the large dahlia. Talented gardener and photographer! Beautiful!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Kathleen!

9. 
   sheila_schultz 07/27/2017

   Your gardens have certainly benefited from the respite of rain and cooler temps for a while. They must have gone crazy once the sun came out again, lush is the word, I believe! Is that some sort of a plectranthus in the lower left hand corner of the last photo? I love the jagged purple line against the bright green of the leaf. Enjoy your lovely gardens, Lily, and keep having fun with your camera!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   I'm glad you enjoyed the photo Sheila. I believe the photo in the last plant is a Persecaria. It is a bit of an invasive, so I put it in a pot and then stuck the pot into the ground. It is a perennial, but I don't remember the name. It's been quite a few years since I planted it

10. 
    Doxnmomx2 07/27/2017

    Lily, how perfect you're named for a flower. The spotted leaves of the callas are a beautiful sidekick to the blossoms. Your home is adorable. The combination of the daisies and the dark red daylilies is just gorgeous. Thank you, thank you!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Peggy Jo I'm glad you liked it all so much!

11. 
    LindaonWhidbey 07/27/2017

    Good morning, Lily. You are great with gardening and your camera, a good combo. Do those pretty callas grow in 5b or are yours in pots? In the beautiful photo of the front of your house, are the giant leaves in the background a tropical plant that's outdoors for the summer? Sorry to ask so many questions but I'm also curious about the striking plant with the purple streak through the leaves in the last photo. Thanks for brightening a rather gray cool morning. I always enjoy your photography.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Good evening Linda. Last summer I visited a neighbors house and she had calla lilies in one of her pots. She told me that she just left them in the pot and put them in her garage, and brought them out every spring. Since I had purchased these calla lily bulbs last year and didn't know what to do with them, I decided to put them in my pots this year, and overwinter them in my garage also. I also put some dahlias in there so we'll see if they come back next year!

   I think what you're seeing in the shot of my house is a PortaDora elephant ear on my front porch. That one comes in every fall/winter also. It is pretty happy as a friend of mine gave me a bulb light a few years back, and now I have three of them. Getting bigger every year!

   With regard to the foliage plants in the last photo, I believe it's a Persicaria. I put it in a pot, and buried it in the soil, so that it does not take over my yard. It is a perennial, not a tropical. I bought it a few years ago but do not remember the name.

1. 
   LindaonWhidbey 07/28/2017

   Thanks, Lily. Having gardened in zone 4-5 for many years, I didn't think callas grew there. We used to play the garage garden game, as well, always trying to garden beyond our zone. Now we have an unheated greenhouse and expand our season and zone in that way. Love that you're growing Porta Dora in a pot:)

12. 
    greengenes 07/27/2017

    Love your name and so fitting. Your gardens are beautiful and so is your photography! The first closeup is of course my favorite! Happy gardening!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Jeanne! I love that one too!

13. 
    hedygalow 07/27/2017

    Beautiful garden----great pictures!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you so much Hedy?

14. 
    user-7008735 07/27/2017

    Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos, Lily! Everything looks so fresh and clean; the gardens never object to the rain the way we do. I love your front entry garden and pretty house. The close-up shots are especially lovely.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Lorraine, I love reading the comments on my photos. Thank you for your kind words.

1. 
   user-7008735 07/27/2017

   It is fun, isn't it, Lily? The GPOD community is such a nice group and it's a treat to visit so many different gardens so easily!

15. 
    Maggieat11 07/27/2017

    Lovely! I especially like the grouping with the Shasta daisies. Great close-up shots as well.

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Margaret for your kind words!

16. 
    user-4691082 07/27/2017

    That dahlia looks like a sunset! Lily, your talent is obvious. I just love everything...?

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Rhonda! I'll let you in on a little secret, it's a hibiscus bud just opening up...?

1. 
   user-4691082 07/29/2017

   I meant the flowers after the calla lilies!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/29/2017

   Yes you are right, that one does too! ?

17. 
    JoannaAtGinghamGardens 07/27/2017

    So beautiful, and your photography is stunning!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/27/2017

   Thank you Joanna! I enjoy playing around with my iPhone. It's so much easier than the camera I used to use!

1. 
   JoannaAtGinghamGardens 07/27/2017

   I'm impressed. I have an iPhone too. Can I ask if you use an editing app like PicMonkey or any special attachment?

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/28/2017

   Sometimes I use the editing software that is within the iPhone camera app or photo app itself, but these photos were not edited.

18. 
    Sunshine111 07/27/2017

    Thank you Diane! I'm glad you enjoyed them. I worked pretty hard on having a healthy garden, so I'm glad that it's paying off!

19. 
    gringopeligroso 07/28/2017

    Lily!!
    Lonnnnng day here, but finally getting to sit down and catch up on GPOD for the last couple or three days!
    You can't imagine my delight at seeing your name posted in the cover letter!
    I would be totally at home in your garden, as mine is becoming more and more like yours!! Unusual selections, colour everywhere, and art placed and planted to further delight visitors and residents alike!!

    I was going to ask about the Alocasia/Colocasia leaves in the background, (Portadora) but upon reading the other's comments, some else also had a keen eye and you identified it as a living being and not a metallic art piece. I have several of those elephant ear thingies (Aroids) here, but not that particular one. Mine are also reproducing and one of them sends out long runners to sprout leaves (baby plants) some distance from the mother plant. I planted some of the babies last year in our front bed as I had extra and they made a dramatic statement. (Black leaves against a white porch.) I was stunned when they returned THIS season from last year's roots and are now almost as tall as the eaves and are fuller than a Harvest Moon!! Our front porch looks like it belongs in Miami, or Galveston, or San Diego....but NOT the Ozarks!!! (I'ld better remember to get a picture before frost.)

    Anyway, just another way my garden is beginning to look like yours!!! I'm just a few years behind you, is all!!!
    It's going to be tomorrow in just a few minutes....so much for getting to bed early.... but, I got those bromeliads potted up!!
    Thanx for the too brief tour!! 'Nite!!

    jesse

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/28/2017

   Oh Jesse you are so funny! It is so nice to hear from you again. I don't think you're behind me at all I think we are running neck and neck just on different paths. One of these days we will meet up and compare notes in person. I am looking forward to it.

20. 
    user-6945477 07/28/2017

    Wow! Such beautiful gardens!

1. 
   Sunshine111 07/29/2017

   Thank you Carol!

21. 
    user-6536305 12/29/2017

    Lily, you have a such stunning garden and interesting plant combination. Thank for sharing! I somehow missed this post but it is really nice to go through the year around posts! Happy new year Lily!