There are all kinds of places online to publish the pictures from your garden but I've elected to showcase my gardens on my own website.  I found this Website.ws hosting company a couple of years ago when I went looking for an inexpensive place to put my little online flower delivery website, and it turns out it's the perfect place to put my personal gardening pages as well.  I Love it! 

Here are some pictures from My own personal gardens - Next year I'll be linking up to other Communities in Blooms member websites to showcase the beautiful gardens in the pretty little community of Sussex, NB, Canada.  Hope you like them!

Inside My Gardening World

Helenium Autumnale - I ran across a scraggly pot of Helenium Autumnale at a garden center that was trying to get rid of its end of season stock.  I think I paid $1 for it.  It had 3 stems on it... I loved the colour and knew just the spot that little plant would brighten up.  Good soil, bright sunlight and a little fertilizer has made all the difference.  I let it go to seed and now have a few of these little gems sprouting all over my flower beds.  I pluck them out when they are big enough and relocate them where I want to add a splash of colour.

Lantana - Beautiful and Fragrant, Lantana is one of my all time favourites!  As I write this it is almost the end of September and my lantana is Still blooming!  It is one of those flowers that have a faint lemony smell - or rather the Leaves smell like lemon peel... a little bit sweet a little bit tart!  The bees and butterflies love it and it does so well even when I forget to water it.  When treated well, it will grow large and bushy, so get it in the ground early and give it plenty of room to grow.  You will be rewarded with vibrant beautiful blooms.

Tradescantia -  This is one of those great little flowers that are rather unassuming but if you look closely and pay attention, you will notice that it blooms prolifically and almost ALL summer long.  I took a picture of my tradescantia a couple of years ago when it was a large clump, then early the next spring I dug up the bed it was in and moved some things out.  I forgot what the tradescantia was that early in the spring (the spiky little leaves were just above the ground) so I asked my neighbour if she would mind caring for the "mystery" divisions until I got a new bed dug up.  Well, we planted them toward the back of her flower bed and forgot about them until I noticed some of the pretty little blooms peeking out one summer afternoon while visiting.  We decided to leave them put until they got big enough to share.  This is the second season for them and they are now big enough so we can both have nice size clumps of them!  Yay, I get my little friend back!  

Bouncing Bob the Stork greets everyone visiting my new gardening friends, Dave & Norma Bezzant.  Last year I went on the community garden tour sponsored by our local Co-op.  As you can see, it doesn't take a huge variety of flowers to make a big impression! Dave informed me he does the field work (he has some test gardens for Sun Nurseries) and Norma does the flower beds.  By the looks of it she spends all day, every day tending her gardens... they are fabulous!  Here are a few more pics from their place...

Side gardens facing North East

Front Garden along Roadside

Brenda Graham's Pool Gardens

On the day I went on the local Garden tour, the temperature was about 36°C.. Very hot.  Brenda's place was the last on my list and as I arrived I was hot, sweaty and getting tired.  I stepped through the gate to her back yard and breathed a sigh of relief... What greeted me was cool, shaded, beautiful gardens and in the center was a sunlit pool.  Brenda encouraged me to take my time and so I did.  I wandered around snapping pics of whatever caught my eye,,, and a lot did.   She had a wandering path the entire perimeter of her property and the latter part wandered through her "forest glen".  I took some pictures of a pretty grouping of yellow foxtail lilies, and a nice stand of red astilbes.  The tour ended with a stroll under her deck which overlooked the pool and indeed, her entire back yard.  She invited me up on deck for a refreshing glass of ice water... Ahhhh,.... thank you Brenda.  I'd love to come back to get more recent photos of your beautiful garden!

Red Astilbe's interspersed with buttercups - a nice accident

Foxtail Lilies - These make a nice grouping up against a fence and the late afternoon sun literally makes these lilies glow!

Cool Retreat under Brenda's deck welcomes me after a leisurely stroll through her gardens.  Thanks Brenda... I had a fabulous time!

Website Fundraising Ideas

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