A lazy Sunday post with lots of pictures and nothing of substance to say.
I found the strangest (largest) green beetles eating up my roses. I find them to be as pretty as the roses, but am not happy about their eating habits.
Here’s another rose (there are five bushes clumped together with four different varieties).
And here’s our rose bush over the well (which I show you every spring). It blooms in May. Very pretty, but no scent.
And my peony is blooming for the first time in my garden. Upon closer look, it seems that there’s another one of those large green beetles, tucked in the petals. I’ve never seen these guys before. They must not hatch every year.
The peach tree we planted in memory of Alistair – the baby we lost – is doing much better this year. There are eight peaches total!
And the capucine (I forgot the English name) seems to be springing up on its own now. What a cheerful bug repellant!
We’ve transplanted the strawberries from under the apple tree to their own little wooden boxes.
And in the middle, we planted a cherry tree. It will be cute! I hope it doesn’t get so big that it shades the strawberries, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
The raspberries are just beginning to show up.
And the lavender over there in the corner that used to be a weed-fest is starting to do nicely, even though it’s not a super sunny spot. We covered it with wood bark to keep the weeds at bay and to prevent moss and other ground cover from forming. I like the lavender here. It’s white – so different from our other two blue and purple varieties.
And this is a before shot. We plan to fill the wooden box with earth and plant garish red and yellow annuals that I wouldn’t want to put anywhere else in the garden. (I’m a pink, white and purple flower lover). And then next to the wooden box in the small plot of grass, I will plant calla lilies.
Next to that wooden box is another that’s already filled. Did you know that sage flowered so prettily?
This is the part of the house that we see when we first walk through the front gate, and I love it! I love the brick wall, the flowering plum tree, the wood bark. We’re working on the plants, but this area is filling out nicely.
And here’s another area that’s coming along, but needs more work. We need to paint the wall and studio white, and put some outdoor wood tiles for the floor, but this is a sweet little outdoor patio with a potted olive tree in the corner (that I hope will get bigger).
Hunter caught another bird.
Can you see his brother or sister in the branch there? I heard Juliet shriek and – surprisingly – Hunter dropped his prey.
But it was too late for the poor birdie. He didn’t stand a chance. His tail wasn’t even fully developed and he was no expert at flying.
Juliet was traumatised.
But she felt a little better after determining that the two remaining birds were old enough to forage and this was not the mother he had killed.
Gabriel dealt with his feelings in his own way.
And William talked.
This picture is really for the grandparents who will be astonished at how much he has grown.
Today was Mother’s Day in France, and Gabriel bought me earrings with his own money. He was so proud. He looked at me wearing them at church, and he said, “I keep thinking that you have new earrings, and I forget that I was the one who bought you those earrings!”
He asked me if I was going to tell everyone that he was the one who had bought them for me, and I said, “Absolutely!”
We went out to eat and it reminded me that I had been meaning to write some tips about dining out in France. I put them on my Facebook Fan page (did you like my page yet?) but I thought I would put them here if you want to pin them for later. You never know when you’re going to get whisked off to France for dinner!
(PS I know there’s a tiny typo in it, but I would have to start from scratch to fix it. Ugh.)
Happy Memorial Day my beloved American friends and family!
Happy Mother’s Day to you!
Those green beetles are pretty – I have never seen anything like them.
Things seem to be faster for you. Here, it’s already strawberry season in more southern states, and in some, that’s ending. Our strawberries won’t even appear until June. And the raspberries are a distant dream.
I’m dreaming, though!
Tamara recently posted…I’ve Been Looking Forward To This All Week.
It is pretty advanced here. I think we’re further North, but we have the gulf stream? (jet stream?) that warms things up more quickly. We’ll have apricots and peaches in another month. xo
So so pretty!! Love your garden! Stuff that’ll never grow here in my place. Glad I get to see them through your blog, Jennie 🙂
Thanks Judith!
I want to sit on that patio with you and have hot cups of tea (and coffee) and just admire your gorgeous garden!
And the dining tips, #1 made me laugh because I totally made that mistake while lunching with you and my boys 🙂
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I completely forgot about that! 🙂
And come back!! (But this time in late spring)
We have similar looking beetles here in Southern California–I think they’re Japanese Beetles? I love your red roses; too bad they don’t smell. They remind me of my red roses-called Mr. Lincoln, and boy does that variety smell lovely!
Your orange flowers remind me of our California Poppies.
I do love your garden.
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I’ve asked for doggie bags and gotten them. I was told that they’re changing that (from a French couple from the countryside.)
Interesting! Maybe they are changing it.
Lovely post! What a great, very large-looking garden – how do you ever find the time, for crying out loud! I really think the whole world knows something about time management that I don’t. Maybe if I cast off my books???
The way this post concluded was the best. He was so proud of those earrings, and I bet you looked fabulous in them – beautiful mother/son memory to capture. Blogs are wonderful for that.
Hillary recently posted…Fifth Baby
OooOOO calla lillies are one of my favourites. A lot of my rose bushes took a major hit with all of this snow. I don’t think that some will survive. They look so sad…boo.
Kimberly recently posted…A Little Bit Of This. A Lot Of That.
Your garden is so lovely, Jennie.
I am going to head outside and work in the yard later today and this is just the inspiration I needed.
Kim recently posted…Growing Together – Guest Post at Raising Humans
It’s so hard to get motivated. But I’d love to see some pictures if you have time.
Your garden looks lovely! I was pleasantly surprised when I found out sage has such pretty flowers. So pleasantly that I planted some extra…
And the bird…alas, I know… our cat drags little fellows like that home daily.I don’t mind mice, but birds…
Tinne from Tantrums and Tomatoes recently posted…Rerun : How to prepare for a trip to the zoo with two small children
Exactly! What did those poor birds ever do to anyone?
Beautiful photos. And I’ve never seen a bug I’d call lovely before. But those ones? Lovely.
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Hi Roxanne! 🙂 I know, right? I don’t generally photograph bugs.
Gorgeous pictures! Your patio is great. And the bugs look like Japanese beetles? Although they aren’t so large around here.
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Thanks Andrea, and I think you’re right. Truthfully I’ve never seen them quite as big.