A Sentiment

God knew what He was doing when He sent a gentle breeze and brought a lovely butterfly to set my heart at ease. The happiness of your friendship and the gentleness of your words have touched my life in special ways and now I feel assured. Thank you for your loyalty and for reading everyday. I only hope you find things to make a happy day.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Flowers Around Town

Our little town has been so pretty this summer. Every corner in the downtown shopping area has flowers planted there.Our new drugstore was planted last fall with flowered shrubbery and other perennials for this year's enjoyment. The big, almost new, library has a garden of natives and trellises with vines growing up the side of the building. Spirea and some grasses and Russian sage are blooming now on the street corners.The drive through, at our bank, has been filled with different lilies on one side. One of our Churches has a wildflower garden on the side of the hill.....and then you come to 2nd street where St. Mary's Church is and the two gardens are thriving.The Mary's Garden in the above picture is so pretty this year. 
 The Grotto too...I should have taken this a little earlier when so many things were in bloom.
I do believe that Father started something last year, when he planted geraniums in the pots.. at the front door. Isn't this the combination that many of us started with? Geraniums, vinca, and a spike.We followed through this year by using geraniums in many plantings.....
 Even our door decor has geraniums in it. Something new this year...all along the front of the Church impatiens are planted. It seems that every available spot has a flower planted. 
I love it when a town decides to dress up. Summer is so short...why not some beauty while shopping?

Our garden club, in a former town, took care of the town plantings. Early morning would find women tending the huge concrete planters to keep them beautiful. There was a year when we used marigolds. Earwigs stripped the flowers of their leaves and spoiled them. It was a hot, hot job most times. We carried water in our cars all summer. We could use the water from the bank and village hall, but the rest came from individual sprinkling cans. When you signed up to take care of a planter...you entered sort of a competition. Who's planter would look the best at the end of summer. We never had a problem with vandalism, only the one in front of the bar....once in a while we would find a beer can or cigarette in with the flowers. Once someone sat on the planter near the bar. Our planters started out very simply...we planted just a few flowers...then as we learned more, our plants got closer together and we really packed the pots. From the first skimpy planter to the now very full ones with grasses and huge flowers...lessons were learned. 

Yesterday I left here with my mind wondering what to do with the day. I ended up doing some "digging" upstairs and more downstairs. Joe brought home pints and pints of blueberries. I started freezing them and will finish today. They will taste so good this coming winter on our cereal. See...I'm looking ahead yet again.
Balisha
Joining with Claudia today at A Favorite Thing. Here is the link to some wonderful reading and viewing.....http://mockingbirdhillcottage.com/

11 comments:

Vicki @ lifeinmyemptynest said...

I love a downtown area made beautiful by flowers - a lot of downtowns here have cut back due to budgets and it is nice when volunteers or business owners pick up the slack :-)

debra @ HOMESPUN said...

Pretty!

Oh blueberries, yum! :)

pembrokeshire lass said...

You visited me & so here I am visiting you!
The flowers are really colourful and seem to add so much to an already pretty town. Good to get to see where you live. Joan

Diana LaMarre said...

Your town has such lovely flowers, Balisha. It's wonderful to have such dedicated volunteers.

Gardener on Sherlock Street said...

So nice to see the color around town. I always appreciate groups who take care of the flowers like this.

Barbee' said...

Hi Balisha, I got your message. I still read, but don't comment much any more now that my energy has bottomed out. I shouldn't complain as long as I can enjoy reading many blogs. This is a lovely post!

Blondie's Journal said...

I have always admired the pretty plantings you see everywhere in quaint small town. It's good to know that bigger towns are taking pride in their appearance. Very pretty pictures!

XO,
Jane

Judy said...

We have huge hanging baskets on every lamp post down town--the city has a little truck that holds a big water tank and one guy drives, while the other guy waters the baskets with a hose and sprayer on the end. I think they do it early in the morning before there is a lot of traffic, but even this time of year, when most of the neighbor's hanging baskets are dried out, the ones in town are gorgeous!!! DON'T EVER QUIT LOOKING AHEAD!!!!!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

Very pretty flowers. It's wonderful seeing a town going all out with making itself more beautiful.

In the first photo, what are the silvery overflowing plants in front of what looks like red flowered geraniums?

Have a nice Sunday and a great week.

FlowerLady

CanadianGardenJoy said...

Hello Balisha : )
Red geraniums really do stand out don't they ? .. pairing them with gray foliage compliments them too ... all the plantings are so pretty !
Joy

Balisha said...

Thankyou for all the comments. I guess we could say that we all love a pretty planting where you might least expect it. Street corners, parking lots and baskets hanging to beautify our town streets.
Lorraine...that vine is Licorice Vine. I think it is called Silver Mist.It's really a tough vine and can take Mother Nature's weather in stride.
Balisha