I Went Home Last Week . . .

. . . to visit my parents and whatever family I was privileged to see!

This is Dad, Aunt MEA, Mom
Aunt M and Uncle S
Dad and Aunt M were celebrating their birthdays this month...
and I timed my visit perfectly! I got in on the celebration!!


Dad and Mom's Backyard Garden

Dad's side - looking towards Mom's

Mom's side

The trellises on either side of the gardens are Dad's. He loves his climbing roses... which have been affected by this year's rainy Spring weather, I think. They normally are covering the trellises by now... and would be in full bloom!


Visiting my Aunt MEA's garden on the way home!

'Betty Boop'

What is this? I took a "close-up" photo for detail, but it's a grassy plant of some sort.

More to come... :-)

Gabby Garden Gals

Five of us toured SE Iowa today!

First, we visited Tender top Nursery. They maintain lovely gardens both in the shade and in the sun, and three ponds that are very intriguing. They sell plants for any environment. This is where we began our purchases. My little Toyota Camry has a trunk that dares to compete with the storage of most SUVs. ha! :-)

In went our first purchases.
(To be quite honest, I didn't purchase these (not available) ...
but the are definitely on my wish list!)

Next we visited Lowe's - home/garden/lumber store. Of course we were interested in their plants, especially the bargains. We found a few!

Again, in went quite a number of purchases, but they fitted in perfectly with much room to spare.

(I DID purchase this!)

You can see that it's already "in place!" :-)

After lunch at Culver's (yum!), our next stop was Hilltop Gardens, owned by Gerald Hobbs. Mr. Hobbs is a member of Cedar Valley Iris and Day lily Society. He not only grows but develops new varieties of day lilies. A copy of his plant list is here.

Hmmmm. Those look interesting . . .

We're all smiles as we look for the perfect flowers!

Into the trunk went several of his day lilies ... check out the trunk!

Our next stop was Hillcrest Hostas & More, just west of Donnellson.

Yes - we found a few plants to bring home. Most of our purchases were miniature hostas.

There are two spaces left . . . just the right size for Becky's and my hostas. :-) The others had to balance their purchases on their laps, all the way home! ha.

A fun time was had by all. We missed the rest of you! Next time! :-)