It sounds crazy, but here we are. I love gardening. I can’t wait to have some color in the Spring. I try to gear my flowers so that something is blooming at all times, but it’s more than that. My flowers are a seasonal scrapbook. One of my favorites: my mailbox flowers.
The Flowers In My Yard Are a Scrapbook
I have flowers from friends’ and family’s yards. Double daylilies from Grandpop’s yard in Philadelphia. Iris from our home in Maryland. I have a ton of flowers from my mom and dad’s yard in Flushing. My dad loved to garden too. It’s something we did together. When their home was sold, I actually put it in the rider that not all flowers would remain (my brother was pretty annoyed by this, but he still let me do it).
I dug up daffodils, succulents, iris, hibiscus, and lilies. I even have flowers from my son’s elementary school flowerbeds. I didn’t leave messes behind. I just took a piece and left the bed better than I found it.
Mailbox Flowers = Curb Appeal
I love all my flowerbeds, but my favorite is a tiny spot surrounding my mailbox. My mailbox flowers have a little bit of everything shoved in there. lol… daffodils, daylilies, iris, succulents, tiger lilies, and clematis. The clematis is blooming right now and I am in love with my mailbox.
Scroll down if you would like a few notes on how I did this. I also included pictures of my band of gnomes. My sister, Mary, painted them for me. She is super talented.
Hey! I want to do that!
It’s not hard. I re-purposed some bricks from our old patio for the frame. I planted small amounts of each (although currently, the irises are trying to take over). I bought one of those trellis pieces from Home Depot and attached it to the mailbox. Planted the clematis at the bottom and let them do their thing. If you have a metal mailbox, this may not be for you. The mailbox gets smoking hot in the sun and the clematis definitely do not like it. I really did NOT do a lot to achieve this look. I just guided the clematis a few times to stick with the trellis piece and that was it.
Let Me Tell You About My Band of Gnomes
In addition to my gardening, I am home to gnomes. My sister, Mary painted these for me and then DROVE THEM from Texas, up to Michigan. I 100% love them… and her. I wish I knew how to paint like that, but sadly, I don’t. Meet Keith. He’s my drummer. He likes shrooms.
Band of Gnomes - on lead vocals
Jerry is my front man. He keeps on truckin’ his cart through my flowerbed. Sidenote: I also have stepping stones in my gardens from my kids at different ages. I HIGHLY recommend stepping stones. It’s such a cool moment in time to preserve.
Band of Gnomes - Brian on Guitar
I chose Brian for my guitarist because he’s reading. You don’t get to be an astrophysicist without reading some books. My gnomes are the champions, my friend.
Band of Gnomes - Entwistle on Bass
This dude is just chilling. That’s what I think you need for a great bass. John Entwhistle had to be chill to handle the very big and, sometimes, crazy personalities of The Who. Take a load off, dude. You deserve it after such an amazing career lifting the bass to a lead instrument through your talent and technique. Rest easy, brother, and thank you for what you did for the world of rock and roll.
I LOVE Summer and gardening AND rock and roll… check out some of my favorite summer tunes.
