Camera Lens Bling

Too cute !

Check out this great tutorial and then get wild with crystals and ribbons flowers wow Love this one
Found HERE

Paper Flower Tutorial

This cute paper Flower tutorial can be found HERE

Another Chiffon Flower Tutorial

This is another much simpler chiffon Flower tutorial.

Found HERE

Decline of our Birds

Just me or can anyone else figure out if you take the food away the birds will die ??

Common Birds In Decline

What's happening to birds we know and love?
                   
Audubon's unprecedented analysis of forty years of citizen-science bird population data from our own Christmas Bird Count plus the Breeding Bird Survey reveals the alarming decline of many of our most common and beloved birds.

Since 1967 the average population of the common birds in steepest decline
 has fallen by 68 percent; some individual species nose-dived as much as 80
 percent. All 20 birds on the national Common Birds in Decline list lost at least
 half their populations in just four decades.
The findings point to serious problems with both local habitats and national
environmental trends. Only citizen action can make a difference for the birds
 and the state of our future.

Which Species? Why?

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Invasive Plants 


In some species, cultivars of a perennial are not as invasive as others. Use this list to check into the
plants you are considering for your garden.

List

Achillea spp. (Yarrow) - invasive roots
Aegopodium spp. (Goutweed) - reseeds, invasive roots, use in confined areas
Ajuga (Bugleweed) - invasive roots, excellent ground cover in shade, use in confined areas

Ajuga (Bugleweed) - invasive roots, excellent ground cover in shade, use in confined areas
Anchusa spp  - reseeds, invasive roots
Artemesia spp. (esp. Wormwood) - invasive roots
Borago officinalis (Borage) - reseeds, invasive roots
Campanula rapunculoides (Creeping bellflower) – invasive roots
Centaurea cyanus (Bachelor button) – reseeds
Cerastium tomentosum (Snow in the summer) - invasive roots, can overwhelm desirable plants
           in a rock garden.                        
Chrysarrthenium parthenium (Feverfew) - reseeds
Convollaria majalis (Lily of the Valley) - invasive roots, excellent ground cover if confined
Leucanthamum sp. (Oxeye daisy, Shasta daisy) - reseeds, invasive roots
Lunaria annua (Money plant) - reseeds
Lysimachia nummularia  (Creeping Jenny, Creeping Charlie) - invasive roots
Lythrum salicaria (Purple loosestrife) – noxious weed, DO NOT PLANT
Macleaya cordata (Plume poppy) - reseeds, invasive roots, use in large containers
Mentha  (Mints, esp. Catnip) - reseeds, invasive roots
Monarda didyma (Beebalm) - invasive roots
Myosotis (Forget-me-not) - reseeds
Oenothera spp. (Evening Primrose, esp. speciosa ‘Rosea’) - invasive roots
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper) - reseeds
Phalaris arundinacea var. picta (Ribbon grass) - invasive roots, confine in a container
Physalis alkekengi (Chinese lantern) - invasive roots
Physostegia virginiana (Obedient plant) - reseeds, invasive roots  
Polygonum cuspidatum (False bamboo, Japanese Knotweed) - invasive roots
Rosa (Roses, esp. wild roses, brambles) - invasive roots, use in native plantings or where
                                                                   the roots can  be confined
Sedum spp.  esp. ‘Golden Acre’ - this and other sedums drop pieces that will re-root
Stach’s bysantina (Lamb’s ear) - creeping stems root and spread
Tradescantia virginiana (Spiderwort) - invasive roots
Veronica spp. (Speedwells, esp. creeping speedwell) - invasive roots, pieces drop off and re-root
Viola spp. (esp. Viola odorata) - reseeds and becomes a problem in lawns
Yucca spp. - invasive roots

Sea Thrift in the Little Yard

Armeria maritima
Common Name: sea thrift

Type: Herbaceous perennial
Family: Plumbaginaceae
Zone: 4 to 8
Native Range: Mountain and coastal areas in the northern hemisphere
Height: 0.5 to 1 feet
Spread: 0.5 to 1 feet
Bloom Time: April to May
Bloom Color: Pink, White
Bloom Description: Pink to white
Sun: Full sun
Water: Dry
Maintenance: Medium
Flowers: Showy Flowers
Tolerates: Dry Soil, Shallow, Rocky Soil, Drought
Uses: Groundcover, Will Naturalize

Culture:
Best grown in infertile, dry, well-drained soils in full sun.
Foliage mounds tend to rot in the center if grown in moist,
 fertile soils or in heavy clay. Good drainage is essential.
 Deadhead spend flower stems to encourage additional bloom.

Noteworthy Characteristics
Thrift or sea pink is a compact, low-growing plant which forms a dense,
mounded tuft of stiff, linear, grass-like, dark green leaves (to 4" tall).
Tufts will spread slowly to 8-12" wide. Tiny, pink to white flowers
bloom in mid spring in globular clusters (3/4-1" wide) atop slender,
naked stalks rising well above the foliage to 6-10" tall. Sporadic
additional flowering may occur throughout the summer.
Flower clusters are subtended by purplish, papery bracts.
In the wild, thrift or sea pink commonly grows in saline environments
along coastal areas where few other plants can grow well,
hence the common name.

Problems No serious insect or disease problems.

The Little Pink Mounds in the back and around the tree is the Sea Thrift

Right on the tree trunk are chives ready to go to seed.

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