Settling In at Maison de Fleurs

We're getting settled in at the new place, which I have dubbed 'Maison de Fleurs' as I am doing more flower gardening than vegetables so far.  Found a flea market a few miles from the house and there are several nurseries present each weekend, with my favorite being from Holland, MI.  This weekend I bought two Hydrangeas, one blue and one pink, both 5 gallon sized; the pink has flower clusters 8"-10" across!  I also purchased two rose bushes and three more hostas, as I'm embracing those plants that I always wanted but couldn't grow in Arizona.

 

The blue hydrangea nestled in between the hostas and the Inca lilies.

The pink hydrangea.

The rest of my booty from Saturday's trip to the flea market.

Saturday was also the day the plumbers came to repair a break in the sewer line, creating a bit of a mess in the backyard, but also giving me the opportunity to have a large stump removed from the lawn.

The plumbers hard at work; the line was 7' down.

The lawn took a beating.

The stump is out of the ground, but what to do with all 4' of it?

Surveying the aftermath.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, wherever I go gnomes will surely follow, and Maison de Fleurs is no exception.  The wee folk have discovered the gardens and are making themselves at home.

Looks like he's ready to do some weeding.

This guy's on permanent vacation.

Guardian of the hostas.

Mistress of the lilies.

Of course, Maison de Fleurs must have plants in bloom or it wouldn't live up to its name, so here are some pictures of what's in bloom.

Turns out the 'Stella de Oro' was in fact a "ditch lily" but it's still a welcome addition.

This hosta has been blooming nonstop for several weeks.

This lily was here when I moved in and is still making me wait for blooms.

I was fortunate enough to discover that there were already fruit-bearing plants in the backyard when we moved in and the mulberry has been very productive, while the grapevine that was hidden in several trees is developing lots of clusters.  I'm working to extract the vines from the tress, since the power company will be trimming trees soon and I don't want to risk having them cut down my grapes.  While I don't know what variety they are, I'm confident that they are table grapes and not wild ones.

Grapes growing in the sun.

Mulberries.

The evening's mulberry harvest ready for the freezer.  Jam is in their future.

I'll end with a couple of photos of some of the daily visitors to the feeders.

A beautiful male cardinal.

House sparrows come by the dozens.