Garden Tours oh my!

Do you wanna know what one of my favorite things about summer is?

Garden tours. Love garden tours. I have two that I go to every year. One in the town in which we live and the other 20 minutes away in a town I would love to live in. But, there are more. Definitely more nearby. I just run out of time and brain energy. Because, inevitably I come home exploding with ideas of additions and changes to my gardens.

This year, however, our local garden tour was highly disappointing. Not sure if they are running out of houses to feature or what. However the other, in a neighboring town, was amazing and never disappoints!

Here are some features of this years tour:

So simple but cute!

Love this! I make my own garden globes from Quik Crete. Need to do some more and recreate this.

Always love these little garden houses/sheds

Next Project!

This was adorable!

Love the use of this bird bath

Garden sauna!

Beautiful hydrangas!

Love this and I have a crock to use!

Linking up today to:

Feathered Nest Friday  

Flaunt It Friday

Gardens are a Bloomin'

Summer is in full swing here in Michigan and in a long stretch of extreme heat warnings, high temps, and even higher humidity. But who knows, next week we could have a frost. Because, yup, that is Michigan.

However, it is also a time of garden tours, farmers markets, and so much more. And, as a song that we sing at church says...

Every day is a blessing.
In every way it's a blessing.
Every day is a blessing and I'll give it back, give it back to You.

Some days sure are easier than others, but I am trying to count each and every day as a blessing. That said, this has been a strange year in my garden. I have had several long time perennials not come back this year. One lilac tree leaf out and the lilac tree right next to it not leaf at all and none of them bloomed. That is just one story. But, despite the rough start eveything else is doing great. Thought I would share some garden photos today.

Hens and Chicks are great this year and has a boom!

This is the bloom from my Hens and Chicks. This plant blooms about every 4 years.

Bleeding hearts

I have no idea what these are but they look a lot like astilebe but they get about 5 ft tall and are huge!

Don't know what this is either other than a perennial that blooms mid-June. Very pretty plant.

This poor girl has seen better days and each year something breaks off her. But I love the worn and broken look!

Kissing frogs guard my hydrangas.

I found this metal globe on clearance at Home Goods. I had a couple extra fence posts so I poured some Quick Crete and mounted the post, then attached the ball to the top. In total it stands about 5-6 ft tall and the hangar holds a bird feeder. The fence behind it has had bird houses attached but the fence is in bad shape. Hoping we can replace it this year.

Fire pit area where the hostas one one side did not come back this year after 5 years!

Love hostas. Hardy and super easy to grow. Plus, they have babies!

Hanging lanterns

More hanging lantersn

These two old jugs belonged to my sister's in-laws. I cherish them each year as I place them in my garden.

Love me some purple.