These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things...

I'm not really sure when it happened, because as my husband is sure to tell you, a gardener I'm not. We used to abide by the "you take care of the outside and I'll take care of the inside" rule...I suppose the fact that I don't cook and I don't have the knack for decorating kind of kills that rule. Somewhere inside me over the last few years, this need to garden has awakened...and I think I could get used to it. I used to love Stargazer lilies...I just loved their centers bursting with burgundy and pinks...and I even had some in our yard...however just as my husband likes to re-arrange our furniture every few months, he likes to re-arrange the flowers too. After one too many moves, the lilies never came back. That's OK, I found a new love....pansies. I don't know if it's all the different colors they come in, or their delicate little faces looking up at you, but I could not have a summer without pansies. We planted a bunch in our backyard last year, and I would have sworn they were annuals, but lo and behold, not only did they come back this year, but they have spread. I'm attributing that to my poor attempt at harvesting their seeds at the end of last season...I'm guessing many of the seeds ended up in the ground. Here are some of my favs:

You can tell in this next one it was starting to get dark out as I had to use the flash....

These rich lavender shades just get to me...

And then I turn around to find this character wanting to play....

Of course as soon as you make a grab for the ball, she does this....

pulls the ball away from you...what a tease! Now go out and get some pansies for yourself!