My second blogaversary!

Two years already?  It's hard to believe that it's already been that long!  I remember first looking at a few garden blogs that I had come across that winter two years ago while I sat inside and thought of my garden.  It didn't take long for me to decide to start one of my own.  Finally other people that felt the same way about gardening that I did.   That winter we had two years ago was a very cold and snowy one and felt like it would never end so garden blogs helped get me through.   I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again, I had no idea how much starting a garden blog would add to my life.  I've gotten to know numerous bloggers around the world and even met some in person.  The fun of starting your own blog is not only having people visit your blog, but visiting other blogs and learning about gardening in other parts of the world.  I've learned about plants that I never knew I needed to have ☺.  My addictions to roses, Clematis, Heucheras, geraniums, Agastaches and other plants has taken off since I started blogging.  I've also learned about greenhouses, rain barrels, chicken farming, vegetable gardening, container gardening, indoor plants and turning one persons junk into garden art.   Gardeners are some very smart people!

I've seen some other gardeners do a "year in review" so I thought I'd try that for this blogaversary.  It was hard to limit myself to one picture per month!

January 2010 - Hellebores blooming.

January this year was a mild one, some days were warmer than what we'd end up having in spring.  Winter sowing was started in January.  Flowers blooming during the month were: Pansies, Hellbores and Sarcococca ruscifolia.

February 2010 - mild enough to start removing grass to enlarge garden.

February was still nice enough to work in the garden.  I started working on the front garden and widening it on the side towards the house.  Sweet Pea and I also started what would become the shed garden.  We attended the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and the Great Backyard Bird Count took place this month (on the sidebar you can see the dates for the bird count this year).  More seeds were started indoors.  Flowers blooming were:  Tete-a-tete Daffodils, Pansies, Hellebores, Camelia 'Marie Bracey', Pulmonaria.

March 2010 - The garden shed I'd always wanted was built!

March was exciting for me as I finally got the garden shed I'd hoped for for many years.  I'm still working on how I will "decorate" the inside.  Cookie the rabbit joined the family.  Some flowers blooming were Bleeding Hearts, Water Hawthorn, Primrose, Daffodils, Camellia 'Kumasaka', Muscari and Winter Hazel.

April 2010 - White-Crowned Sparrow stops in for a visit.

April was the month that the new shed was painted between rain showers and the pond got a much needed deep cleaning.  Some flowers blooming were Forget me nots, Knautia, Columbines, Meadow Rue, Solomon's Seal and Epimedium.

May 2010 -  The raised beds in the side yard are filling in.

May was when the flowers really seemed to take off blooming, Snowball bush, Jacob's Ladder, Columbines, Clematises, Lilac 'Miss Canada', Nepeta, Lady's Mantle, Rhododendrons, Red Valerian, Golden Mock Orange and Bearded Irises were some.

June 2010 - One of my favorite months in my garden.

June is always my favorite time of the year in my garden.  I've been trying to be better about finding more that will continue blooming past June.  It's just that so many of my favorite flowers happen to bloom in June.  Some of the flowers blooming were Asiatic lilies, roses, Baptisia, Spiderwort, Geum, Hydrangeas, Clematis, Fleabane, Oriental and Breadseed poppies, Salvias, Penstemons, Scabiosa, Heucheras, Geraniums, Lupine, Veronica, Campanulas, Peonies and Foxgloves.  So many of my favorite cottage garden flowers this month!  June was a wet month, but that's not that unusual around here.

July 2010 - The path garden looks better than ever, an upside to all the rain we had in the spring.

July was when the sun finally came out and when it did it was hot, the plants almost went into shock.  Some of the flowers in bloom were roses, Agastaches, Monardas, Daylilies, Beautyberry, Larkspur, Clematises, Hydrangeas, Phlox, echinacea and Aster.

August 2010 - A corner of the yard that used to be a difficult area, has turned into one of my favorites parts of the backyard.

August ended up being a wet month.  I noticed I only posted 7 times and that I didn't participate in garden bloggers bloom day.  I was a bit frustrated with the weather we'd been having.  A strangely mild winter followed by a very wet spring, a few weeks of above average heat and then back to rain.  Many of the seeds I had started never did germinate or were very stunted.  Still the garden was blooming with hardy fuchsias, roses, Salvia, Rudbeckia, Scabiosa, Liatris, Verbena bonariensis, Oriental lilies and Campanulas.

September 2010 - The front garden is still full of lots of color.

September was another wet month, not like our usual September that can be very nice.  I only posted a few times this month and didn't join in bloom day either.  This was the first year that I remember not getting any tomatoes  My garden still rewarded us with Clematis, geraniums, Rose of Sharon, Toad Lilies, Calendulas and Cimicifuga blooms.

October 2010 - The planning I did in planting around this side of the garden has paid off.

October had the garden winding down, but there was still lots of interest from foliage and flowers such as Sedums, Chocolate Eupatorium, Heucheras, Linarias on their second round of blooms, Choysia ternata, roses and a Primrose that wouldn't quit.

November 2010 - The first snow of the year brings Anna's Hummingbirds to the garden to drink from the feeders.

November we had our first snow and arctic freeze.  The Anna's Hummingbirds were hanging around the feeders.  I was able to get the spring bulbs planted.  A few blooms before the freeze were roses, Lavender, Abelia, Red Valerian, Tiarella and fuchsias.

December 2010 - The path garden still has lots of life left in it despite the cold weather and record breaking rainfall.

December we had record amounts of rain, more snow and very cold weather.  I think I was more excited about spring than I've been in a long time.  I was happy to find not only Pansies blooming but Sarcococca ruscifolia as well.

Thank you to all of you who have stopped by to visit and leave comments.  I enjoy every single one of them.  I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year with lots of time to garden!