Saturday Whine

I've been trying to sew.  But, I have an aching shoulder.  Holding my arm up to the sewing machine is painful.  The cold wet weather is not helping!  Gentle stretching exercises help a bit.  So do hot showers and a warm rice bag.  

It was cold enough this morning that people had to scrape frost off their windows.   26 degrees, glad I brought my holiday cactus in yesterday!  The sun is shining, but it's still nippy out.

This is the flower bed by my back door.  The  purple coneflowers, hostas, columbines, perennial sweet peas, and snow on the mountain are filling it. 

The peonies are beside the walk to my front door.  They should bloom about Memorial Day.  My clematises are all growing like, well, like weeds!  I need to get some poles set out for the sweet peas to climb on.  Pretty soon they will need big trellises, but not this year.  They are slow to start, but when they are established do well.   My goal is to have the flower beds filled with perennial plants so I can just weed and take care of them, not have to plant every year.  I have areas on the south and west sides of the house that are very hot, and haven't found any plants that like that.  A rock garden maybe!  I did plant a couple of Yucca, who tolerate hot and dry.  And the coneflowers are fairly tolerant.  Any suggestions?