In Which Jer And I Celebrate Eight Years By Visiting The Stumpery, Because The Stumpery Is Awesome

Today was Jer and my eighth wedding anniversary!  It seems like just yesterday we were exchanging our vows, and here we are coming up on year eight already. 

In honor of the occasion, we went out as a family to the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden, where they were having their blue poppy festival.  We strolled around the gardens and enjoyed spending time together as a family.  Gardening is much more my thing than Jer's, but he indulges me because he's a great husband and loves to see me happy. 



The boys in the poppy field.



And this time I remembered to bring my camera, so you can see some pictures of the gardens.  The blue poppies look like they've been artificially dyed, they are such an intense color, and they were interspersed with a giant lily that apparently grows up to twelve feet tall.  Connor seemed kind of apathetic about the poppies, but he was very interested in all of the brightly colored azaleas, and also in the stumpery, which is no surprise.  I mean, how could you not be interested in the stumpery? 



The stumpery!

As much as I'd love to turn my yard into a stumpery for Connor's enjoyment, I don't think that would be terribly practical.  However, there's one particular rhododendron at the garden that I am determined to eventually have a specimen of at home-- it's the most gorgeous shade of coral.  Nothing else in my yard is coral and I have no idea where I'd put it, but I don't really care because I love it and I will make room for it.  They didn't have any for sale right now though, so I'll just have to keep checking back.  Like I need an excuse to go look at plants.



Someday it will be mine!





Starting to actually sort of look like a garden.



Of course even though they didn't have the rhodie I wanted I still had to buy a few things, because it's physically impossible for me to pass up a plant sale.  I picked up a fern that loves living in the boughs of trees, a gorgeous Japanese jack-in-the-pulpit and a couple of other finds.  I planted the fern on top of a stump I moved into the ramp shade garden, which is slowly starting to take shape. 

There are a few more things I know I want to put in there, like a dwarf Japanese maple (it will go in a pot where that open spot towards the front of the picture), some more ground cover and another hosta or two, but the plants are slowly getting bigger and I can start to see what the garden will look like when everything fills out.  I think it will be lovely.  This garden is the one I'm closest to completing-- not that I'll ever really "complete" a garden.  I'm sure I'll continue to fiddle with it forever.  But I have the rest of the yard to keep me busy too-- I've got a lot of empty space to fill!

So overall it was a lovely day with my lovely family, and a great anniversary.  I can't wait to see where the next eight years will take us!

~Jess