Honeysuckles, a Meadow Brown Butterfly, and a Bumblebee

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere.

There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America, with about 20 native species each.

Widely known species include Lonicera periclymenum (honeysuckle or woodbine), Lonicera japonica (Japanese honeysuckle, white honeysuckle, or Chinese honeysuckle) and Lonicera sempervirens (coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or woodbine honeysuckle).

Hummingbirds are attracted to the flowers on some of these plants.

It is also a useful and easy plant to grow to encourage wildlife into the garden. The flowers start white but turn yellow after they have been pollinated and eventually bear round red fruits which are important food for songbirds.

Honeysuckle always twines clockwise and, given the support, will do so very high, spiralling up a tree towards the light.

Many of the species have sweetly-scented, bilaterally symmetrical flowers that produce a sweet, edible nectar, and most flowers are borne in clusters of two

Honeysuckles are valued as garden plants, for their ability to cover unsightly walls and outbuildings, their profuse tubular flowers in summer, and the intense fragrance of many varieties.

The scent is fruity and warm and gently erotic. The botanical reason for this strength of smell is to attract the moths – hence its increased power at night – that pollinate it.

Information found here and here.

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High Five For Friday!

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Time for another High Five For Friday post!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth again this week.

Go here to see Lauren’s High Five For Friday’s post!

If you would like to link up with us, go here for the details!

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1.  I have a TON of roses this year.  I wanted to display them around the house so I put individual roses in my spare jelly mason jars that I had hanging around the house.  They fit perfectly in the jars!

2.  Butterflies are finally arriving in my backyard.

3.  About time for the Prickly Pear Cactus flowers to bloom!  They have the most beautiful yellow blossoms!

4.  We made my homemade quesadillas this week for lunch.  Recipe here.

5.  Almost finished with our new bench that will be placed out by the pond.

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DIY Friday!!

Yay…it’s FRIDAY!

My favorite 6 letter word.

I love finding new-to-me blogs to follow, especially bloggers that are crafters and DIY’ers!

Today’s DIY project comes from Courtney over at A Diamond in the Stuff.

I recently came across her blog via Pinterest.

Wood Photo Holder DIY Project:

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I just LOVE this DIY project!

Such a great way to display your photos.

You can get the details on how to make your own wood photo holder by clicking on the photo above to visit Courtney’s original post.

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Verbena-Obsession Pink

PicMonkey Collage-obsessionpinkI’ve never had any of these flowers before, but apparently they are known to spread and are perfect for hanging baskets, borders, and flower beds.

Verbena is a low growing annual valued for its long flowering period.

They require alot of sun.

Butterflies love these little bitty flowers.

Blooms cover the trailing, lance-shaped green foliage from May until frost.

 Grows 6 – 8” tall and should be spaced about 6” apart when planting.

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Free Printable Tuesday!!

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lists

I’m a avid list maker.

I love to make lists of just about anything.

Honey-do lists, shopping lists, DIY project list, vacation packing list, yard sale list…

the lists go on and on.

So this week I’ve made some simple blank free printables for you to print off and make your own lists.

Just right click on the list you want and save the image to your computer and then you can easily print them out!

Enjoy!

You can use this one for grocery shopping:

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For the honey to-do list makers:

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and a road-trip or vacation pack list for all of you getting ready for your summer vacations:

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and last but not least is a fun bucket list for the summer!

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Below is a sample of how you can make your own list…

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