Highly Anticipated

Back in the middle of May, Steve and I noticed these weird plants poking up out of the ground in random locations in the backyard.  We weren't sure what they were (I thought they were weeds and was going to pull them up), but we decided to wait it out (or maybe just too lazy to do something about it).  Finally, some pods started to form and after some research online, we discovered they were lilies.

Since before memorial day, we've been pampering them with lots of water and checking their growth.  We (Steve more-so) have been highly anticipating the day that they would bloom.  Lo & behold, they finally bloomed over the weekend!  In fact, the first one popped upon the morning of my LASIK surgery.  That afternoon, there was a terrible storm and we were afraid we'd lost them, but they are good and strong and are continuing to bloom into big lilies.

(This picture is actually a bonus picture.  I was really taking a picture of the mulching job and new pavers in the back of the house -- more on that in another post-- but you can see the lilies on the left.  They are located to the right of the garage as you pass through the brick wall into the backyard.  The bushes on the right of the picture are on the backside of the house.  We just began mulching the backyard and laid the pavers to keep the mulch form falling onto the sidewalk -- we are mulching pros!)

(On the morning of my LASIK surgery, I happened to spot that one of the pods had finally opened up!)

(After a crazy storm that knocked down some big limbs -- more on that in another post, ha!-- the first lily was opened more and they were doing great!)

(The blooms are bigger than your hand!  We are thoroughly enjoying seeing them through our side kitchen window.  All the anticipation finally paid off!)

(The next pictures were taken today, so you are all up to speed on our lilies.)

(Now that they've bloomed, they've become top heavy.  We will be purchasing some stakes to help support the lilies! But for now, our bags of mulch are doing a great job.)

(Next on our anticipation list is my tomatoes!  On a Menard's trip, I got a hanging tomato plant as a bonus item --Thanks Steve!!  I'm a little skeptical of how it will work out, but we'll see soon enough!  The hardest part was finding a location that it could hang without squirrels being able to get to it.  For now, it's hanging on our arch in the backyard, but it's not permanent (as you can't walk under the arch now). Before purchasing a better stand, we wanted to make sure the plant produces.)

(There's 2 green tomatoes in the center that I can't wait to turn red!  There are several blooms on the plant, too, so I anticipate a lot more tomatoes!)