One of the tricky things about WW, is getting good pictures without trespassing, or freaking people out by obviously taking pictures of their property.
So this week, I decided to share pics of things REALLY close to the sidewalk!
Remember the butterfly house I shared back in the spring? Will the butterfly bush beside it hasn’t bloomed yet. (The cold spring has all the butterfly bushes a few weeks behind), but they also have this pretty bunch of Phlox beside it. And it’s real Phlox too – not the fake Phlox I posted about in a previous walkabout post.
On the subject of flowers, there are quite a few sunflowers around town. Both of these were nice and close to the sidewalk. The first at the welding shop down the street from us, and the second at a house around the corner.
Not one of my sunflower seedlings made it (Thank to Foxy squirrel, I’m pretty sure), but I have a few that the birds supplied. They are a few weeks off from blooming I’m afraid.
Not far from the post office, there’s a duplex that was once some sort of commercial building. It was sold late last year, and they turned it into two residential units. It’s quite close to the road, so doesn’t have much of a front yard, but some clever person has lined the front walk with what appears to be pieces of old clay pipe (maybe from inside the building?), and filled them with Hens and Chicks. So cute.
As a side note, did you know that in the UK, they call these houseleeks? Isn’t that an adorable name? I learned that watching Gardener’s World.
This particular houseleek/hens and chick is at a house just around the corner from me (the house with the maple I want to hug). It was right at the sidewalk and as you can see, it’s in bloom. Sadly, that means this particular plant is going to die, but the flowers are amazing. I’ve never seen one with so many blooms.
I guess it’s not a suprise that I mostly took pictures of flowers close to the sidewalk… but this particular garden is actualy between the sidewalk and the road on a little verge! I’d love to do something similar, but the verge on our street is used for extra parking. This particular street is wide enough to park on without having to put a tire on the grass.
And last, there’s a new addition at the library. There’s an identical one out in front of the legion too.
That’s all for this week… Hope you enjoyed getting close! Lol!
Wandering Cat Studio 
I haven’t seen a hen and chick in ages! My mom had a whole family in a pot and now I wonder what ever became of it.
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I loved it, thank you! I’ve never seen so many blooms on a hen/chicks before either!
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I love Phlox. I have 2 plants that are at least 70 yr old and blooming so pretty this year.
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The phlox is such a pretty shade. And hens and chicks…I want to get some. I didn’t know that they can flower (and didn’t know that once they flower they die…sad).
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My mother planted hens and chicks, so I grew up with them.
She also planted roses, and vegetable gardens that we kids tended and picked the harvest.
One year, we grew giant sunflowers, then all of the kids got their own sunflower head to eat the seeds.
Ahh, good times.
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That bench is beautiful.
There used to be a bench up in town with a bronze sculpture of a man sitting on it. You could sit beside him. They took it away during the protests after the election and it has never been put back. Maybe it is somewhere else in town now, but I haven’t found it. I makes me sad. I always liked seeing the “guy”.
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Love the shadow of the bench in the last photo. You caught it at the right angle so the sentiment is clearly visible.
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I’ve never ever seen a hen and chicks in bloom. We recently took a walk in the nearby woods and had to trespass to get out of them; we were punished by having to walk up a really long hill in the full sun to get back home. Lesson learned! Thanks for the info on Stella d’ Oro. We got one yesterday but haven’t planted it yet.
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Houseleeks! Love that name too. I have a huge pot of chicks and hens in our back yard. I’ll have to take a photo soon. Thank you for the tour of sidewalk flowers on your walk. I truly enjoyed it. That bench is beautiful and a perfect reminder.
Blessings,
Betsy
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Houseleeks is a neat name! I have never seen a hens/chicks in bloom. As I was scrolling down and saw the photo, I thought there was another plant growing with them. Your walkabouts are really neat.
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