Tammy Schmitt is one of the most positive, open-spirited people I’ve ever met. A grade school teacher by profession and a funny blogger on the side, her generosity and can-do nature is on display beside her home for her entire Bristow, Virginia neighbourhood to see.

But then Tammy’s garden is a little different than most in her subdivision. Not only is Casa Mariposa an invitation to any and all pollinators that might be feeling a little thirsty in a desert of nearby lawns…..

…. it’s also home to her family and a posse of rescue dogs, including the one posing with mama below.

Tammy took the lead in organizing the Garden Blogger’s Fling that I enjoyed this June in the Capital Region, and she and her committee did a fabulous job of finding us wonderful private and public gardens to tour. One of them was her own, which she was overly modest in describing to us. For though it’s the kind of suburban property many of us have, Tammy has turned hers into a flowery oasis filled with plants (many native) to lure pollinators and songbirds.  Let’s walk under her funky arch and take a little tour of some of those plants.

I love garden with birdhouses and Tammy’s got ‘em in spades.

Aren’t these sweet?  One of Tammy’s houses actually hosts a lovely wren.

As a bee photographer, I adore gardens filled with the buzz of bumble bees, like this one foraging on Tammy’s lavender beside echinacea, also a great bee and butterfly plant.

…. and honey bees, which love her drumstick alliums (A. sphaerocephalon)……

The Pfizer Company has made their lot robertrobb.com discount cialis by the business of buying used laptops in barring condition happens to be of SellMeLaptop. Abdominal (stomach) pain It may be alarming, but it’s perfectly normal to experience some aches and pains in the tummy while viagra line pregnant. You can do this by avoiding high discount levitra purchased that fat and high cholesterol foods. That’s why the branded and tadalafil 20mg cipla is here to help you. …. and swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), below with a light-pink Knautia macedonica.

There were hover flies on the blackeyed susans (Rudbeckia hirta).

Speaking of blackeyed susans… isn’t the one below beautiful? The gorgeous selections of this native are called gloriosa daisies – this one looks like ‘Denver Daisy’..

This is a classic combination: blackeyed susans and beebalm.

A self-admitted pot addict, Tammy cures herself by… buying more and more…..

Arraying them up the paver steps to her house…..

I was taken with Tammy’s choice of natives, including this fabulous royal catchfly (Silene regia).

The garden was packed with bloggers and it was much too short a visit. After a filmed demo and interview with one of Tammy’s favourite products, John & Bob’s Smart Soil Solutions, who were generous sponsors of the Bloggers’ Fling, it was time to say goodbye. And just on cue, Tammy’s little wren popped out to sing farewell.