More Eye Candy

After my latest blog entry, I realized that I forgot to include a few photos of these beauties. There are habanero peppers on the left, red bell peppers on the right and brown turkey figs below. Yum!

 

Blooms I'm diggin' right how include Mexican heather, marigolds, bougainvillea and queen's heart.

 

My marigolds have done so well, I wish I had planted several pots to display on my porch for fall instead of purchasing very expensive mums.

And this post would not be complete without a shot of my assistant photographer T-Roy.

 

Happy Gardening!

Goings On in my Garden

It's been a good gardening year thus far. This spring, my young forsythia plants bloomed and my amaryllis multiplied. I was tickled pink!

This young viburnum has had some struggles. A few years ago, my husband accidentally scalped it with the weed eater. Undoubtedly it would have been easier to replace it, but sucker that I am [feel free to substitute sucker with stubborn] I wanted to see if pampering it would help it recover. Well it did and to thank me, bloomed beautifully this spring.

We also had wild plums and blueberries!

A friend of mine gave me an old arbor which I plan to use next year to train muscadines. Those are strawberries in the hanging baskets and tomatoes on the vines.

 

Some of my beautiful flowers including day lilies, crape myrtles, sunflowers and spider lilies.

 

My son and I planted a single watermelon seed in 2012 which produced a massive vine with tons of juicy watermelons. We get volunteer vines every year since from the composted seeds. They were not so sweet this year so I don't think I'll keep any other volunteer vines that come up. It was good while it lasted!

In the next few weeks, I hope to purchase and plant pansies in the front around the birdbath and fire hydrant. I'm also thinking about planting a winter garden. We'll see.

Here's hoping you have enjoyed your garden as much as I have mine. :)

Lawn Enthusiasts

I'll be the first to admit, I don't care much for lawns. Sure, I'm grateful my husband keeps ours mowed and moderately green but for the most part, I think it's wasted flowerbed space. So it was with quite a bit of humor that I discovered my neighbor winterizing his lawn by hand...during a torrential downpour.

I suppose he's saving himself a step since most fertilizers require a good watering to work. Still, that's some A+ dedication right there. You go guy!

This is the start of a beautiful relationship...

Pictoral Update for August

You must forgive my lack of blogging these last few weeks. Time escapes me. But I still have a few precious moments to enjoy my yard and here are a few samples of it for you.

At the end of the season when the Queen stopped feeding the colony, I had the worst time with wasps. Anything remotely sweet became a target. I even watched a small group chase a hummingbird away.

Luckily for me she came back and let me get this shot of her.

After 3 years, my bougainvillea finally bloomed. It only needed weekly fertilizing. High maintenance this one but so worth it.

And my zinnias. So lovely.

I was given this milk and wine crinum a few months ago. It surprised me this week by blooming. I thought it would be at least a year! That's my rain garden for you. Whatever I plant in it grows like a weed and produces bountiful blossoms. My low-lying portion of the yard turned out to be the best problem I've ever had.

Until next month!

I Kid You Not

God really does have a sense of humor. For about three years, I've been unsuccessful in getting portulaca to thrive in my yard. I can root cuttings like nobody's business, but once they leave the pot, fuhgeddaboudit. Then out of nowhere, while weeding my garden path, I notice a familiar looking young plant. After close inspection for a few more days, I discovered that it certainly is a young, thriving portulaca plant. Unbelievable.

I can only imagine a bird dropped the seed that resulted in this gorgeous, though misplaced succulent. No matter. I plan to enjoy it the rest of the summer. If I can fight the urge to transplant it.

Is it HOT enough for ya?

I cannot believe how brutally hot it is. With 100+ degree temperatures the last few days, my younger plants can't help showing stress, no matter how much I water them. It also seems the heat is also making insect infestations multiply exponentially. Case in point a green, soft-bodied insect (I have yet to identify) chowing down on my bean plants, and another unidentified (and yet to be seen) bug eating my asiatic lilies. I am not amused. Also, I suspect I will have to replace one of my crab apple trees on our extremely steep hillside that simply doesn't receive sufficient water to establish a good root system.

In other news a combination of regular applications of Sevin dust, and companion planting with basil and marigolds have keep the dreaded tomato hornworms away. YAY! We've been blessed to enjoy deliciously rich heirlooom tomatoes for the last month. I finally transplanted my blueberry bushes into a raised bed. After digging them up and potting them last fall because the soil pH was too high, the raised bed and numerous bags of soil conditioner and other organic amendments should be just the fix they need. Finally, my control mechanisms for aphids and slugs/snails are working. Makes working in the heat worth it.

Finally, my always sweet and exceptional smart husband helped me create this guard for a young amaryllis bulb (that he kept stepping on when reaching for the hose). I just love a man who appreciates the power of recycling. :)