Fertilizer Friday

I'm hooking up with Tootsie at Tootsie Time for a party today that I'm late for. http://tootsietime.com/
Hey it's Friday and I've had a bad week. I haven't had time this week to visit and having my office computer down this week sure didn't help any. I'm ready for the weekend.

I'm so proud of the Larkspur. It has really impressed me and want it in my gardens every year now. It came up easily from seed I spread in February and seems to be tolerant of our drought conditions. But I do water regularly. Speaking of watering I am draging my garden hose almost everyday for 2-3 hour run. It's so bad here. We are over 16" below our rainfall and no rain in sight unless you call 20% a rain chance. I don't. I'm whining now so I'll go on. The heat is almost unbearable. We are breaking records here with temps of 100. It's HOT girlfriends. Needless to say I haven't done any gardening lately. Mostly staying indoors with the air conditioner.

 

The bougainvillia is awesome. I love the soft pink blooms.

Jean Marie Dahlia.

I forgot to check the name of this beauty. I am in love with it. Didn't think I would like the orange but it is beautiful in person. Let me tell ya that if colors could talk this one would be saying HOT too. While many of my plants can tolerate some dry conditions the dahlias can't. Everyday they droop. I do the best I can.

Can't really garden so I added a new character to the garden. It is beautiful at night all lit up blue.

The first couple of blueberries this year. I'm keeping the huge bush/tree watered well or I wouldn't have these. I will pick a big bowl full today before they drink more water.

Yesterday I had my hair done and this was in the restroom. I had to take a picture to share. I love it.

And this is what is says. Cute. (Speaking of hanging - oh well never mind...I wear my bra a lot...just saying)



Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

I'm out of here in 1 hour so if I don't get by today I'll come visit you the first of the week.

Cottage Flora Thursday - Fertilizer Friday

Hope all of you buddies out there in blogland are having a good day.

I'll be joining Tracie at Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursday and Tootsie at Tootsie Time for Fertilizer. Ya'll go check out these blogs and see their pretties and check out the other partiers.

You can find them here http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/2011/05/cottage-flora-thursdays-20.html

http://www.tootsietime.com/

I have a few things to share today.

I was dancing the happy dance this morning when I found this Rose of Sharon blooming. I've been watching these buds form but I really didn't expect this. The plant is still a baby and is only about 15" tall but let me tell ya this plant is loaded with buds. Last year when I planted this tiny thing it was only about 3" tall. I didn't hold out much hope but boy was I wrong.

And also this morning I found this one spreading its wings. I'm so glad to see that it opened up more than the last little thing that bloomed. I would love to start a garden with just bulbs and have a lot of iris in it. That is a dream right now though.

Love that the shasta are really yielding me lovely blooms. They last a long time and the plants are loaded with buds and every day I see more buds forming. I'm pleased with the Shasta Daisy but I didn't realize how big these plants would be.

The pentas are awesome after shooting them with MG Bloom Burst.

I need to know why my Sarah Bernhardt peony still has no buds. This is the third year for it. I feel like ripping it right out of the garden. But I won't. Maybe it isn't happy where it is. It receives more than 8 hours of sun. The soil is good. I enhance the soil every year with fresh MG Garden Soil and I fertilize regularly. Any ideas?

Last weekend I worked my hiney off weeding this big garden. As you can see I have a lot of vacant spaces. The plants that occupied this space last year are no shows this year. I have given them ample time and now I'm needing to fill this space in. This garden is part shade. The front side gets more sun than the back. I live in Zone 8. Do yo have any ideas on what would look good in the back? It was a beautiful space with the dahlias and milkweed and okra hibuscus and a few others last year. I suppose these probably weren't the right plants for this space either since I didn't realize the amount of sun this part of the garden receives.

Inside I'm a furniture mover. I'm thinking I need to do the same thing in the gardens sometimes. I don't usually move plants around but I'm thinking maybe I need to move things around. Do ya'll do that? I'm afraid I will lose plants.

I'm wishing for rain. Rain come... I'm watering the gardens regularly now. Our grounds are so dry. Way too dry for one of the rainest cities in the US. I'll take thunderstorms - anything.

Prayers for the flood victims. And for the economy. Fuel prices.....trickle down effect... everything cost more.

Have a good weekend whatever you find yourself doing.

Updates and Some Pretties

Where do I start today.

I had another episode of sickness Sunday night and Monday - all day. It was the same as it has been for the past more than a year now. Excuse me - vomiting and diahrea and horrible pain. I thought having my gall bladder removed almost 2 weeks ago would make me feel better. This is the second episode since my surgery. This morning I had some blood work done. I'll be seeing the doctor on Thur.

Mom is beginning to recover. Last week was a bad week. After surgery and for 5 days she was on another planet. She knew who we were but she wasn't with us. Her sugar kept dropping in the night and she come near dying on Sunday morning. Sugar dropped to 20. It took them 3 hours to get her stable. It's a wonder she didn't go into a coma. After this happened I went to the hospital and put down my foot and made some changes to her schedule with the nurses and doctors. I got things changed. She called me this morning to check on me and I can't tell you what it meant to hear my moms voice calling me. I cried and said thank you Jesus she is going to be OK now. Now we can begin to focus on the hip healing. The hip will be a breeze compared to what it's been like. She is doing well now.

You all know the hospitals have the best gift shops. I love to visit a gift shop. Look what I found. I love Santa Claus. These were adorable.

Thought I'd share some pretties with you today. The gardens still have some blooms for a little while longer. I haven't raked yet so the leaves are everywhere and running over the garden beds.

 Milkweed still hanging around. I cut it all down but 3 stems and they are taller than me.



Hope you all have a blessed day. I am trying to get around to visit you all this week. I have missed blog world and my friends.

Blooms and Bees

This hole started as a small hole in the ground and has grown to this size. It has been slowly getting bigger over the past 3-4 months. I had noticed bugs flying in and out all the time it seemed but really thought that it was something harmless since I haven't been bothered by any flying bugs. Finally I got my camera and got a closer look at what is going on since the hole has grown so big. There are bees and they have built 'condominiums' in the ground. I assume it is honeybees. Have you ever seen bees build in the ground? I am going to contact the Agriculture Dept for them to tell me what to do about them. I don't want to kill them - they are such a vital part our food chain.

NOTE: I called the Alabama Cooperative Extension and they said there is no way this could be bees. They think yellow jackets. I will have to kill one to see what this is. I still say it is bees.



Cleome still blooming.

The rest of the photos are a little blur. Sorry.

Mums blooming their heart out. The bees don't have to worry about not having enough nectar in my yard.

 I have volunteer zinnias coming up all over the gardens. In the spring I'll have to thin them out but for now not much else is blooming in this little garden.



Hope you all have a blessed day.

Fertilizer Friday

It's time for Fertilizer Friday over at Tootsie's. Ya'll come on over and join in the fun and see who else has something to flaunt today. http://www.tootsietime.com/

Okra Hibuscus. I am loving this plant. Can't believe how long these plants have been blooming. More than a month.

Milkweed. Lots of butterfly activity but they are not cooperating for a pose.

Begonia and morning glory. This one is different and I did not plant it. The only time to catch it blooming is before 8:00a.

Zinnia and morning glory.

morning glory

This canna is still opeing up.

Storms coming. Today we are getting those storms we were promised by the weatherman. Bad lightning storms. Lights flickering and computers making funny noises. Internet going down all morning. Surprised I finished this post. It is calming down outside for now though.

I hope you all have a great weekend.