3 Beautiful Flowers

The azaleas are in full bloom where I live and they always make nice backdrops for photographs of children.  My wife's parents were down visiting this last week and my mother-in-law took this wonderful picture of my kids.  They're more precious than anything I have and I hope to carefully nourish them to healthy maturity.  They're standing in front of Formosa and George Tabor azaleas in this picture.  My girls love the flowers and plants, but my boy is not overly fond of them.  I'm gonna' have to work on him! : )

That's My Girl!

This is my baby girl, Ali, watering some plants in one of my beds. She's got an early start to loving flowers and plants. This was taken on 7/2/09, not the date on the picture.

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

We're back from our vacation excursion to Arkansas. While we were gone, all my plants decided to go on a growth spurt. These mophead hydrangeas are really looking good today. My baby girl, Ali, really does like my flowers. Hydrangeas are such wonderful plants. They should be one of the main shrubs grown in shady areas. They come in a ton of shapes, colors, sizes, and varieties. You can get one to match almost any color or scheme. They prefer to be well watered and get an occasional dose of aluminum sulphate to acidify the soil. Prune them to desired shape after they finish blooming. They are a necessity for shady portions of a cottage garden. I'd like to plant more varieties of hydrangea someday, but these old-fashioned ones here will always have a place in my yard.

Madame Alfred Carriere

Live in the South and want a white, climbing rose? I've got the rose for you! It's called Madame Alfred Carriere. It's an antique rose with very light blush pink blooms that quickly turn pure white and that have a very sweet fragrance. Need some more encouragement? Well, this thing is vigorous! It just takes off and wants to cover territory. Mine's only going on its 3rd year and I've already had to cut it back to keep it under control. It also has very few thorns. My plant is growing in the shadow of a very large live oak tree so it doesn't get the best of rose conditions. These pics are from last year - wait till I get some new ones from this year! When I left home to go offshore this time, this rose was just putting out it's first buds of the year. It should be covered in blooms in a week or two.

Daddy's Helpers

Just a few pictures of my little helpers around the yard.


Rhonda and Isaac with new hoe and shovel. This was actually 2 years ago. How time flies! The green square of grass that they are standing in has been transposed into a mulched shrub area with several roses, some plumbago, lantana, sago palm, hibiscus, and some various annuals.

They found a worm!

Alison ("Ali") isn't all that much help, but she does appreciate a fragrant rose when she sees one. Unfortunately, this Double Knockout doesn't have any fragrance!