Winter Damage

BY SKEETER

 We had snow on Jan. 28 here in my GEORGIA GARDENS.

 Was only 2 inches but pretty as if a big snow fall.

 Palms always look funny with snow on them. But this Silver Fan Palm is hardy and can handle the snow. Click HERE to see my Beach Planter in its glory.

 Bur, the Bicycle Planter looks cold doesn't it?

 The birds were happy I had plenty of food for them during this little freeze.

 It has been a very cold Winter with us breaking Record Low Temperatures. I am starting to see some damage within my gardens. 

 The Confederate Jasmine is starting to brown.

 I have never seen it do this and hope it will bounce back come spring.

 Since we normally have such mild winters, I have always kept the Spike Plants outside. They have always done well in our winter climate but not so this year.

 Every one of them is laying over looking mighty unhappy.

 I find humor in this one though as the kitty seems to enjoy the hiding spot. Spike plants are inexpensive so they can easily be replaced but will take some time to mature such as these lost ones.

 My Oleander is not looking well. I am crossing my fingers in hopes it will bounce back to life with warmer temps.

 And now I am seeing signs of Spring!

 Crocus are giving me hope.

 Budding daffodils are giving me hope as well. 

As I strolled through the gardens, I looked up above the fence to spot the neighbors kitty Coco Bean. She is keeping a watchful eye over the WINTER DAMAGE, In the Garden... 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Trick or Treat?

BY SKEETER

Well Folks, it was once again time for the Humane Society of Clarksville, Tennessee's annual Fundraiser. "Wags to Witches Fur Ball Bash" is their largest fundraiser of the year. The goal is to get a facility for Low Cost Spay and Neuter up and running. They are well on the way with building and other supplies needed to complete this goal. Such Benefits get them one step closer to fulfilling their Dream! Click HERE to learn more about my hometown's Humane Society...

 

The theme of this years Fur Ball was "Carnival Creeps" I spent several days running from one Goodwill store to the next looking for items that would assist me in creating a Lion Tamers outfit. I came home with a suit jacket, blouse, slacks and an Elvis type gold costume all for a few dollars. I tore out the sleeves of the jacket, cut out a low neck on the blouse (The girls come out at Halloween hee hee), rip the gold sparkles off the Elvis costume and got to sewing. A few feathers on a small headband hat and a crop complete with fun feathers. I came up with the perfect, for me and most importantly, a comfortable Lion Tamer's Costume... 

 The Saint, my Scrooge, wore a cute Tee-Shirt. I must admit, he did try for a costume but it backfired on him. I think he learned his lesson to not order a costume from the internet... The event did not bring out as many fun Costumed Folks as in the past events. But with the Gov't Shutdown, Furloughs, other events going on at the same time, etc. to be expected I reckon. They did have success at raising almost $14,000.00 towards the opening of the Clinic! So not to bad. We had a great time eating, drinking, dancing and visiting with old friends and making new ones until the wee hours of the morning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the big draws (money makers) to the Fur Ball is the Pet Photo Contest. Our Cheetah won 2011 and Sheba won 2012 so their Reign as Queen's are over.  Although, we voted on the two beautiful fur babies you see above which won the titles of King and Queen! Mr.Wags; King Richie the recently rescued Dachshund and Miss Wags; Queen Shadow, also a rescue, both belong to some dear friends of ours. We are so happy these two babies will be donning the cover of the next benefit. Being the yearly Calendar. These two are the lucky ones that have their Fur-ever home. Unfortunately, not all cats and dogs are as lucky, Sigh...

The party is over and back to our GEROGIA GARDENS where work continues. We live in the country so we can burn from October-May each year. We had a large pile of debris collected from fallen limbs, pruned trees, etc to make the first of many fires to come until May. Our woods are full of "stuff" that needs to be picked up. That will come once the temps fall a bit more so we know there are no snakes to accidently grab. Yikes! 

While clearing debris off the ground, which has sat for some time, I found two small turtles. Not sure if they are related but the same size. We have never found any this size before have seen plenty smaller and larger ones each year. I failed to snap a photo of the one as I was so upset when I found it that I quickly put it in a safe place to continue resting. 

The second one I came across was awake and wanted to pose for the camera so I rushed into the house and grabbed it. The Saint had formed a bond with the little guy by the time I returned with the camera. 

Aren't they just the cutest things? After snapping a few pix, I put this one near the other turtle and we left them alone. A nice Treat to find!

I also spotted another Treat near where I found the turtles. An egg of some type. As soon as I picked it up I knew it was a dead egg as it was too light with no yolk inside. Strange thing though, I did not see a hole in the egg. I sat it aside and kept raking debris to toss into the fire. My brain never shuts off so the wheels were turning in my head. Too round for a Snake Egg, not round enough for a Turtle Egg plus large for any turtle that would be in our yard. I was thinking, I knew that egg but no way it could be one of those eggs. 

Once the fire was roaring and I had no need to add more debris, I picked up the egg for a closer examination. Yep, I know that egg! It is a Fake Egg that I put into my Fake Bird Nest's in hanging plants on the front porch to deter Finches from nesting in them! Click HERE to see that if you like. I had noticed last year that a few eggs were missing. I was thinking that a Crow was going to have a belly ache. So the question, how did a fake egg get from the front porch all the way to the back of the yard and so far away from the porch? Not a Treat but a Trick, ha...

Back to a wonderful Treat of my beloved Banana Tree!

A day later, Jack Frost dropped by and played a bad Trick on me! We normally do not see frost until after Thanksgiving but this year is different. Oh well, she will only return stronger next year!

My Cheetah kitty

Happy Halloween

Be Safe and have fun playing TRICK OR TREAT, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Tulips and the Winners!

 BY SKEETER

 I have Tulips in my GEORGIA GARDENS! Tina talked about tulips yesterday so you have learned that tulips will return in time, after a little vacation. I have purple tulips that keep returning for me year after year since planting them back in 2009. I planted many tulips that year but the Voles ate all but these which were in a different planter then the Vole's meal of tulips.

 Lets go in for a closer look shall we... Ah, look at all that pollen on this tulip.

 Not as much pollen in this tulip but still putting off the yellow dust.

 Don't ya just love the Macro settings on a camera? I do...

And a bonus photo of a Columbine bloom in the same planter as the tulips.

 Now, the moment you have been waiting for....

Out came The Saint's Magic German Hat and placed within, were all the names of the commenters of my Blogiversary Giveaway Posting.  

I sat the Magic Hat on a chair for a Photo Op and my little Fur-baby, Cheetah jumped upon the chair with the hat. Yesterdays Fur Cut did not turn out so well. That happens when you clip cats as they are wiggle worms with sharp claws!

 I could not believe it but Cheetah decided she was going to pick out the names of the winners! Yes, it was a cute sight that I was able to capture with a photo!

 The first name out, FLOWERLADY! The second name out of the Magic Hat, REBECCA! I found this ironic as these ladies were the first and second commenters of the post! And I DID mix the names WELL, within the hat.

Congrats to Flowerlady and Rebecca for your wins. I shall get your gifts in the mail as soon as possible...

I hope you enjoy these little frogs, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

My Special Pets In the Garden

Lady Lou (also sometimes known as Radar because of the large ears)

AJ-The Moose

Smokey Boy

Last but not least for today's special pets is Cloud...

in the garden....

Any special pets in your garden?

I hope everyone has a safe and fun Halloween. 

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Fall Colors with the Queen & King

BY SKEETER

The Saint and I took a quick road trip over the weekend. We drove to Tennessee for a benefit for the Humane Society of my hometown of Clarksville. The Fall colors in my niece's front yard were stunning! Real color has yet to arrive here in my Georgia Gardens so seeing the Fall Colors of Tennessee was a treat.

Prior to our departure, I was busy making a costume for the "Wags to Witches Fur Ball Bash"

The Saint does not like to partake in such silliness but I was able to talk him into wearing this green tee shirt with a painted "P" on it. The Theme of the Ball was "Grimm Fairy Tales". So keeping with the Fairy Tale theme, we went as the "Princess (mummy) and the Pea"

We had a blast at the Fur Ball. And I am proud to announce that our kitty Sheba won the title of Miss Wags earning the most money for the Photo Contest in the Female category. Meet the Queen of Sheba's King, Herman. I must share a quick story about Herman the Beagle. He was recently located at the Clarksville Montgomery County Animal Shelter and on death row. He was on "the list" for the day and had been sedated before the final goodbye. Someone came forward and requested to adopt him just in the nick of time! It does not get any closer then that! His story was so touching that his jar was filled with money at the event. He is now in a happy home and crowned King of the Ball. Stories such as this happy ending keep everyone involved within the Humane Society going strong from day to day. We drove many miles for just 2 days fun but it was worth it to see the FALL COLORS WITH THE QUEEN AND KING, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

A Wildlife Cottage Garden Tour

I had the pleasure of visiting one of my gardening friend's lovely, colorful, and sunny garden week before last and lucky for you all I took my camera! This garden is one of the most colorful and natural gardens in our area. In fact, if you bought a ticket for the Montgomery County Master Gardener Garden Tour this year you probably were lucky enough to tour it in June. Well, now it is fall and the garden still sparkles and hums with all sorts of wildlife and insects and butterflies as you will soon see. The sparkly metal dragonfly pictured above leads us to the whole theme of this garden-alive and shiny with life.

Christy is the gardener and she was a lovely host for my friend Eddie and I on our visit. This visit had been long overdue but finally I made it. Just look at the happy bee above! It didn't pay any attention to me so busy was it collecting pollen and getting ready for the upcoming winter.

All cottage gardens require roses. This one caught my eye and smelled delightful. Yellow is one of my favorite colors in the garden as most of you know. This soft yellow was stunning.

Clematis and asters were blooming alongside one another in a delightful manner.

Just one of the many vistas in this very large garden. I took so many pictures that even with two posts dedicated to Christy's garden I will not be able to show all of the pictures I took. I have selected several of the best though.

The garden is filled with many vignettes. I believe Christy and her husband sit here in the evening and enjoy all of the birds, butterflies, bees flitting about their garden. It is a lovely spot to enjoy the garden. Christy's husband Barry also gardens.

This red climbing rose spotlighted by the classic white lattice made for a perfectly classic combination.

And who would've thought irises would be blooming October? Christy had several groups of irises enmassed around the garden in FULL bloom. Wow! Come back Wednesday to see some long shots of the irises and more flying insects. I believe this skipper to be a Crosswing Skipper. I believe the name of this reblooming iris is 'Autumn Circus'. Fitting huh?

No post about Christy's garden would be complete without a picture of at least one of her cute dogs. This one stole my heart! He wanted to come and join us outside of his yard. All I could say was "Awww."

And lastly here is the gardener herself (on the left), and on the right is Eddie. We are all master gardeners and love to garden and tour gardens....

in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden