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HOT steamy southern weather. We are in the high midst of this season right now.
The Yard Sale is Over!!! 8am Friday morning I potted up some plants and set up some tables before my DIL came over around 10am. We worked setting out all her things until almost 1pm. It was so hot we thought we would expire. I told her to go home, cool off and come back about 6 or after.
Then the most wonderful thing happened. We had that cool front come through with thunder clouds all around us. It cooled the air and the temps fell 10 to 15 degrees. YES! Then we put out all my stuff. We quit about 9pm. It was a very long day. My son actually unloaded mulch for me that morning and I washed out the little truck that night as well. To say I slept well would be an understatement. Of course 5:15am saw me up and running again. We were all glad when it was over. I sold some larger items among which was my little rock pool and the stationery bike. The leftover things will get picked up for missions. The little truck brought some interest but no buyers. May put an ad in the free Trader paper for it.
The other son and wife came by on their way to visit her mom at the beach so I got to pet my little grand dog 'Lua'. She is a small daschound and a real sweetie. A friend had come by earlier with her sons little pup 'Asher' a mini Yorkie and he was so sweet. I could have kept him I think. It is like when you see a brand new baby, just makes you want to cuddle all day long.
It was a wonderful weekend and at lunch today we topped it off with a buy-one-get-one deal at Ruby Tuesdays after church. Great food. Now I rest and hope my body will forgive me for pushing so hard.
The gardens are already suffering from the heat. Plants are drooping by noon and the afternoons feel as though they will be boiled alive. Not much can be done in this heat. Maybe some weeding early in the morning or cleaning up. I have that pile of mulch to spread a little at a time. Basically we wait until there is a break in the summer sun. And water, water, water. Reminder to self, put new batteries in the timer.
There are Cuphea seedlings in the garden now which I thought would all be the pretty Lavender. Then this weekend I found one blooming and it is a Batface. Wonder if a little bird dropped it? That lone plant is right where my Hollyhock has grown the last few years but this years young plant did not make it. It was eat up with that rust. Too much rain for miss Hollyhock I guess. Now the Batface will take a turn beside the iron trellis.
While the yard sale was going on I noticed people walking around the gardens looking and pointing and talking. When we work so hard in our beds we don't always see the overall picture. Do take some time to just take in the full landscape of your property and enjoy it as outsiders coming by for the first time. In the end I thought I should have put up a sign that read: Garden Tours - $2.00. That was a fun surprise.
More To Come Later
The plant most known in the Cuphea family is the Bat Face. You say Cuphea this way 'coo-fee-a' . (short a sound)
The Cuphea that CC has is called Totally Tempted. The color is not correct on this photo, CarolynCats was just perfect.
Now my Sweet Neighbor J found this one this spring and its name is Ballistic. This little 'bat face' seems to have whiskers.
Last year I found another new variety of Cuphea, this one is called Cha Cha. This is the one that has reseeded so well. The seedlings are beginning to be big enough to transplant. It is a violet/purple color.
This is Samba, the dancing Cuphea. And she danced her little heart out last year, but did not come back up. I have a new one but it is not doing as well for some reason.
Now there is another Cuphea that is known as Cigar Plant also called Firecracker plant. This photo was taken just after it was planted, it looks much better now and is really full. Just not as flashy as his sisters. The girls are all showoffs.
These have really become my favorite summer plants. Cupheas literally bloom until the frost kills them and now that we know they do reseed, my SNJ and I will be trying our best to 'catch seed' this fall. They love this Hot and Humid southern weather .
More To Come Later
a nice day for a rest. The Dad in my house got his favorite for lunch today. Bacon, eggs and toast. We both enjoyed our feast. I have turned the thermostat up a little on the A/C and have the ceiling fans running full blast. The unit still just plugs along all day. It is just too blamed hot!!
Last Thursday FairyGarden, her beautiful and sweet daughter and I had a good visit around FG's pool. The water was cold getting in but we did the grin and bear it and puddled around for a while then sat on the patio and chilled. It was just so relaxing , thanks FG for knowing just what I needed. While I was there I took a few photos of her garden areas. I love the way the sunlight made the pool water look.
This is her wall fountain she found at a yard sale. The person said they were tired of it. Ho Hum I'll take it said the smart FG. It sounds so nice.
This is her container with the Rose Campion (sp?) running through a trellis, I really liked this look.
This is FG's Bottle Tree. She dressed the dead shrub with pretty bottles.
This is a Hydrangea that grows by the gate to her backyard. Just beautiful.
I took this one because I liked the way this area looked and particularly liked the Angel Wing Begonia growing there.
This last one is of her gorgeous Giant Asiatic Lily, I had to take this one doing a body twist. Was worth it!
We had a great time and I loved getting to know her little grown up newly married girl. We both have daughters and I could tell that FG felt the same way about her baby as I do my own. They grow up too fast. FG is just too young to have a grown daughter especially since FG is only two years younger than my daughter. :-)
More To Come Later
Finally got out this morning before it go too hot. I still sweat buckets. Tied up the maters, picked two more cukes, watered the pots under the carport. Then took some photos. Hence this blog.
And the most important thing is I found my good pruners. They were on my sewing machine of all places. No telling why I laid them there or even brought them in the house. Body gets in a hurry and the brain takes a nap.
Cherokee Purple Tomato, is doing very well. Waiting for the ripening period. YUM!
Whopper tomato plant looking good.
Bell Pepper is doing fair. If I can get one I will be happy
A Basil a friend shared with me. She keeps this one inside.
Hot Poker Plant is a share from a friend.
The cone flower has gotten so big with all the good rain. Has never grown like this before.
Bee Balm in the jungle.
This is an AV that has not bloomed in a long while. It is pretty. A rescue from the BILO store. As is this next one.
I had a little sewing project to do for my SN. It is what I will call a moo-moo. Remember those days? She has an old one that her mom made for her when she was in high school. They never wear out. So now she has a new one and a little bag to go with it to take on her vacation.
More To Come Later
was a great day. Had a visit from Fairygarden and her sweet hubby. We ate a little watermelon and looked at the flowers growing and blooming. Come back again soon.
My grass needed mowing so badly and I found a bit of a time frame late in the afternoon to get that done. Then it rained about half hour later which made it perfect.
You know those wonderful Cuphea plants? My purple/pink one had reseeded in a big way. Shared a couple with FG and now today my sweet neighbor came over to tell me she has found Bat Face seedlings. She is excited and so am I as we now know they will reseed. I think part of the trick is not cutting them back in the fall. So we are hoping to have many more of these plants by summers end.
Got to go do a little sewing job. I am making a bathing suit coverup for my SN (sweet neighbor) to take on her vacation this week.
More To Come Later.
for the last few weeks. Getting closets and spaces cleaned out, items priced and ready to go. Don't have too much more to pull out. The attic will be next weeks project. Not too bad up there as I have been clearing out some stuff over the last 2/3 years. The table is piled high and the floor is closing in.
The yard is taking care of itself right now. It has been so hot with hard thunderstorms every evening. Reminds me of when I first moved to SC. So I have not stuck my nose outside unless it is really early. Here is a photo of the Gladiolas I have cut and brought inside. They last a good while and I love looking at them. You get two looks, one from the kitchen and one photo from the sunroom side.
Can you see that huge Red Hot Poker in the photo above? I wondered for two years what this spikey plant was and now I know, it was a share from a friend. So glad I have it.
My lilies are just going strong this year. I think the extra rain has really been good for them. They are just so crisp and standing up so well. Have a Blackeyed Susan or two that have been gorgeous as well. The Hibiscus are full of buds, so in the next few weeks I will have photos of those plants.
I found a pair of my 'dancin' shoes while cleaning closets. They had a few miles on them. This was in the 1970's and they were in the original shoe box. Finally decided to donate them to our Little Theater. They still look so good but my dancin' days are over.
More To Come Later
I had a nice visit with Fairygarden this morning and she brought me some of her blue/white Iris rhizomes. We took the garden tour, not only my gardens but my neighbors as well. My neighbor dog Macy came and greeted us then went on her merry way. She is such a good dog. FG and I always enjoy one anothers company.
I had posted a blog that got hung up in la la land somewhere and I don't think it was in the lineup for very long. So this may be partly a repeat of that blog. The lost blog had some good photos so you might want to back up to my blogs and look at it. I think it started with 'Saturday'
The little baby cupheas are really growing. I will have some to share and lots to transplant and enjoy this year. Will not cut any of the plants back until Spring is well under way, in hope that others might reseed. This is the one that reseeded.
One day last week I found two Salvia 'East Friesland' plants on sale and a 6 pack of impatiens which I don't often grow. They don't seem to do very well for me. i am hoping this new salvia will do well. Found this information in the web. For one thing after they bloom you cut them back hard and sheering, deadheading, avoiding too much shade and not fertilizing too heavily. Should do well in my yard, look to be a nice purple color and with any luck they will come back for years. This is a photo from the web.
Have gotten 2 baby squash and three cukes from my litle plants. The big tomato has three almost ripe and lots of flowers. The Cherokee Purple is putting out lots of flowers and I am looking forward to it. The blueberries are just sitting there waiting to ripen and the strawberry plants are providing snacks for all the critters but me. I have tasted one or two and they were good.
More To Come Later
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