Some Things that Make me Smile!

It has been such a refreshing spring. .

in comparison to ANY spring. .

But for sure in comparison to the last TWO springs. .

Where the temperatures were well over 100 degrees in May. .

And consistently over 100 degrees by this time in June.

We've enjoyed nearly SIX inches of moisture over the last few months. .

As well as temperatures in the 80's and 90's. .

Aside from a few days last week that were over 105!

And that has been good for the farmers. .

The gardens. .

AND the gardenERS!!

Come along for a quick flower show!

I have a little jungle area of hollyhocks in the front of my house. .

I think they look a little messy. .

And each year I think I am going to pull most of them out. .

But. .

I just CAN'T bring myself to do that!

The colors are so deep and cheery. .

And so far, even the big leaves still look nice and healthy. .

Not yet riddled with insect damage!

I LOVE tropical plants. .

I just CAN'T ever seem to keep them watered well enough and protected from the blazing heat and wind.

Well. .

The self watering container idea and the addition of that new patio has made the difference!

When I thought there might be a possibility of making a tropical vine work. .

I couldn't leave this hot pink mandevilla at Lowes!

It is starting to vine well. .

And is loaded with these gorgeous pink flowers!!

I'm also super excited about a tropical hibiscus plant that I bought at Walmart a month ago. .

It was unmarked as to color. .

And it was HALF price!!

I don't know why, and I didn't really care. .

In my cart it went. .

And am I ever glad it did!!

It opened up one of the most beautiful pinkish red colored blooms earlier this week!!

With lots more buds. .

promising future color!

I was totally THRILLED!!

Both of these girls are situated on our new patio near the pitcher pump feature.

They are slightly protected from the wind, and get a little bit of afternoon shade.

The self watering planters from Walmart are doing their part to keep them moist. .

SCORE!

Wish I had thought to load a before picture of the honeysuckle vine that we planted near this antique slipper slide several years ago. Jeremy re-staked the slide into the ground. .

 as the weight of the vine was pulling it southward!

I enjoy it's fragrance most. .

early in the morning while I am walking. I think it is always funny to come around the corner from the highway on my walk, and wonder where I will smell it. .

The wind does amazing things with the fragrance. .

And some mornings, I would notice the scent down by my mailbox. .

100 yards from the plant!!

I had to rescue one from the construction zone. .

And recently decided to plant it on the other side of the house, near the bedroom windows!

It didn't mind the move. .

and proceeded to do it's blooming IN the big pot it rested in until I knew where it would go.

This echinacea paradoxica. .

Or plain ole yellow coneflower. .

Came from a packet of seeds that I started a last winter. .

There were a couple blossoms on the plants last summer. .

But it is really doing well this year! I planted them in 3 different locations. .

to maximize the effect of them. .
and to make sure they had at least one location that they would thrive in.

One spot just had too much competition with water and other plants. .

And they stayed tiny all summer.

I was sure they would die out. .

but even THEY are blooming this summer.

This variety is a tolerant winner for sure!

Some day I want to learn how to put my lavender plant to good use. .

I really like it's tiny little blossom stems. .

And always think I will gather some and make a little sachet. .

Hasn't happened yet!

This variety is Hidcote. .

And the plant has gotten huge!!

That whole mass of flowers comes from ONE central root in the ground in the dead center!!

A few years ago, I took a cutting of the plant in fall. .

And it rooted in nicely by the next spring in my greenhouse.

I think I might do that again this fall. .

Let me know if you might want a start of it!

Here's the larkspur patch in the front beds along the driveway.

The purple aster plant in the left front of photo is growing. It won't shine for another month or more, but it appears there will be a lot of shine happenin' when it does it's thing!

My orange butterfly milkweed is blooming now too.

It may be one of my favorite summer blooms!!

My seed list for next winter includes another packet of these for sure!!

They have been easy to start in the past. .

But unfortunately, I only have this clump that has really taken off!

The black eyed susans are looking lovely this year. .

With the nice cool weather and moisture we have been having. .

They remind me of the photos of the luscious susans my gardening friend Sue shows from her cool Michigan patch! They look much better with this weather. .

than with drought and 100 degree temps!

 And it seems lots of flying creatures love them as much as I do!

Here is a tiger eye sumac bush. .

given to me by some friends to plant in memory of my dad!

Now, he was a farmer. .

And since Sumacs can be a little invasive. .

I'm not sure how he felt about them. .

But I have always wanted to have a patch of them for the wildlife that they support. .
Jeremy always nixed that idea. .

Until I was gifted one :-)

It has such beautiful foliage. .

And is starting one characteristic bloom head, that I presume will soon become bird food!!

YaHOO!!

It's planted on the outside of my memory garden. .

With room to spread out a little!

A non descripted lily variety I planted a couple years ago. .

I'm not even sure it came up last year. .

And I surely thought it was toast!

But, it seems to be happy this spring. .

And the big reddish orange blooms are nice!

The little stella de'oro daylilies are in full swing. .

And right in front of the dwindling blue flax. .

makes a nice color combo!

I am super excited about my patch of purple coneflowers! I started all of these in my greenhouse. .

And, now in their third summer. .

They are tall. .

And spreading a little bit. .

And loaded with potential!!

The birds and winged insects LOVE these!

I'm not good with my butterfly species yet. .

But we have been seeing many different kinds. .

As well as tons of moths, including uncountable sphinx moths.

It just all makes me stop. .

And thank God. .

for the incredible DIVERSITY. .

And BEAUTY. .

And ORIGINALITY. .

In His magnificent creations!!

And personally?

I don't think we've seen ANYTHING yet!!

I can't WAIT. .

to see the garden that He is fixing up at my mansion in heaven!!

Take a minute today. .

And appreciate some of God's handiwork. .

And talk to Him about YOUR eternal home!!

Matthew 6:28-29

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

BOTH Weekend Projects. .Check. .Check

We enjoyed a super three day weekend full of little things. .with a couple of projects thrown in! I was so pleased to be able to get to some things that have needed done for quite a while. .like going through some clothes, cleaning up a closet space or two, and a little reorganization project in the kitchen.  I don't know if any of you make lists or not. .but I started one Friday of the things that I really wanted to get done last weekend. .and got to check most of them off the list.  The first "major" project was a front door over-haul.

For several years I have wanted to change my door color to red. We finally got serious about it nearly a month ago when Jeremy brought in his auto paint catalog. His rationale was, that by using auto paint and sealing it. .it would last a LOT longer. .which was a good thing, provided that I actually liked the way it turned out! I picked out a dark red color. .and he ordered it several weeks ago. Things kept coming up that prevented us from having a whole day to mess with it. .but THE day arrived on Saturday. He made me get up early. .around 7. .which, for me on a weekend, is early. We took the door off. .

And put up a temporary door. The second layer of chairs got added by Devin right after lunch. We had a very stiff south wind Saturday. .and this door opens to the south. .so the wind was blowing the quilt. .and the chairs ;-) And it was only chilly in the house for a few hours in the morning.

All of our doors are metal. So he applied auto body putty stuff to even everything out. He missed a few small dings that weren't even evident until he started spraying on the primer. You can see. .there were a LOT of dings. .four kids are hard on things around our place!

I also helped him tape off the windows but then he was on his own.

We put some screws in the ends of the door to make a little rotisserie. So he could easily spray everything. .and clear coat it at the same time. The primer was black.

He even repainted the white side of the door. .making the outside red as well as the edge (since it opens out of the house. .the proper etiquette called for a red edge too).

Oh my. .was I excited to see this luscious barn red color!!

He was not sure how the sealer would go on. There was no recipe for mixing in the agent that makes a matte finish. .since I told him that I did NOT want the appearance of a car door. But it actually turned out very well. .hope he wrote down his recipe. .cause in the spring, we'll do the other two outside doors.

I LOVE it!! My boys think it looks retarded. .but what do they know anyway!!

Project number two. .the hanging of the Christmas lights. .was also supposed to take place Saturday. .but due to the gusty and biting south winds. .we put it off. .praying it would be nice enough Sunday to do it after our annual church meeting. Wow, was it ever!! Very little wind and temps in the mid 60's made it a scrumptious day to enjoy the great outdoors.

The kids were just glad for a good excuse to be able to clamor all over the top of my house!! So much so, that they invited a neighbor over to do the same. .I made sure his mother knew first that they would probably be on the roof!

I got a lot of the LED lights after Christmas last year. .and I think I will love them. They are blue icicle lights. .which made it around the front of the house and about 1/2 of this west side. They hook up to some large blue bulbs that I had bought last year. It was amazing to hook every single strand up to the one in front of it. .and plug them into the same outlet! Hooray!! I think that I will put lights on my new cedar fence too. I got inspired!

The weather was so beautiful, but I was still surprised to find this little butterfly out and about!! This mini-rose bush, as well as the knock out roses are still blooming their hearts out!

I also was tickled to find new gayflowers at the bottom of this clump. It is the one I transplanted from our pasture last fall. Many times native plants have R-E-A-L-L-Y long taproots (to get enough moisture from the dry climate). .and I was worried that they wouldn't survive. .I was not disappointed in the least!

I actually left and felt compelled to return to take a photo of these super sharp points on the agave plants. They truly didn't look this wicked in the plant catalog. .I'm sure the first kid that steps on this baby making a short-cut through the waterfall area will make it their last short-cut through!! I'm thinkin' it would make a believer out of me!

After a beautiful, picture perfect day yesterday. .

. .We are enjoying a much needed rain today!!

Last night I was able to look through our photos from our family picture-taking session a few Sunday's ago. I look forward to sharing those with you this week!!

Wishing you a wonderful fallish day. .wherever you might be!!

Thanks for dropping in, we love to have your company!

The Garden and it's Creatures

It's so hard to believe that the summer has come and gone. We are enjoying cooler temperatures. .and though my gardening time is now severely restricted. .I do manage to find a few moments here and there to enjoy it!

We have had so much fun watching the dragon flies and butterflies this summer. .I never imagined that there were so many different kinds of dragonflies. .I have been taking their photos for weeks. .there are the little blue ones. .by far the most abundant kind. It isn't unusual to see 10 more more on one clump of the curly rush. .which by the way has been divided into two clumps and is doing remarkably well!

This big fat guy with the funky wings only came by a few times.

This one is a little hard to see, he is perched on the lily pad right under the yellow blossom.  It was a large dragonfly.

This guy was the most unusual dragonfly I saw all summer.  I love his reddish color. .he didn't stick around here for long either.

It won't be long before we stop feeding these rascals. We started with 19 smallish goldfish last fall that we saned from our friends' tank. I bought a yellow koi and a black google eyed goldfish in May. .now we have an uncountable number of fish and babies. .You can see how large the koi is, it started about the size of the cute little goldfish with black fins above.

Hoping to figure out how to hook the UV light inline to our pump this winter, to avoid the green water next spring. The lily didn't grow as large as I expected it to, so I will probably add another plant next spring. This one is a reddish pink. .I'm thinking a purple or yellow one.

The cats also enjoy the fish. .they stand on point at the edge, but I don't think they have ever managed to taste one!!

I have all but given up on the garden. There are finally some tomatos on the vine. . so maybe they will ripen before a frost next month. I also have lots of peppers still, and okra. My husband has been sauteing the okra, and it is pretty tasty, if you can get around the slimy texture. .even the kids eat them.  We are picking a few watermelon yet too.  The tomatoes are getting large in the bay window. .and need to be transplanted in the greenhouse soon.  I sowed flats of chives, parsely, oregano, broccoli, and cabbage last week. None of them are up yet. .I'm starting to worry. I have seen the Bright Lights Swiss Chard sprouts. .but yesterday when I went to water, I noted the tops were eaten off. .must have a mouse in there. I have left the doors open all summer to vent it. .first because they were broken. .but then because the self-opening windows weren't working. .so I'm sure there is a little nest somewhere!

I continue to enjoy this view out of the bay window.  The liatris I transplanted last year from our pasture has survived and is now blooming. The photos don't EVEN do it justice. .

. .and the spinyx moths are fun to watch up close and personal through the window. 

This hardy ice plant is flourishing in it's little crevice in the rocks by the waterfall.

Have you ever seen such a vivid color??

I got an aster cutting in the mail from my friend Gardener on Sherlock Street. .I wasn't sure what it was growing all this summer. .I knew what the possibilities were. .but it has been blooming it's first flowers for the last few days now.  I love purple blooms in the fall. .and so do the winged creatures.

I have been dying to see a swallowtail around here. .and finally this summer, I spotted some. This photo of the black swallowtail was taken a few weeks ago. .

. .and this one I saw a couple nights ago on the caryopteris.

The monarchs will soon be leaving for warmer weather in Mexico. .but for now, we are loving to watch them float around like little tufts of tissue paper in the breeze!

The red cypress vine has all but covered this metal headboard. .and the sunflower plants as well. I had hoped to attract hummingbirds with them. .but no such luck! I noticed that the dark eyed juncos are back as of last week. That means winter is around the corner.

I am really loving the purple fountain grass clumps. .and will need to be digging them up soon to overwinter in the greenhouse. I think I will put them by the pond again next summer, as they have given me immense pleasure this summer with their plumes and striking foliage!

The native plants from HCG are filling in well around the pond. .and the western ironweed is blooming now (the small purple ones in the front). The gray headed coneflowers are still blooming. .

As are the Mexican hats. .STILL. .They are hands down the flower winner around these gardens this summer!! Totally the most bang for my bucks!

An update on Tristan's foot. .the CT scan showed the damage in his foot to be worse than the doctor thought from the xray. His growth plate is still slightly open. .so no surgery for now. .but reconstructive surgery is what will likely happen after the plates close. .a process that he thinks will occur soon. So the walking boot is indefinite for now. .as is his basketball season. This week has been much better for all of us around here. .but we are still ready for the weekend!! One more day!!

Blessings to you. .Melanie