Some Blooms

Today I'm linking up with Tracie at Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursday's  http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/2011/03/cottage-flora-thursdays-13.html  and with Tootsie at Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Fridays   http://www.tootsietime.com/. Ya'll go by and visit and then check out the other bloggers participating in these memes.

Can't believe that this is the last day of March. The saying goes - March winds bring April showers and April Showers bring May flowers. It is certainly windy here today and much cooler. Woke up to 50 degrees this morning. Nippy for me. Seems that winter just doesn't want to turn loose of you guys up north. I'm sending warmer thoughts your way and hope that ole man winter is saying its good byes.

This is the view from my front porch. A beautiful pink hedge of azaleas.

 Four O'Clock returning from winter.

Help me ID this plant. I put it down from seed last year and they didn't do anything but it is coming back. Perhaps a coneflower or balloon flower? I don't know.

And this one too. I'm thinking this is a balloon flower?

This penta looks sad as it droops everyday except right after watering but check out the guy sitting right next to it in the next photo... One Unhappy Penta next to

One Happy Penta. This one is all perky and doesn't droop at all. Bought at the same time and planted at the same time.

 

Sarah Bernhardt Peony... still hoping... it is growing much faster and looks so much better than it did last year.

ID anyone? From seeds I put out 3 or so weeks ago but I don't know what these are. 

New pink flowers just opened up on the newest verbena.

Animal damage right into the center of a beautiful batch of snapdragons. It really ticks me off when I walk out and see something like this. It happens to us all I know but we hate to see our plants get damaged.

That's all I've got for this week.

Hope you all have a good weekend and some prettier weather.

Today I'm thankful for the rain we had yesterday. (Drown out some of the yellow and green floating in the air - pollen - sneeze - runny nose)

This N That

I spent a good part of the weekend in the yard. It was a nice weekend even if a little on the partly cloudy side with temps in the mid 70's.

The azaleas are almost full bloom. It really depends on where you look because they are blooming everywhere now. I'll post more azalea blooms later this week.

This one is in my front yard and it is so full. The color is hard to photograph.

There was activity all over the azaleas but all I could capture is some bee action. I can tell you they are busy in my yard right now.

I've had a couple of requests to see the big picture in my gardens. This is the garden at the front porch. I'll show the others later this week. It is starting to fill in nicely. I have a lot of stuff planted here. On the back side here there is butterfly bush, mums, hydrangea (a small one), and some iris and a few other things. On the front side there are snapdragons, verbena, shasta daisies, dusty miller, dianthus, daffodils and a few I can't think of right now. The flower pots are in need of some flowers and that will probably come this weekend.

There is room for more plants and flowers so that will come soon. The gardens had just been watered.

I can't wait for this one to bloom. It is a little different than the ones I already have.

This is my next planned garden area. This is my best producing pecan tree in the front yard. It is in need of some color but the area is mostly shade. There a number of shade loving flowers to pick from. Any suggestions from you?

The garden centers should no better than to sale me some cutters because when I get started look what happens. Now I've got to cut the others down and put some flowers in. Looking forward to getting the area done. First a good cleaning. I was too tired to carry on though from other yard work that isn't worth mentioning.



I had to have a grilled burger on Saturday - you know the feeling - so I decided to try adding fresh sweet basil and something else I've never tried or even heard anyone else do and that was some Cheez Its since I didn't have any crackers and they were so good. Ground chuck 80/20, 1 egg, a little worsterchire, some ketchup, green onion, salt/pepper, dash of garlic powder and onion powder and a good handful of crushed Cheez Its. Add more Cheez Its to soak some of the moisture in the burgers. Enough so that you can shape the burgers without them being too sticky to shape. And grill. BBQ sauce is good on them too but I didn't add any.

Buddy got a grooming on Saturday. I love when he is fresh from the groomers and his hair is so silky.

Ticks and fleas are very active so early this year and they have begun an attack on Buddy. He has had several ticks this year. Now I can do about anything including cleaning up nasty as you can imagine but removing a tick that is not something I can do. So I go to the vet and change products from Comfortis to a new product called Vectra 3D. Buddy had an allergic reaction and by Sunday morning he was almost bloody from scratching. Immediatly I applied peroxide and benadryl topical and neosporin and watched closely so he doesn't scratch. We saw the vet yesterday and he received a steroid shot and a benadryl shot. I didn't know dogs can take adult benadryl and she prescribed 1 adult benadryl 3 times a day. Well I'm not that keen on giving my dog meds since my Sam died 2 years ago from too much prescribed meds. I did give him one last night but don't plan to give him anymore. He is acting dopey and lethargic. Hopefully he'll be back to normal tomorrow.

Blogger isn't acting so nice this morning and it has taken forever to make this post.

I have to get to work. I'll be around to visit as I can.

Hope you all have a great day.

In My Gardens This Week

Today I am linking up with Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursdays and with Tootsie at Tootsie Time. You can go to their links here http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/2011/03/cottage-flora-thursdays-12.html

and http://www.tootsietime.com/.

Things are popping here on the Gulf Coast as spring has arrived. The bridal wreath (spirea) is still putting on a show. I love their delicate blooms.

This is my twice a year blooming azalea. Soon they will be open all over the area.

Daffodils are slow to bloom and only giving a bloom at a time. Don't know why they aren't busting out like last year. But I'm loving the double bloom on this one. As you can see it is small.

 Nemesia.

Snaps are in their prime right now but they will be blooming all summer long and into the fall. They love it here.

Dianthus are putting on blooms but they are leggy. I didn't do the fertilizer yet so it is my fault. I'm lazy sometime - what can I say. But the Miracle Gro is on my counter in the kitchen.

Azaleas are so hard to photograph.

Purchased a few new additions to the gardens this past weekend. Loving this fire red here. So hard to photograph.

I fotgot the names of some of the plants I bought since I stupidly removed the ID tags. Shame on me.

This is a new dianthus. It will be different than the other I have. I'm looking forward to what these will look like.

This a very different verbena. Loving the soft colors. 

My Sarah Bernhardt peony is coming back and looking good. I'm so hoping for a bloom this year. I planted this two years ago and it hasn't bloomed yet. 

These shasta plants stayed green all winter long. I planted these last year from seeds I had done early in the year. They didn't bloom last year so I'm hoping for some blooms. If it doesn't do this year I'm pulling them out. 

My one and only hosta. Didn't do much last year so this year should be better. I would so love to have a hosta garden. Maybe soon.

Bought another Butterfly Bush. I'm looking forward to lots of butterflies this year and these awesome blooms.



I've got a lot to do today so I'm gonna keep this short.

Hoping you all have a wonderful day and a great weekend.

Bougainvillea

The Bougainvillea is a hardy and versatile plant. It can grow on a wall or a trellis or it can be pruned to be a more compact patio or garden plant. Particular pruning can even shape the Bougainvillea like you would for a bonsai. Bougainvillea is a tropical plant and is best when the night temps are at least 65 and up and the days up into the 90's. They are frost sensitive and does best in zones 9 and 10 but that's not to say they don't do well in other places. If taken care of during the cold winters they should do fine. They can be planted in the ground but is recommended that if you live in zones colder than zone 9 and 10 that they be dug up and brought in during the winter or preferably a pot grown plant. In the cooler zones if planted in the ground they could be used as an annual. They usually do not bloom indoors.  They thrive in the sun and even like the soil a little dry. They also like to be a little root bound. Bougainvillea is a thorny plant too and has heart shaped leaves. It is a proficient bloomer if the right conditions are met. It is at it's peak when the nights and days are mostly equal which is in the spring and the fall. Bougainvillea will bloom at least as much or even more in the winter than it does in the spring. Standard fertilizer is not recommended - instead the formula should be 6-8-10. This puts nitrogen levels where there will be green but  not a lot and the energy goes into making flowers and keeping the plant more compact.

I hope this helps you if you purchse a Bougainvillea for your gardens.

A Few Herbs Added

Hope you had a good weekend. I did. I went shopping and anytime I go shopping I am having a good time. Look what I bought. My very first Bougainvilla and it is stunning. This was not at a walmart store either. I bought it from a local nursery. Now I have to learn to take care of it. Any tips would be appreciated.

I have been becoming more and more interested in cooking with fresh herbs. So this weekend I purchased a few to add to my gardens.

This is Lemon Thyme and it smells so good. I used some this weekend on some chicken I was grilling. It was OK. I will have to experiment. Give me some hints as to what or how to use it.

This is Michael Basil. It also has a nice scent.

The rosemary smells good too. I used it this weekend with the lemon thyme on the chicken.  Again it was just OK.

I thought some cherry tomatoes would be good to add to my gardens.

And some sweet basil.

Any hints or recommendations on the herbs would be appreciated.

Did you look at the Supermoon this weekend. I love to look at the moon anyway and this was a special treat. It was so bright. 

I hope you all have a good day.