Tuesday Garden Party and Bloomin Tuesday

Good Tuesday morning blogging friends. It's rainy here and has been for a few weeks now. You won't here me complain though. And it'll be OK when I get wet in the rain - I discovered that I don't melt. Go figure.

I'm gonna hook up today to a couple of memes so check them out at the end of my post.

It is hard this time of year to get anything interesting for you to see. Our gardens here in the south are mostly mundane with the same ole same ole this time of year. We are well into our summers here. So these are new photos of the same ole stuff blooming. A few I haven't shown in a while. Take a stroll with me...

The dianthus in all of the flower beds are blooming again. I absolutely love plants that are re-bloomers. Notice those pesky weeds there. They have roots three times the size of the weed. When I pull them often the root of the flower comes up and I have to pack it back down.

White dianthus.

 Red Verbena. All of my plants are happy with the abundance of rain.

I love this shade of pink verbena. 

 White zinnias.

 Portulaca is a good performer and multiplies and roots easily too.

Orange zinnia.

Strawberry dianthus.

Okra hibuscus. So far I haven't been able to get any seeds. 

 Raingardeners snapdragon.

 Bill McKnight dahlia.

Pentas.

This is one canna that escaped the dig up in the spring. All were transplanted but this one. I like that it is one plant but if I leave it here there will probably be 5 next year. The spot where I placed the transplants needs some tending and they will be blooming pretty too.

One thing I like about the very wet grounds is that when I do go out to pull a few weeds they come up with just a little tug. I'm a rain lover anyway and it gives me a good excuse to lay around with a book or just be lazy. And I like lazy sometime.

Ya'll go check out these blogs for more blooms: An Oregon Cottage - Tuesday Garden Party.

http://www.anoregoncottage.com/2011/07/tuesday-garden-party-corn-garlic-story.html

And Jean at Ms Green Thumb Jean for Bloomin Tuesday.

http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/2011/07/its-bloomin-tuesday_25.html

PS: Check out my new blog. Beccas Cooking. I'm looking forward to sharing some awesome recipes with you.

http://beccascookingspot.blogspot.com/

Introducing my Newest Blog

I want to introduce my newest blog.

http://beccascookingspot.blogspot.com/

I hope you will visit me there and become a follower. If you like to prepare new and exciting recipes I think you will like it here.

Summer Blooms

I'm joining Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursday's and Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday.

http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/

http://www.tootsietime.com/

I checked the camera and it was on the right setting. I hate when my photos come out blurry. I think a weak battery could be the reason. I decided to share them anyway.

The bougainvillea is beginning to turn pink. Everyday I notice more and more blooms opening up. The little trellis it is on has gotten too small for this big baby. Unfortunately it will have to be brought in over the winter so I probably won't trellis it any further this season and just cut it way back in the fall.

The begonias haven't performed so well this year. What I have came back from last year but they are scrawny compared to last years. And the red one didn't even show up. See the weed next to the begonia - those are the worst weeds. Their root system is twice or three times the size of the plant. Every time I weed and pull these up they pull up the root of the plant and then I have to pack the dirt back in. I hate those weeds.

Glad to see the dianthus blooming again. This particular dianthus is looking very healthy.

Most of them are beginning to flower again.

I love this red verbena and it is a true red too. 

Begonia.

This bloom on the Endless Summer Hydrangea is huge. I bet it is 7-8 inches across and the plant is still small. It has more buds on it though. I am definitely gonna be adding more of these to my gardens.

The zinnias are as tall as I am. This is my favorite.

The pentas are taking the heat and setting out new blooms.

My neighbors Rose of Sharon. It is loaded with ants.



I was one of the lucky few who received rain last evening. Was so nice to be at home indoors and listen to the gentle rain for several hours (while looking at gardening books). I hate it for all you folks who are experiencing the heat wave. The weather man said worse than in decades. Stay hydrated and in the air condition if possible.

Hope you have a nice weekend.

(PS please keep my family in your prayers. There is a lot to deal with right now)

I Found a Couple of Blooms

Hooking up with Jean from MsGreen Thumb Jean for Bloomin Tuesday.

http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Can anyone identify this plant. It must have come from some seeds I spread but I have no idea. At first I thought Verbena but I don't think so. One of you out there will no it. It is tall and lanky and I only have 2 stalks. I bet it looks good planted in masses.

 Glad I found another Okra Hibiscus in bloom. I love their sunny look. Wish they lasted more than a day.

 Lots of zinnias blooming. These were on the same plant so it made a nice photo.

Glad to see another dahlia rearing its pretty head.

Bougainvillea are coming around for their third round of blooms. I'm loving this plant more and more.

I am so disappointed this year that this is all there is of my Johnsons Blue Geranium. Last year it was awesome and bloomed early in the season and continued into mid summer. This year there is barely a plant.

Check out my snapdragon here. The only foliage is on the tops of the plants and a couple of blooms. All I can figure is the dry conditions in Apr May and Jun contributed to their appearance.

 Here you can see better that the foliage is nearly gone. I watered the gardens but I don't think it was enough.

Love the sun against the clouds.

I am excitedly planning my next spring garden. Getting it all on paper. I love perusing the catalogs and dreaming of what I want it to look like.

What websites for plants and seeds do you prefer? I'm interested in checking out more sites. I use Bluestone Perennials and Park Seed.

We have had plenty of rain over the past couple of weeks.

Hope you all are having a great day.

Mental Illness

I am sharing here things that I would not normally share with people. I feel like when I put myself out there and share personal stuff that people will criticize me or my family. But instead I hope this will help someone. But here I am opening up...

I want to thank you all for your prayers and concern for my son Jimmy. He is doing better now and is expected to be transferred to another facility for 14 days for treatment. On Thur (I found out on Fri morn) when he was taken to the hospital it was bad. On the way to the hospital he bottomed out and they had to do an emergency trach so he could get air. He says he doesn't remember doing this to himself. Anyway the thing now is for him to get mental help and to take this seriously. He will be in a facility now for the next 14 days.

I could hear this coming in Jimmy's voice when I've talked to him on recent occasions. I've tried to be there for him and telling him that He and I and Ethan would take a trip soon just to get away and have some down time. I've told him that I would come over there if he needed me to. Having temporary sole custody of Ethan for the past couple of months has been stressful. As many of you know Ethan requires care 24/7 and for a working man this has been hard on him. The estranged wife now has Ethan and that is where he should be for now.

Depression and mental illness are not the same but depression is a symptom of mental illness. Someone can be depressed but easily recovers and goes on with life. Sometime when we are depressed it is hard to reach out for help especially if you've never done it before. For someone who is depressed most times they keep those feelings locked away till they know what to do or till it just eats them up. If you know someone is going through something and they don't talk about it - be concerned. There are many families who deal with this sort of thing on different levels and severity. It is hard on those looking in to not understand and don't know what to do for their loved one. Mental illness can be extremely difficult on all the people involved in that persons life.

Mental illness is displayed in a persons life in different ways. Often times the family doesn't even no and many don't understand. It is hard to understand why an incident might cause someone to go off the deep end and then a person who has no mental problems deal with the same incident totally rational.

Mental illness effects people in many different ways. Some become inward and don't talk. Some become outward and lash out at others not really meaning to hurt their feelings and then the vicious cycle begins. Feelings of guilt and shame and then not knowing what to do to help themselves to get better. For some people the extreme occurs - the feeling that their loved ones would be better off without them.

Friends I don't know what your dealing with or if you have family that has these sorts of problems. But let me tell you -
Be there for them.
Be understanding even if you don't understand.
Listen and listen carefully. Often you can tell in someones voice.
Tell them how much they mean to you and that you want to do everything possible to help them to feel better.
Go with them to psychiatric appointments and therapy appts.
Let them know that you want to understand what they feel.
If they say something to hurt you - don't lash out at them.
Take them seriously especially when they talk of ending their life.
Pay attention because it is likely they won't say anything of their intentions if they are thinking on these lines.
They will withdraw and stop talking or just go through the motions to humor you.

Life is not easy sometime. There are things that come up that we have to deal with - decisions to make - and sometime it's hard especially when others are involved.

For me - I have learned to follow doctors instructions, speak up when I need to - I have a voice and have learned to us it. I know my body and my psychy and recognize when I'm not recovering from stress properly. I have learned to not be silent about my problems when they seem bigger than me. I know how to ASK for help now and will in a heartbeat.

Please Pray

Ya'll my son has done it again. Overdosed on purpose. I'm getting ready to head out to LA to the hospital. He is in critical condition. I need your prayers as I travel (upset) and for my boy. His son Ethan was with him when he did this. I'm so upset right now. I don't know what else to say. Just pray.

I'm Still Here

Just wanted to let you all know I'm still here and kicking. There just hasn't been anything going on here lately. Thankfully we have begun to have our regular summertime thunderstorms in the afternoons and that is bringing a relief from the heat and humidity as the temps drop into the mid 80's. I set out this morning to take some photos of the gardens and as you can see by the next photograph after taking this one I gave it up.

The humidity fogged up my glasses and the camera as soon as I set foot outside this morning. Here I was gonna show you just how pitiful my gardens are looking. Due to the extreme drought and due to the lack of rain in May and June my plants have suffered like I've never seen before. The plants are now taking on some buds and reblooming but the foliage near the ground - beneath the mounds are nothing but dried and pitiful looking foliage. There is no foliage on the bottoms of some of my plants but are showing growth and new leaves towards to tops.

This time of year I hardly find myself in the gardens. There isn't much going on and I'm not into moving any plants in weather this hot. But...can you guess what I've been doing... perusing the catalogs and planning my gardens for next spring. My poor planning this year is obvious. But next year I am planning on bigger and much better variety of blooms. I love this stage of the game - the planning.

Hope you have a great day everyone.

Butterfly

The elusive butterfly. This must be the same little one that came last week that I got a photo of. I wish I had more butterfly activity in the gardens. This one has been munching on the nectar for a couple of weeks now.

 Ya'll just don't even look at the brown spot hanging there. It isn't suppose to be there. Naughty gardener should have tidied up a bit.

Roses, Rainbows and Butterflies

The most lovely of wonders…

Roses:

Open petals display anticipation.

They invite fascination.

Their fragrance is pure intoxication.

Rainbows:

They appear only after the rain.

They speak brilliantly…

Though they have no brain.

Butterflies:

They are beautiful to see.

They are almost weightless

As they flutter worry free.

If I could possess these qualities;

A combination of the three.

I would have a beautiful glow

And express myself contently.

by Theresa Ann Moore

And this is what I have in the shade garden. Isn't it pretty. The Endless Summer Hydrangea. I will definately be purchasing many more of these babies. They are awesome.

And this head here is awesome big. I love watching and waiting on them to open - a little bit at a time for days. Really gives ya something to look forward to when out checking around the place. The flower seems so huge for such a small plant - about 18-20" tall.

Hope you have a great day everybody.