Happy Thursday - Almost Friday

I got some rain!!! Did you see me jumping for joy? I did. It rained for 3 days and I guess I received about 5-6" of rain. The grass is greener and the flowers are happier. But you know what that means - WEEDS - again. I'll take the weeds over seeing the plants struggling any day.

Love the cannas. The plants get so big and the blooms are even bigger (or so it seems).

I am loving the Sun Cherry Zinnias. So far the plants are not too tall either - maybe 24-30" which is just right in my opinion.

I believe the seeds for this zinnia came from Lona. It would be Zinnia Starlight Rose.

This is a problem I have with zinnias every year. They fall over and a gust of wind comes up and over they go. I guess I could put the tomato baskets in the garden but I hate the wire cages in a flower garden. What do you do when yours fall over?

The tomato plants are loaded. Notice the extra amount of foliage on the tomato plants. The person who planted them decided that they needed a lot of tomato fertilizer. An entire bag, 1.5#, of tomato fertilizer was applied over 5 weeks. I actually thought they would die but it caused the stalks on the plants to be enormous.

Wind damage.

The cages are leaning now. Oh well we have more tomatos than will be eat at my house.

 On Saturday and Sunday it rained all day so I cooked up some good pasta salad and soup.

I added some cheese cubes to the salad and it was very good.

Cheeseburger Soup is so good. This is the first time I've made it and it won't be the last. I loved it.

Here is where I found the recipe.

http://thebetterbaker.blogspot.com/2011/03/slow-cooker-cheeseburger-soup.html

I used a little white pepper jack velveeta on the top for garnish and pickle relish and bacon. I did not cook the Weight Watchers version. I'm looking forward to this again.

Hope a nice weekend.

In the Pink Today

Linking to Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday.

http://www.tootsietime.com/

It's Friday and it couldn't get here soon enough. I've had a stressful week and am glad it's over. To top it off my coffee maker broke and wouldn't make coffee this morning. real bummer.

I'm still waiting on rain at my house. It has rained in the county several times over the past few weeks and just up the road from me but I am still dragging the garden hose around for 3-4 hours a day or every other day. It get old. Even though I'm watering they still suffer. Garden hose is not the same as rain.

I was so happy to see this zinnia blooming. I was afraid that the Sun Cherry Zinnia wasn't gonna make it this year but I guess I need to give zinnias more credit than that since zinnias will grow just about anywhere are very hardy. I ordered the seeds from Park Seed. Hopefully I'll get some seeds. 

I'm really liking the coneflowers. The blooms last a long time.

Dianthus.



I pruned and deadheaded last week and need to do it again. I have to let some go to seed though so hopefully I can share seeds. 

I hope you all have a nice weekend and the weather is cooporating with your plans.

What are you cooking this weekend? I found a recipe for BBQ Meatballs Moink-Balls. Check out the post. They are wrapped with bacon and grilled with a sweet sauce. Found the recipe here:

http://www.thecountrycook.net/2012/06/weekend-potluck-21.html

http://sunflowersupperclub.blogspot.com/2011/09/moink-balls.html

Pretty Blooms

Hey everybody - I'm still here. I know you wondered when I'd share some more of my pretty blooms. I have a few blooms to share today. I have to get a new memory card for the camera so I can take more pics. This time of year the gardens are busy. There is lots to do but we have been extremely dry lately. I run the sprinkler for 3-4 hours each day moving it around to each garden area. This is fine for a while but they really need water from the sky.

Someone must have given me seeds for this echinacea. I do not know where it came from. Last year I put out seeds but had no luck with them. This year they are doing really well. I did plant some echinacea pink parosol but the bloom on it has not opened yet. Is this Purpea?

Cosmos Happy Ring is doing well.

Foxglove

Endless Summer. Hope to get more blooms here. The flower is as big as the plant so I am hoping for some growth on the plant.

I'm sorry but I do not remember the name of this one. I believe it is suppose to be purple but it is like a strawberry color.

Love the huge blooms on the cannas.

I was lucky to get this little rain shower last Thur and Friday morning. However when I went out on Friday afternoon to do some weeding I discovered the ground to be extremely dry just below the wet surface. I need RAIN. Actually a tropical system would be nice. Not a storm but just the rain produced by a tropical system.



I am so ready to overhaul a couple of my gardens. This time of year I see the empty spaces and some overgrown plants in places where I would prefer a more tame or smaller plants. I was thinking of moving some plants such as shasta daisy's, salvia, mums and butterfly bush. Wish I could move the daffodils but I'm sure this is not the time. Do you feel this way when your plants are blooming and not doing exactly what you want them to do in the area they occupy? It's kinda like re-arranging furniture I suppose.... 

I'm going to go plant shopping again. I believe there are new arrivals calling my name. Can you hear it?