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/

Cottage Flora Thursday - Fertilizer Friday

Hope all of you buddies out there in blogland are having a good day.

I'll be joining Tracie at Fishtail Cottage for Cottage Flora Thursday and Tootsie at Tootsie Time for Fertilizer. Ya'll go check out these blogs and see their pretties and check out the other partiers.

You can find them here http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/2011/05/cottage-flora-thursdays-20.html

http://www.tootsietime.com/

I have a few things to share today.

I was dancing the happy dance this morning when I found this Rose of Sharon blooming. I've been watching these buds form but I really didn't expect this. The plant is still a baby and is only about 15" tall but let me tell ya this plant is loaded with buds. Last year when I planted this tiny thing it was only about 3" tall. I didn't hold out much hope but boy was I wrong.

And also this morning I found this one spreading its wings. I'm so glad to see that it opened up more than the last little thing that bloomed. I would love to start a garden with just bulbs and have a lot of iris in it. That is a dream right now though.

Love that the shasta are really yielding me lovely blooms. They last a long time and the plants are loaded with buds and every day I see more buds forming. I'm pleased with the Shasta Daisy but I didn't realize how big these plants would be.

The pentas are awesome after shooting them with MG Bloom Burst.

I need to know why my Sarah Bernhardt peony still has no buds. This is the third year for it. I feel like ripping it right out of the garden. But I won't. Maybe it isn't happy where it is. It receives more than 8 hours of sun. The soil is good. I enhance the soil every year with fresh MG Garden Soil and I fertilize regularly. Any ideas?

Last weekend I worked my hiney off weeding this big garden. As you can see I have a lot of vacant spaces. The plants that occupied this space last year are no shows this year. I have given them ample time and now I'm needing to fill this space in. This garden is part shade. The front side gets more sun than the back. I live in Zone 8. Do yo have any ideas on what would look good in the back? It was a beautiful space with the dahlias and milkweed and okra hibuscus and a few others last year. I suppose these probably weren't the right plants for this space either since I didn't realize the amount of sun this part of the garden receives.

Inside I'm a furniture mover. I'm thinking I need to do the same thing in the gardens sometimes. I don't usually move plants around but I'm thinking maybe I need to move things around. Do ya'll do that? I'm afraid I will lose plants.

I'm wishing for rain. Rain come... I'm watering the gardens regularly now. Our grounds are so dry. Way too dry for one of the rainest cities in the US. I'll take thunderstorms - anything.

Prayers for the flood victims. And for the economy. Fuel prices.....trickle down effect... everything cost more.

Have a good weekend whatever you find yourself doing.

Bloomin' Tuesday

Check out my butterfly I was able to capture.

For the life of me I can't get the dang cursor above the first photo. Every single photo is loaded in a different order than I loaded. I hate this new blogger. Let me say that again. I HATE THE NEW BLOGGER. There I don't actually feel any better but I have to go on.

It's time for Bloomin Tuesday over at Jean's. Ya'll head on over and check out the other bloggers who have some blooms to share today. Go to http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/.

Still a going. Some of my bloomers have taken on the slogan - keeps going and going and going just like the energizer bunny.

Cannas may be about to be done.

Jasmine is re-blooming. I still have to get a trellis for the jasmine.

My BFF.

Wild lantana.

Re-blooming Portulaca

Volunteer four o'clocks. I love the color. They have made it home around this tree and I like it.

That's all I have to share today. Hope you all have a great day.

This and That Weekend

Darnit! I can't get this dang cursor at the top of my post. I hate blogger sometime.

Check out this new garden cart I bought. It was only $19 and it is the best investment I've gotten all summer. It will haul up to 250# and that is a lot. It is perfect for picking up sticks and just plain perfect for my needs. Came from Ace Hardware.

In spite of the heat I managed to get out and get some things done this weekend. I cut limbs from all of my huge shrubs and small trees and ya'll know how big my place is. Wow what a difference cutting limbs can make. Now I have to get my keester back out to pick them up which is the chore I hate most. If I didn't have to clean up my messes I probably would do more.

This flowerbed received a cleaning out. I have tired of the zinnias taking up all the space and branching out all over the place so I pulled them up in this bed. You can see all the space I have now. Getting ready to put out more stuff but may end up waiting till Sept. Putting new plants into the ground this time of year with the heat being what it is this year, the plants just will not do well.

The small plant to the left is a Sarah Bernhardt Peony that became shadowed by the zinnias. Since it didn't do anything this year I probably will move it. Hey gardeners out there would it be wise to move it or leave it where it is. It is not receiving much sun - maybe the middle of the day or late afternoon. This is my first peony.

The cleome did beautifully. I love the soft spidery like tentacles on the flowers.

I was surprised to find this new geranium producing a new flower. I recently planted 2 new geraniums probably 3 weeks ago. They are puny due to the heat and dry conditions.

This is one of the best performers this year. I thought the okra hibuscus had given out 3 weeks ago and low and behold they have budded out again and going for another round.

I am seeing an abundance of butterfly's. I have yet to stand outside waiting for one to light in this heat so just know they are there. Milkweed is performing beautifully. All of the milkweed are budding and flowering now.

This particular display of vincas have really outdone itself. Usually vincas are a little finicky if they get too dry and hot or too much sun but this one hasn't missed a beat. It has been flowering since the end of May when it was planted and doesn't seem affected by the heat. Others purchased since then have struggled to survive.

Portulaca starting to bloom again. I think this plant is getting too much sun.

Ya'll know how I feel about begonias now. They are super performers.

The heat - OH THE HEAT is on isn't it. Everywhere it is hot. We are experiencing temps in the 100 degree range maybe a few degrees over 100 with heat index of 115. Dangerously hot. Relief is coming at the end of the week when the highs will be back at a seasonable 92. Never thought I'd be glad to see 92.

I haven't given up on the stopping smoking. I am working myself up again and reforming my strategy.

I just want to say how much I truly appreciate all of you blogger friends and the kind words of encouragement. You all are the BEST. It is your encouragement that will help me to succeed and yes I EXPECT to be SUCCESSFUL.

Have a good day everyone.

Bloomin' Tuesday

It's Tuesday everybody and that means it's Bloomin Tuesday over at Jeans. After you check out my goodies then head over the Jean's at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ and see who else some goodies to share today.




It's that time of year when we all have a lot going on in the gardens. I am very pleased with what I have going on. I have been waiting for a few days for this to open. Seems like the bud has been there a week. It isn't even finished opening up yet. This is one of the few I know the name of and this is Dahlia Lucky Number. Purchased at Walmart for $5.

Poppies look nice next to the Johnsons Blue Geranium.

Yellow violas. I have a lot of yellows this year. Yellow blends and compliments the shades of reds, purples and pinks.

Vincas. Very easy to grow and spreads beautifully.

Trusty begonias. They are very forgiving during the dry times of the summer.

Dianthus is also a great performer.

Portulaca is very colorful. I love the many petals in each flower kinda rose like.

Zinnias - zinnias everywhere. They hardly ever wimper about the heat or the dry conditions we sometime experience.

The snapdragons are making another statement. They are now dwarfed by these huge cannas. Too late to move anything. Can you tell me when is the best time to transplant cannas. They are crowding this bed now.

Purple hydrangea is trying to bloom. This also has been in bud stage for at least a week.

More zinnias. This little plant is really showing itself to be so small. Sometime the little ones do the best.

This is the flower I look forward to the most. My little helper Buddy. He just got a hair cut so he is sporting now.

Eyes are still focused on the Gulf as the problem seems to grow each day we turn on the news. BP has been ordered to stop using the disperants due to health hazards. These disperants have been banned by other countries so why were they using it here. The hair booms have been used and they failed sinking after absorbing water and oil. Booms are helping but didn't keep it away from the LA shorelines. Check out this site from our local news station. There is a counter counting the number of gallons constantly going into the gulf. Also view the slideshow and any other news concerning the oil spill.
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/

I'm having car issues. All tires need to be replaced but also the power steering is leaking fluid every day and I have to put fluids in every 6 days now so something has to be done soon. This will interfere with my plans to see my granddaughter in her first recital. Luci is five and I so wanted to be there. I'm hoping. Hope you all have a great week and holiday.

Happy Memorial Day. The official start of summer.