A Little This n That

Good morning blogger buddies. I found a few things blooming this morning. It is cloudy and it is morning and I was shaking while taking these so I hope I don't hurt your eyes too bad.

I am surprised at some of the things in bloom right now. I don't remember my canna's blooming this time of year. I appreciate it though because the yellow adds a lovely bright spot in the garden.

Osteoporum (sp?) has only a few blooms. I suppose I should douse everything with some fertilizer.

Love these begonias. They bloom freely throughout the season taking a break during the hottest periods.

Ya'll I picked the best out of pics. This one is horrible blurry. The buddlei is blooming well. I forget which one this is.

Red verbena laying on the ground and hardly any leaves.

Mums.

Bougainvilla blooming again.

Pulled this old bed out of the shed this weekend. Originally I had thought I would sand it down and use it in a bedroom. Now I'm thinking I want to put it in a garden. It is extremely heavy and the iron is thick. It's not real fancy but I like it. I'm not sure how it will stand in the garden since it is so heavy. It may need to be anchored somehow. I also like it leaning against the tree. I'm planning to let vines run it. Of course you see there is a footboard and I'm thinking it may not be so hazardous to use it in a garden if I can bury enough of it.

I spent my time in the kitchen this weekend. I baked some apples, brownies and banana bread and cookies. Didn't get a pic of the brownies or apples. Oh well sometimes you just have to dive in before you think of the camera.

Perfect bottoms on my cookies. Just the right amount of crunch. You can get the recipe here http://beccascookingspot.blogspot.com/search/label/cookies

Here I have bagged everything to give away (except the apples - they were all mine).

I love baking and love to share. I got this idea I've had for as long as I can remember - it is to bake/cook for a cafe or bake shop - rather to own my own place. I am getting ready to put myself out there and see where this may go with selling my baked goods. My ideas for an avenue include online site, flea markets, festivals and flyers. Down the road perhaps to have a permanent location. The town I live in does not have a bakery so that is wide open right now. I do not decorate cakes as that is my sisters specialty and she is definately good at it. As I said I've thought of this for a long time and possibly working my way towards that goal. Still thinking though. Sure could use the extra money too.

Hope you all have a great day. It is hump day so counting down to the weekend.

Almost TGIF

Not too much going on in my gardens this time of year. Actually all of the gardens are looking puny and straggly since I haven't had any rain to speak of lately. Haven't been able this week to get the garden hose out since I'm having some plumbing done this week. Anyway just thought I'd share a couple blooms today.

Canna

Red vervena

Geranium

My Little Buddy

I love stormy clouds. Well I just love clouds but especially stormy ones. Wish I could say I got some rain out of this. It went all around me. Made for a nice photo anyway.



Hope you all have a great weekend.

Bloomin Tuesday and Tuesday Garden Party

I've tried a few times on some blogs to comment and blogger is being very selective today. Anyone else having a problem?

Hooking up today with Jean at Ms Green Thumb Jean
http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ for Bloomin Tuesday and with An Oregon Cottage for Tuesday Garden Party.  http://www.anoregoncottage.com/

I am finding a little color left in the gardens. They are the same ole plants as I've been sharing for a while now. Darla has stated and I agree that it is challenging to find anything interesting in the gardens this time of year. I am hoping I get the planning down pat so that I might have a more interesting gardens next year.

The pink vervena is definately a stand out and am sorry that I didn't purchase a flat of these. I only bought one pink one. sad face.

The red verbena is also a show stopper. I put down 4 plants of these and am wishing I had more. Any plants that are still blooming are keepers for next year and will add more. The plan is to put down a couple more garden areas. Keeping the fingers crossed I get this accomplished in the fall to better prepare for spring.

I have quite a few patches of the white dianthus and am really loving the dianthus this year. The white glows at night.

Happy to see another bloom on the Endless Summer Hydrangea.

Begonias were the show stoppers last year. But the plants that I have are hanging on and keeping their blooms.

The bougainvillea is still holding onto a few blooms.

Critters in the garden. What is this?

What is this little fellow? His wings never stopped. Reminded me of a hummer.

Look at the roots on just a couple of the weeds I complain so much about. Can't shake it back into the garden since it is loaded with these spider roots. Will be adding more soil to the gardens when I get ready to put out seeds for next year.

I love interesting clouds and I love rain. Thought I'd share what our weather has looked like lately.

And yes it brought some much needed rain.

Hope you all have a great week. I'm thinking of you guys in Texas. That is some HOT weather you are having.

PS check out my recipe blog -

http://beccascookingspot.blogspot.com/

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/

Happy Friday Ya'll

I'm hooking up with Tootsie at Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday. Here ya go http://www.tootsietime.com/2011/04/fertilizer-friday-flaunt-your-flowers.html - head on over and check out the others flaunting a bloom today.

Guess what if you set your camera properly you get photos that aren't blurry. Amazing.

I am falling in love with this new snapdragon. It is so different than any snapdragon I've grown before. It is a very slow grower. This flower has been opening up now for almost a week. It is tall - 15" and only has the one bloom. Most snapdragons spread but not this one. Snapdragon Giant Tetra from Hometown Seeds.

The fourth bloom on the Full Tide Iris.





Hope you all have a great weekend.