I know what you are thinking.......

Welcome to the world of throw-away-plants. The other day at work, my manager decided it was time to clean house and did he ever. So, I know you're thinking these poor, little, pitiful things might should have went to the garbage. But I can't stand to do that! So, I loaded up a bunch and brought them home.

On a former post or two I talked about my throw-away flower bed. About 90% of the plants in that bed were saved from the garbage. I have to admit it doesn't look too bad. It is a mix of perennials and annuals.

This is a list of what I managed to save:
*Black/blue salvia
*Saphire blue salvia
*2 Oriental lilies
*2 black elephant ears
*Acorus
*Star aster
*yellow Crocosmia
*Coreopsis
*Oxeye daisy(in pretty bad shape, not sure I can save it)
*8 Rudbeckia maxima(these are neat, they grow 5-7 feet tall)
*2 Perennial Chrysanthemum
*"Sour Grapes" Penstemon

I think that is about it. If I can get at least half of them to live I will feel pretty good about it. I may have to increase the size of my bed though. I may not make much money working at a nursery but it has some nice perks.

Back online again!

So, can I just tell you how much fun it's not when your computer dies? I can definitely understand how Beckie from Dragonfly felt. Luckily my hubbie rushed it to the hospital and now it's functioning again! Boy, it's only been a day or two but have I felt disconnected. Can't wait to catch up on all your blogs.

Skies Full of Beauty

The other night we knew for sure we were going to get rain. The clouds went out about as fast as they came in. Unfortunately, no rain. But we were left with these beautiful formations.

Pretty in Pink and Purple

Purslane
Phlox
"Sour Grapes" Penstemon
Pentas
Cherry lantana(Bandana series)

I took my camera with me to work yesterday to see if anything looked good. Well all these pinks/purple looked pretty good so I thought they were blog-worthy.

Pesky Little Critter.....

Believe it or not this little cucumber started out looking as good as the ones above. Then one day I noticed a small white spot on it and the next thing I knew half the cucumber was gone. You would think this little guy would be mighty fat as much as he has eaten. But I guess it's true what they say. Veggies are non-fattening and good for you.

Weekend Project

We have been looking for a bench for our front porch for awhile now and this weekend we found the perfect one. It was a little more rusty than I wanted but after looking at the prices of others I decided a little bit of elbow grease never hurt anyone. So we bought it, scrubbed it down with steel wool. Then I applied a couple of coats of brown rustoleum. Then went shopping for pillows and found these. All-in-all, we think it turned out pretty good!! I love little projects that turn out great.

They've lost their minds!

Okay, I know I have blogged about these crazy birds before but I felt this was deserving one more time. My birds have gone nuts!! Or maybe the heat has gotten to them. Not only are they still getting on my old hummingbird feeder but now they have decided to try out the new one. They are cracking us up. The poor hummingbirds can't even get to it. Maybe they will get it figured out sooner or later.

Of course, it they don't they may start to feel little sharp proddings from a tiny beak.

Priceless..........

Since everything is quite in the garden(except for that exceptionally large tomato worm munching down his dinner) I decided to write about the wonderful things God gives us to enjoy on this earth. You know, kind of like the credit card commercial where things are priceless. So here's a few things I find priceless:

• The feel of soft soil crumbling between my fingers.



• The hum of a hummingbird as he flies close



• Watching a bird splashing in a bird bath



• The first sign of a new seedling erupting from the ground



• The smell of mowed grass



• Feeling a big lump in your throat and tears in your eyes when you feel moved at church



• Seeing leaves change to amazing colors in autumn



• Laughter



• Watching baby birds trying to find the courage to leave their nest and fly



• Sitting on the beach, smelling the salty air and listening to the sound of the surf



• Seeing a rainbow



• Memories of spending time with my grandparents when I was a child



• The warmth of sunshine on a cold winter day



• Friendship

• Watching large, fluffy white clouds float by on a beautiful blue background

These are just a few things that God gives us to enjoy. I could name a million more. So many people are caught up with having material posessions they can't see the free things in life. What a shame.

Two Garden Beauties.....

Perennial hibiscus
Star Aster

These two plants seemed to have been over looked in my last few posts. The perennial hibiscus is a real beauty. I just planted it this year so it is not very big. The aster was planted last fall and has bloomed it's little heart out this summer. It is very low maintenance and keeps on smiling.

Okay, what's up with these birds?

Recently we bought a new hummingbird feeder and hung it on the corner of our house. We took this old one and put it in a tree in the backyard. A few days later and this is what happened. Little sparrows have decided to give it a try. Now I know their beaks are too big to get into those little holes but they keep trying. It's hysterical!! This has gone on for a few days. Poor things, I hate to confuse them. Funny thing is the hummers won't go near it because it has faded to a brownish color.

My Pasta Dinner......

Tonight I decided to cook instead of taking the easy way out by buying Bertolli prepared pasta dinner. As I have said before I love to cook almost as much as garden but not so much in the summer. It heats up the kitchen way too much.

I made a pasta with mushrooms, tomatoes, red pepper, red onion, garlic and herbs. I am very proud to say I grew the tomatoes, red onion, red pepper, sweet basil, oregano and rosemary. I love just going out to the garden and bringing all that freshness inside. It was a great dinner!

Flower Thief..........

Texas Star or swamp hibiscus
Blackberry lily
Crocosmia
Canna

Last night we decided to go out to dinner with my in-laws. Since my mother-in-law loves gardening and has a beautiful yard I decided to take my camera and see what was blooming. These photos show what I found.

The neat thing about the Texas star and the blackberry lily is she took seeds off my plants that were in GA and planted them in her garden here. (One of the hardest things about moving from GA was leaving all my plants). So now I'm collecting seeds from these plants and am going to plant them here.

But the Canna has a story on its own. It seems my mother-in-law is a plant thief. She probably traveled around with a shovel and bucket all the time. (Doesn't every gardener?) She told us the story of how one time when they were in Oxford for a football game they stayed at a Holiday Inn. She spotted the Canna and thought how pretty it was. Well when they were getting ready to leave either she or he dug while the other kept a look out. Now, of course, she has plenty in her yard.

Morning coffee.........

This morning while having coffee I looked out the window and saw these two little doves strolling through the yard. Of course, they were headed up the slope to below the bird feeder. When we lived in GA we use to see them all the time in our backyard. Now that the birds have finally found our feeder, the doves have started coming around here. I love to hear them cooing. It reminds me of when I use to spend time at my grandparents home in the summertime.

While I was taking a picture of the doves, Woody Woodpecker came in for his morning drink. He/she comes to our bird bath every morning. Actually, we see lots of these birds here. They are lots of fun to watch.

Updated photos on Black and Blue Salvia

I did a post a few weeks back about my long, lost salvia that I thought wasn't returning this summer but then surprised me! Love those kind of surprises! It is now in it's early blooming stage. I think in another week or two it should look real good. If you want to attact hummingbirds to your yard, this is the plant for you.

In the bottom picture I tried to get a pic of the bloom. It is actually more purple than it looks in this picture. I have it planted in the back yard next to some pink and purple angelonias. Sorry for the blurriness.

Unusual Plants.......

Castor Bean
My favorite coleus

"Haight Ashbury" hibiscus
Hibiscus(variety unknown)

I decided to take my camera with me to work today since things have slowed down. Except for the potted container(I just threw that in cause it's so pretty) at the top, I think these plants are so unusual.

The Castor bean is poisonous so you wouldn't want it with animals or children around. It's an annual but may reseed. The two pictured hibiscus are not winter hardy. I suppose you could take them inside if planted in a pot.

Finally, I think that coleus is gorgeous. I love to plant it with silvers or whites. Sorry I don't know the name. As you can see, I worked really hard today!!!

Gifts from the Garden......

There is nothing better than fresh tomatoes from the garden. Tonight I sliced some Lemon Boys and Romas and added fresh sweet basil. Then I mixed up some balsamic vinegarette dressing and drenched them. Can I just say, Yum, Yum!!!!!

Our 4th of July Celebration!!!!!

Our 4th of July celebration included a picnic, music, people, and fireworks at a city park. It was a perfect night. Rain was threatening but held off. It was breezy and not so humid and hot. Chick filet was there handing out free lemonade(the best ever) and free watermelon was available. The Earth Angels were entertaining. They sang 60's music which was fun. But we enjoyed the patriotic music and fireworks the best.

Early morning yard work........

Crocosmia
Butterfly Weed

Throw-away bed

Since I was off for the 4th I decided I needed to do a little yard work. It actually ended up being a lot of yard work. A gardeners work is never done. I put down two bales of pine straw in my front beds, planted several throw-away plants (from work), watered, weeded and put one additional pine straw bale down on this back bed. I was soaking wet when I finished.

My throw-away flower bed is looking a little bit better. Of course, who knows how many plants will live since July isn't typically the ideal planting time. Luckily, it came a good little rain right after I finished. Thank the good Lord above who must of heard my prayers. (I must say, not every plant in my throw-away bed is a throw-away plant. Just most of them).

The blooms of my hibiscus is so pretty I just had to snap a picture of it. I take this plant in every winter and set it back out every spring. Is that crazy or what?