Rain! Precious, precious rain...

It has rained pretty much all week long and I couldn’t be happier! The garden was hanging on by a thread. I’ve lost so many plants the past two growing season it’s not even funny. Things in the garden were looking so ratty and haggard. But look at it now, so lush and green. And besides, I’m about ready to start re-doing some things anyway.

Even the grass is starting to fill back in some. All the St. Augustine was lost to the heat last year. Honestly, it’s really pretty but I don’t care what kind of grass I have as long as it’s green.

Hope this short post finds you well and happy. Happy gardening and many blessings sent your way!

How Bout This Heat?

The heat has been absolutely horrible lately here in central Alabama. I’ve been doing what I can to stay out of it. The lawn is burnt to a crisp and the garden isn’t fairing much better. I have a drip system installed, but it’s just no match for the 100° temps we’ve been having. With the water bill already in excess of a hundred dollars due to practically no rain I refuse to pour more water into the flower beds. If what I have isn’t strong enough to survive the summers here I will replace it with something stronger when it dies. Some of the Daylilies are hanging on by a meager thread. Dead foliage is mounding up around the base of the plants and some have just mere sprigs of living foliage. I started cleaning up the dead leaves around the base until it occurred to me it could be helping retain the moisture in the soil. So I decided to leave it for now, even though it doesn’t look very pretty. I should probably add more mulch to the garden, but right now I can’t seem to keep the squirrels from scratching it out of the beds. To the casual observer the garden looks fantastic, but I see all the things that need attention. Meanwhile, the ‘Kwanso’ daylilies are plugging right on along.

This is our second summer of no rain and excessive heat in June. I lost a lot of plants last year. In an effort to stay cool and still be outdoors I’ve been traveling around and taking pictures in areas exposed to less sun. While it’s been so hot in the garden I’ve been turning my attention to my other blogs. If you haven’t visited, check them out. The links are in the upper left hand corner of the garden blog. The picture below was taken last week on my little excursion to the bamboo forest here in Prattville. The little frog is such a stereo type chilling on the lily pad. I hope this post finds you well and finding moments of refuge from the heat and the drought.

Blooming in the Garden 06/05/11

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well. Sorry I’m a little late with the post, but it seems like I’ve been running around like mad the past few months. I decided to stay home this weekend so I walked around the garden to snap a few pictures for you to enjoy. We were due a big rain last night according to the weather man, but it was a no show. The temperature here reached over 100° this week and its only June! The daylilies are stressed beyond belief and the foliage looks terrible, but they are still producing some really pretty blooms.

The balloon flowers are larger than they’ve ever been before and I can’t wait to see them next year. The patch should be about three times as wide.

So far this year I’ve only seen one humming bird around the salvia, but honestly I’ve been too busy to do much other than maintain the garden. I have a three day weekend so maybe I’ll have time to enjoy it a little today or tomorrow.

This photo doesn’t really do the Vitex justice. It’s such a brilliant blue right now and it’s really growing into a very large tree. I’ve just been limbing it up and allowing it to gain in height. This photo was taken in the afternoon so the light was horrible.

The Asiatics are smelling wonderful too. This particular one is ‘Coral Queen’. Okay folks, this post is short and sweet. I’ve got to get up from here and get started on a few things that need to be done. Have a good week.

In the Garden 05/24/11

I walked around and snapped a few pictures in the garden yesterday. The photos below would give the appearance everything is lush and green around the garden. The truth is, this very dry spring is taking a toll on it. Even with a drip system there are crispy plants everywhere. Only the diehard plants are thriving. The day lilies are looking very ragged and stressed and we haven’t even gotten into the season good yet. The plants just aren’t where they should be for this time of year. What happened to the April showers? I’m going to give the garden a little TLC this coming week and see if I can’t nurse it back around to a happier place. We just need some good, steady rain. Looks like this may be another summer of losing plants and crispy grass.

On another note, the photo blog is finally up and running. Blogger never responded to my support request so I just decided I would rebuild the blog, give it a peak sometime. The following photos were taken in the afternoon so they aren’t the best, but I hope you enjoy them anyway. God Bless~ Randy

Around the Garden 05/17/11

Well the first Balloon flower of the season has opened and I was happy to see it. Last year seed was dropped all over the ground and by next summer there will be a nice big patch of them. I can’t wait to see them in bloom! This one is called ‘Sentimental Blue’. I’ve been shooting my photos with manual settings lately and so far I’ve been very pleased with the results. When I purchased the camera I used for these shots at the time I was under the assumption that I had purchased this VERY nice camera. And, it is indeed very nice, but the more I learn about photography the more I am beginning to realize how limited I am by the settings. Looks like a new camera will be in the picture sooner or later. While I’m having fun with the new information I’m learning, I really can justify buying a new camera just yet.

‘Daring Deception’

Photography can become a reallllllllly expensive hobby when you get to buying new lenses and cameras. If I win the lottery though, the first place I am headed it to a camera shop!

‘Stella Supreme’

The KnockOut roses have been really pretty this year. I admire something so resilient! I trim these babies any time of the year I feel like it. The rose hedge, while absolutely loaded with blooms this year, had gotten too tall. So after the burst of blooms were gone I pruned it down to about two and a half feet and its getting ready for its second flush of flowers now.

‘Tequila Sunrise’ Coreopsis

As I was walking around taking photos I realized the garden is going to need some re-designing done soon. So Many plants were lost last year as a result of negligence and the weather. The poor ‘Crimson Queen’ maple in the far corner appears to have died about half way down from the top. I hate that, it was such a gorgeous tree. It’s starting to come back now, I’m not going to cut the top out of it until I know for sure it has no life left in it.

The garden suffered a lot of stress last year and it’s not as perfect as it usually is, but it’s bouncing back and in the meanwhile I’m planning the changes to be made to it. At this point I’m not replacing the items that have died. I’m just going to let the things that are living continue to grow. I want to decrease the number of plants in the garden yet let the volume of the ones there increase. Instead of having lots of little plants I want large drifts in few amounts. A garden is always evolving… Hope you enjoy the photos

With a bit of luck the new blog will be restored soon. I’m really excited to get it up and running again! I’ve been going out of town a lot and I’m trying to get in the habit of always having my cameras with me when I leave. I need a place to share my other photos that aren’t garden related. Gosh, I have so much to learn. But, maybe we can learn some new things together as the posts get rolling out?
Blessings~ Randy

If Only For a Day

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing well. Jamie and I have been busy trying to get the garden clean and hitting a few nurseries for some good bargains. We’re at a point now where we aren’t really buying as many plants as usual due to the fact we just simply don’t have the room. We have however, been making plans for a few changes in the garden, which have already started BTW. It’s beginning to look a little over grown, so we are going to be thinning out a few things and replacing others. We also have several holes that still need to be filled from the things we lost this winter. We’ll get around to doing things in due time, what a precious thing, there never seems to be enough of it. Even as I sit here and type there are plants waiting to be put in the ground. It’s just so dadblame hot out these days!

I thought I would post a few pictures of the daylilies that have bloomed recently. The foliage looks reallllllly ratty this year. We had a dryer than usual spring and the watering system needs a few additions to cover areas that are no longer getting reached. Despite all that, we still are being rewarded with several beautiful displays even if the leaves are a little crispier this year.

I haven’t been able to visit a lot of your blogs lately due to time restraints. I want to thank all of you that continue to read my post, despite my inability to visit you all as often as I once did. I’ve been doing pretty well about reading a few on the weekends. Hope you enjoy the flowers.

'Custard Candy'

'Mildred Mitchell'

'Strawberry Custard and Strawberry Candy'

'Crimson Pirate'

'Tiny Pumpkin'

'Pandora's Box'

'Daring Deception'

'Little Girl'

'Pumpkin'

Just a Few Flowers

Hello everyone! We are in need of some serious rain here in Prattville. The grass is brown and crunch and the plants look haggard. We have a very effective drip system that waters the beds, but nothing can replace God’s water. Plants always look so much more vibrant after a good rain. Someone once told me rainwater is rich in nitrogen, is that true?

Anyway, I’ve been short for time here lately so I’m a little behind on my blog reading. I usually take my lunch at my desk at work and do my reading then, but the head of the IT department has told everyone no more internet usage. Sooooooo, that’s an hour of the day I don’t get to catch up on my blog reading. Which really sucks. I guess I just have to do what I can on the weekends because there is simply very little time during the week.

Here are a few pictures from the garden. I hope everyone has/had a great Memorial Day.

'Tequila Sunrise'

Variegated Iris

'Becky'

'Double River Wye'

'Darius'

'Daring Deception'

Unknown

'Raspberry Pixie'

'Chorus Line'

'Catalina'