A Quilt

Well I got the 3 trees planted that are my Christmas present from daughter and son-in-law. One is a Bing Cherry, Stella Cherry and Texas Mission Almond. They all have beautiful flowers in the spring time - so even if I don't get many cherries or almonds - I will have beautiful blossoms. I am working on a third quilt for a granddaughter (She likes tie-dyed). I can't garden, so I make quilts. This one is a Christmas present, still have a little to do on it, hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow. Merry Christmas everyone and have a blessed New Year!

Winter Is Almost Here

We got a good rain last week and have had temps in the 20s for the past week in the mornings. I'm thankful for the rain. Before the freeze, I received as early Christmas gifts - 2  Pink Knockouts, 2 Variegated Privets and a Pride of Houston Yaupon Holly. I think it's great to receive plants as Christmas gifts. My daughter and son-in-law, also as a Christmas gift, have ordered 3 Cherry trees for me. I think one is a Bing and the other Stella. I'm not sure what the 3rd one is. I took some early morning photos of the garden since the freeze.

Kanjiro Camellia bud

Double Red Knockout rose

Pride of Houston Yaupon Holly

This is the "entryway" that will in the future have a gate.  Originally
 this is were I had Elaeagnus shrubs planted, which died from the
 extreme heat wave and drought.  I have replaced
 them with 2 Pink Knockouts.

To the left and right of the Knockouts and 
I have planted
Variegated Privet which are alongside
 the remaining Elaeagnus.

Variegated Privet in foreground.
The two photos below-
are from my old house and
show how they look
when they have several
years growth. Privet
is on the right and left of Knockouts.

Still Enjoying The Roses While They Last

This is the one I think is JFK - it has a wonderful smell
and looks great over with the white and pink azaleas.
Won't be long before the white camellias bloom.

I'm really enjoying the Cinco De Mayo rose. It
had quite a few buds on it that have opened
today.

The sunflower is slowing opening.

I've never seen this color zinnia before in my garden.
I had planted a packet of white with red
stripes, but not yellow with red. It is
very pretty though.

Bell peppers are growing really well with the cooler weather.
I like the red color.

Cinco De Mayo Rose

My hubby gave this to me today as
an early Christmas present. This is
Cinco De Mayo. It's a floribunda
that is a chocolate or rust red with a hint
of lavender and is suppose to smell
really good. I planted it over by
the yellow Graham Thomas English rose.

The front yard got pretty neglected during our extreme
drought, so now that it has been cooler, I've been
in the mood to try and make a flower bed
around the rocks that previously
had pampas grass growing around them. I
started with this large clump of
Mystic Spires salvia. The
heat didn't bother this plant.

I transplanted a few of the zinnia's that
were a pretty pinkish red and also purple. I'm
hoping that they will go to seed
and come back next summer the same color.

In this bed I also transplanted
some lambs ear, coneflowers, alyssum, 
Frankly Scarlet daylily,
 which is a maroon red and 3 different iris.
There is a shady spot
along the underside
 of the rock, here
I transplanted some pink flowered
 wood sorrel/oxalis.

I just transplanted, so everything
looks a little wilted.

I transplanted another kind of salvia (Blue Bedder)  in front of this red knockout.

This is the crepe myrtle that I
tried to cut down last spring, but
it came back with a vengeance and looked beautiful
this past summer. Now it
has gorgeous reddish golden leaves.

Zinnia patch that came back from seed from the
summer ones.

I transplanted this rose at the
beginning of summer. It struggled
along and now has it's first bloom. It
is one that was here when we bought the
house and I didn't like where the previous
owner had it planted. I think it might be
a John F Kennedy rose.

A sunflower that has come back from seed.

Newly planted shrub bought for me by my sister
as a gift. It's a dwarf holly. I love the berries on it.

Quilt I'm making for my granddaughter. Lots
of flower fabric. I call it my
flower garden bow-tie quilt.

First Bloom On Canna

I stepped outside this morning and saw the first bloom for this canna.
I received it as a small cutting this
past spring.

A Few Roses

This a bud on Abraham Darby David Austin English rose.
I bought it last spring as a 1 gallon rose from
Chamblee's Rose Nursery. Since we had such an
extraordinary hot and dry summer, it
struggled with maybe one rose per cycle. I
am happy to report that since it has been cool and we've
had some rain, it now has 3 at one time!

Another shot Abraham Darby's other 2.

The double Pink Knockout looked really
pretty today. This is the "cornerstone" of the living
fence.

Another shot of knockout.

A Few Fall Chores

My granddaughter came for a visit and we spent the day outside doing a few fall
chores. She raked up quite a few of the sweet gum balls, which we
later in the evening burned in our chimanea, while having hot chocolate.
She also helped me dig all the holes to plant these
tulips.  I told her - hopefully we will see their
pretty heads at Easter time. 

We also planted Red Devon daffodils and some
 "Snake Head" iris. I've never
tried either of these.

We always cook a large breakfast when she comes to stay
and she helps with this also. She especially enjoys
setting the table with flowers from the garden.

This And That

Red rose that came with the house. It smells wonderful!!
It's about 6 ft high. I think it might be a Mr Lincoln.

Bell peppers are loving this cooler weather.

Blue Bedder Salvia that I started in spring from
seed.

Mystic Spires Salvia. Bumblebees won't let me
get near to take a cutting. 

Queen Elizabeth

Hosta is looking good. I've moved it three
times and found it likes being under
this tree and I discovered - don't plant them
too deeply.

I cut down all the old and dying zinnias in
late August. This is the second wave from seed left
on the ground.

Believe it or not - there is a rose growing under this jar
from a cutting.

Encore Azalea - Autumn Moonlight

Encore Azalea - Autumn Sangria. I'm really
happy with these azaleas. I was
skeptical about them blooming 3
times during the year here in Texas -
they lived up to the claim. 

Double Red Knockout

Another shot of the unknown rose (it might be
a Mr Lincoln)