Little Bit Of Fall Color At The Cottage Dome

I'm determined to have a wonderful garden despite

the many setbacks of this season, one of which I

haven't mentioned before is MOLES. I have two

cats that have managed to catch only one. I don't really

want to put out poison, so I just watch daily has

they shred the grass and garden. 

The okra is starting to wind down. Still harvesting a few.

Okra flower

I thought this Dianthus had died - guess not- looks pretty now.

Coleus

I know cantaloupe is getting bad press right now - but I thought
this was neat how it is growing up the fence - it grew from seed
out of the compost pile. I will probably feed it
to the rabbit on the other side of the fence.

Abraham Darby has survived the extreme heat and drought.

This photo doesn't do justice to this canna. It
looks really beautiful today. I started this from a piece
given to me by my father-in-law early in the year.

I'm extending flower garden - part of  this is
a newly dug area. I also took a couple of dying
Elaeagnus shrubs from the front yard and
transplanted them here. See the twiggy shrub in
background on the right?

I put the potted Fireworks purple fountain grass in the ground. I
also transplanted a few of the Firehouse nandina here also.

I've been dividing iris and daylilies also.

The Graham Thomas rose has survived the drought and heat. It
has almost doubled in size.

Firehouse Nandina

A Sigh of Relief

Yesterday we had COOL temperatures for a change. It has been like holding your breath all summer and now you can breath. Low has been in 60s and the high in middle 80s yesterday and today. I stayed outside ALL day yesterday and it was pure bliss. I have been moving things around and dividing the iris and daylilies. Moved shrubs and took some of the fountain grass I had growing in pots and put them in the ground. I also pulled up all the dead and dying zinnias and cut back the purple salvia - and NOW my little hummingbird friends and a few butterflies came this morning for their usual zinnia/salvia breakfast and found nothing - I felt so bad, but a new batch is sprouting, so in the meantime, I guess I'll have to furnish them with a hummingbird feeder.

This is the 6 inch high crepe myrtle that was mentioned in an early post.
It doesn't look like "Dynamite". Maybe it is this color
because it's a baby. I guess I'll wait until next year
and see. It's suppose to be a deep red.

Here are 5 Indian Hawthorne shrubs I moved to this
spot. They were not doing well in their previous
locations. I had 7 originally but lost 2 in the drought.
They are now planted in front of a tea rose and a
variegated privet. I also put a couple of
my divided daylilies behind them. I
guess you can call these the "before" pictures.

 I planted the potted fountain grass with 2
of the "Firehouse" dwarf nandina's in front of it, more daylilies,
and then the divided iris in front of the yellow Graham Thomas
English rose. I'll take more pictures later on
when all is established and filled in. I also moved the 
remaining 2 Crimson Pygmy Barberry
over to the shade garden. They are nearly dead. 
Hopefully I can revive them. Tomorrow
I want to get the bluebonnet seeds planted.

We Have Cantaloupe

Despite 100+ temperatures this little Encore azalea
managed one bloom for it's mid summer
bloom cycle.

This is a Janice Brown daylily seed pod. I've never tried
to grow daylilies from seed. If anyone has any tips on
harvesting the seeds and growing them, I would welcome the
advice.

I was out watering the okra this morning and discovered
 cantaloupes in the vines. There are about 6 of them in
varying stages of development.  I'm not
sure which variety this one is, as I planted two kinds
together - Hale's Best Jumbo and Charentais.

A baby watermelon - Crimson Sweet variety.

Another shot of the newly dug
hosta bed. Note the red coleus which I
started in pots a couple of weeks ago and the newly divided
 lambs ear. When I moved here I brought
one plant with me from my old house
and now I have about 10,
all from dividing them. My
grandson recently discovered the nice
soft texture of the leaves. 

Lambs ear, coleus and hosta.

Fireworks Purple Fountain Grass. 

Another shot of Fireworks Purple Fountain Grass

Wishing for an English Garden in Texas

I love English gardens. My garden themes for the last 14 years have been about trying to integrate that style into a Texas garden. It is a real challenge.  Recently went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The gardens were just beautiful. I've included a couple of photos. One is of a mystery shrub that I would like to have. Can anyone identify this? I guess I will take the photo to the local garden center and see if they can tell me what it is.

Mystery shrub

Eureka Springs, Arkansas garden

Fireworks purple fountain grass

Purple Fountain grass growing

Another shot of Fireworks purple fountain grass.

Purple Fountain Grass

Don't forget that you can double click on the photos to make them larger. I planted  "Fireworks Purple Fountain Grass" (Pennisetum setaceum rubrum) in the yellow pots. This is a variegated variety, which I have never tried before. Also planted "Purple Fountain Grass" (Pennisetum setaceum atropurpurea) in the bronze pots behind the green chairs. I love these ornamental grasses in the summer time. Purple get large and billowy if you have a breeze.  The blooms on the Fireworks are fuchsia and grow to 24-30 inches tall with a spread of 24 inches. The regular Purple has purple seed heads and grows 2 to 3 feet tall. I'm putting plants behind the chairs because the front patio feels so stark and I like the feel of being surrounded by plants.  I also planted two of the Purple Fountain grass on each side of the single Double Red Knockout rose that I have in back. I'll post a photo later when they are established.

In this photo are Purple Fountain grass and in the flower
bed Crimson Pygmy Barberry and Purple
Oxalis