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.

July 25th In Texas - Beauty Can Still Be Found

Sunflower - I think it needs some water.

Graham Thomas David Austin rose. This has
to be, to me, the most beautiful
color of yellow I've ever seen. 

Red Knockout rose

This zinnia is huge in size and is such a beautiful
color of pink. It measures 5" across.

Cantaloupe is still progressing. (Hale's Best Jumbo)

This is not a gardening photo, of course, but this
is what I'm working on until this unrelenting heat
subsides. I started this quilt in 1983
when my children were little, so I didn't
get to work on it much at that time. The 100+ temps
 send me into house
by 9:30 a.m.

Close up of hand stitching.

Hosta Past And Present

This is a photo of my past garden with hosta, azalea and liriope. I built
the little stone bench out of leftovers from the stone
patio we built in the backyard.
The hosta here are from left to right -
Climax Plaintain Lily (the leaves  on this one get really large),
Moon River Plantain Lily and the Krossa Regal.

Past garden with my then
six-year-old granddaughter posing for me. 
  On her right are Coral Bells. The
 golden one is Caramel (Heuchera Villosa).
It's one that tolerates heat and humidity. I don't remember
 the name of the purple one.
I didn't buy
any this year.  I want
to have the perfect spot for them, which I
haven't decided on where that will be.

The one in the front is Color Glory and behind it is Patriot Plantain Lily.
"Hostas" by Rosemary Barrett is my hosta
go-to book.

This is the stone patio my hubby and I made. We want to do another
one for our new yard. 

Notice the flowers on the coral bell. 

This picture was taken in the early spring time - so
no hostas had come up yet.

Present photo of my yard. The poor little hosta on the left was
just getting established under the tree - but something is
eating the leaves - whatever it is - it's not eating the one
on the right. Eventually I hope to have more hosta and
St Augustine grass growing up the edge of the river
rocks. I would like to build another stone bench to put
under this tree.

I can't believe it - with all the heat and no rain - I have
a bud on the Encore Azalea bush. They are suppose to
bloom spring, mid-summer and fall.

Another shot of the interior of Geodesic Dome. Zinnias
make nice cut flowers.

Not Your Grandmother's Zinnias

Finally have some of the lemon colored sunflowers
starting to bloom. Now I'm
waiting on the reddish brown ones to
bloom.

Happy July 4th

I brought this geranium plant in a pot from my
old home last October. It sat in the
garage all winter and it finally
has come back and bloomed. It looked
dead when I brought it out
of the garage in the spring. I
re-potted it with new potting soil.

July garden scene.

July garden scene of Firehouse dwarf Nandina's
with some of the last daylily's in this bed.
Some of them will rebloom. I would
eventually like to plant a Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria) tree here.

Cast Iron Plant - Aspidistra Elatior in the background
with Burgundy Glow Ajuga and Purple Oxalis.
The Cast Iron plant has grown alot
since I planted it in the spring. It
makes a good filler plant and is
evergreen.

You know summer is here - sunflowers make me smile.

July garden scenes.