We Hold These Truths....

Happy Birthday, America!!

Happy 4th of July!

~~Linda~~

At Half Time....

So, here we are....half time in the year....half way through.

Remember back in January?   I posted about my choice of  

One Word

to replace those old resolutions we all make.

My word was

FOCUS.

Well....now it's time to see how that's been going.

We did some focusing on fixing this view.  Old railroad ties and dead grass.

Not so pretty.

So...focus, focus and we turned it into this.

And, though two of the yuccas didn't make it, 

I have to say it all looks much better.

We've added a couple of things to the Island Bed, and it's all hanging in there.

We turned this next-to-nothing back bed...

...into something that makes it all look more complete.

All four sides of the house are 'dressed' now.

And, we remodeled this not too functional walkway.

And, turned it into this.

So, we have focused.  We've gotten a lot done.

Of course, it's never all 'done'.

But, it's getting there.

So, maybe THE WORD worked.

Now, we just have to keep things alive until the heat eases off in the fall.

In the mean time...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Yucca Demise.....Yuck!..

Once upon a time, there were two very nice Yuccas, in the new Driveway Bed.

I especially liked this No Name one.  Very pretty, and the centerpiece of the bed.

Then....tragedy struck.  The No Name began to die off.  The top looked good...no drooping.  

Just from the bottom up, it was looking very sad.

I trimmed off the dead leaves.  Checked all around it.  A pup on the side looked pretty good.

Then more leaves began to turn dark, from the outside in.

The Softleaf Yucca, in the pot, had a lot of dead leaves at the bottom, too.

I decided to take the advise of some of you, and put the No Name in a pot to try to nurse it back to health, and replace it with something else....maybe an agave.

Too hot to plant much of anything else right now.

Then yesterday, I tried to straighten the Softleaf......and, it broke right off.

The stem was mush!  I dug down and found several Grub kind of worms.

No photo of them.  I was too busy squishing them.

I went over and pulled on the No Name....it broke right off, too.

The stem is mush.

There were no grubs in that spot.  The leaves never drooped, as I thought would be a symptom

of Yucca Weevils, or Snoutnose Agave Beetle. 

After some research, the grubs in the pot look like the larvae of those two villains. 

The soil in the No Name was a bit more moist than it maybe should have been.

I little too much help with watering maybe.

So, we're taking out the dirt, and discarding it....just in case.

I don't know what to put in their place.  

Between the heat, the deer, and worry about putting another yucca or agave there to be attacked, 

I just don't know.

The agave already in that bed looks ok, for now, though.  

Anyway, I just wanted to whine to my gardening friends about my trials and tribulations.

Hope you're having a better time in your garden.

Happy Gardening....

Stay Cool...Pray for Rain...

~~Linda~~

Canna Get a Witness?....

Thought I'd check in and show you the 

Canna bloom.

Here's one.

Here's the other.

On the same plant.

Now, that's cool.

The bloom stalk was a bit weak, so it looks a little ragged.  Hope the next one does better.

Rain missed us....again.  Let's hope we get some soon.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~