And the Neighbors Say....

Uh oh....

She's at it again....

Yep.

Stay tuned...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

The Color Purple....

It rained again.

Big lightning and thunder, 

and another inch of rain.

It seems that the Texas Sage, Cenizo, blooms all over the neighborhood.

But, for some reason, seldom here.

But, not this time.  This time, there are LOTS of blooms.

Their pretty purple blooms are covering the shrubs.

And, the perfume from the blooms, is really nice.

This shrub really needs to be trimmed back.

But, for now, I'm glad I didn't get around to it.

The bees are glad, too.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

This and That for Monday....

Happy Monday.

We had more rain, over the weekend.

Not much...but, every bit is welcome....especially, the soft, gentle kind.

The sun was out, too.

So, I took a few photos.

Finally got some pretty good light on the Firecracker Fern.

I like it's airiness and those little red flowers.

This was all brown and crispy, before the rain.

It's Horse Herb.  It's amazing how fast it gets green again, with a little drink.

The Plumbago had all it's blooms beaten off, right before Bloomday.

But, it's made up for it.

This one, sticking trough the wire on the deck, is still there.

Maybe the deer do leave this plant alone.

Hmmm....might plant a trial one outside the fence, next year.

The burgundy leaf canna, planted in a pot, is finally putting on a bud.

The ones planted in the ground, don't look half as good.

That's another one of the mysteries, to me.

I was going to trim back the Knockout Rose, to let it bush out more.

I didn't....now, look at that pretty new growth.

I just can't trim it off.

I do need to trim this boxwood, though.

Some people say take it out.  But, I think I like it.

The deer never touch it.  That makes it a favorite.

The Ruellia is blooming.

The dwarf purple....

...and, pink.

I moved this Mexican Oregano outside the fence.  The deer don't seem to bother it.

It's finally putting on some blooms.

The Echeveria are blooming.

It's an interesting little bloom.

The rain may be over for a while.  They're giving us a slight chance.

We'll have to see.

There's plenty to catch up on here, in the mean time.

Hope you're having a great Monday, wherever you are.

'Til next time...

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Blooms and Foliage, July, 2013 .....

Here we are at the middle of July.

Wow...the year is going fast!

The middle of the month, is when we get together with 

Carol, at May Dreams Garden, for
Garden Bloggers Bloomday
and,
Pam at Digging, for
Foliage Follow-Up.

What we have around here, is mostly foliage.

There are a few blooms.  But, foliage seems to do the best.

There are some Impatiens.

And, some Begonias.

They hold up to the fierce Texas heat.

And, the Begonias at least, don't need a lot of water.

But, there's the Turk's Cap.

And, Firecracker Fern.

Which is hard for me to photograph.

The Thryallis is budding out.

And, surprising to me, some volunteer Snapdragons are trying to bloom.

The Plumbago was looking pretty good.  But, we had some heavy rain the last

couple days (Yay!!), and it beat the blooms down.

Dianella, purple heart, lamb's ear.

But, foliage makes up for any lack of blooms.

Japanese Aralia

We've been working hard, fighting off the effects of drought and heat.

Driveway Bed, with Opuntia, artimesia 'Powis Castle', Spanish Bayonet Yucca, 

Salvia greggii, Mexican Feather grass, Society Garlic.

Some plants handle heat and drought, better than others.

In fact, the artemesia and salvia in this bed looks better than any other,

in the front of the house.  And, they get the least water and most sun.

We're blaming tree roots, for sapping up all the water in the other beds.

And, the Mexican Feather grass seems to last without much water at all.

I was out 'combing' the seedheads out of these last week.

I wonder what the neighbors thought, 

if they saw me out there with that old, pink comb.

The front bed is looking pretty good. The Sago Palm didn't put on any new 

growth this year.  Maybe, because we moved it  It looks healthy, though.

I have to re-spread the mulch here often, thanks to Armadillos.

I'm glad I rescued this Agave, when our neighbor, Elli, cleaned them out.

They'd been badly shredded by the deer rubbing the velvet off their antlers.

I kept it inside some wire, and I'll be putting wire around this one, sometime 

soon.  The bucks will be messing things up again.

And, I need to get those pups out and put them in other places, while they're small.

Speaking of Elli....she's always trimming things and propagating things.

She gave me a few things, in hopes I can do the same.

She gave me these pieces of Cathedral Cactus.

I really hope it takes hold.  So far, so good.

This back bed is filling in pretty well.  The Softleaf Yucca is doing better

in that corner, than anything else has done.

There is other foliage, doing well.

This July, there are fewer things blooming, than last July.

I'm not sure why.  Another one of those Garden Mysteries.

But, if you have enough foliage, it can make up for few flowers.

*****************

Be sure to click on the links above,

and see what others' foliage and blooms are doing.

I think more rain might be on the way.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Pinedale, Wyoming....

Recently, we took a road trip,

 to visit our daughter and her family,

in Wyoming.

Yep....she moved again.

This time, to 

Pinedale, Wyoming.

It's another one of those places we never knew was there.

We headed into Wyoming on the interstate...I-80. 

We had almost the whole state to cross.

A lot of wide open spaces.  High desert foothills.

and LOTS of snow fences.

Hmmm....the signs must be right.

Sometimes these roads are closed, due to snow.

Heading north, we could see our destination.

Snow topped mountains.

What a contrast in landscapes.

Pinedale is a small town, at over 7000ft elevation.

How's that for a view down Main Street?

Surrounded by mountain rivers and lakes, 

it's no wonder there are several fly fishing shops.

And, being cattle country, there are, of course, Cowboy Shops, as well.

It's a small town, but there are lots of things to see.

The Pinedale Aquatic Center, is fairly new.  Lots of activities inside.

There are new schools.

And, a very nice visitors center.

The Mountain Man is celebrated here.

In fact, the Rendevous starts next weekend.

Celebrating the historic days of fur traders, 

Native Americans, and everything to do with 

Mountain Men.

The mountains and lakes are just beautiful.

Above, is one of the Green River Lakes, with Squaretop Mountain

in the distance. 

The wildflowers were wonderful.

I have a lot of photos of ones I don't know the names of.

Pine Creek runs right through town.

And, right behind the lodge, where we stayed.

Rivera Lodge & Bed and Breakfast

It's a cute, comfortable little old fashioned lodge,
just a couple blocks from our daughter's house.
It's been around since 1952.

We were lucky to get Cabin #2.
It's a one bedroom cottage, that backs up to the creek.

On Sunday mornings, in summer, the guests are treated to
a pancake breakfast.  It's an old-time tradition at
Rivera Lodge.

Emi, the owner, mans the grill, over an open fire.

The morning was chilly, but good, hot coffee helped that.
The breakfast was hearty and delicious.
All the breakfasts we had were great.

Bird, is the resident 'Meeter and Greeter'.

And, a pancake lover.

And, another visitor....Horning in on breakfast..(haha....sorry),
was this bull moose.

I think he was the same bull we saw the night before at our daughter's house.

Now, how many times does a moose show up for breakfast?

We liked it so much, we have this cabin reserved in September.
No. 2 was booked.  But, all the cabins are cute and comfortable....
and, close to the grandkids.


I have lots more photos of our trip that I'll share later.
We had a great time.

I'll leave you with a shot of a glorious sunset.
The skies are beautiful there, too.

To the west.

And, remember to always turn around.
The sunset on the rain/snow clouds on the mountain
was spectacular.

'Til next time....

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~