Garden Bloggers' Death Day - 8/31/09

Kate at Gardening Without Skills came up with the idea of having Garden Bloggers' Death Day on the last day of every month. You really should go there and read her post. It will make you laugh. She has big time death in her garden! I only have one photo to post and the reason for that is because the minute a plant looks a little sick, I cut it down or dump it out and never remember to take pictures.


Earlier in the summer the garden phlox were heavily damaged by the phlox plant bugs. Once the bugs were under control they attempted a comeback only to be attacked by a powdery mildew. For five straight years they grew and bloomed without incident, until this year. So sad.


This wild turkey and her poults were crossing the road in front of my car. They didn't seem to be in a hurry and so I took their picture. Now I'm thinking I've used this photo in a previous post.

Blooming Cobwebs

My computer continues to keep me from leaving comments on some of my favorite blogs. That bothers me greatly, so I've decided to mention one of the blogs each time I post.

I can hardly wake up in the morning without reading urbanlittlehouse. Sue is the person who encouraged me to try blogging and I thank her for that. Every single one of her posts make me want to be a better person. She'd love it if you visited her blog.

Hens and Chicks, Cobweb.

So tiny, planted in May.

Didn't expect blooms this year.

Nice surprise.

Fan Flowers (scaevola aemula).

Growing like crazy.

Amazing what a little fertilizer does.

Note to self.

Next year, plant more

containers with impatiens.

The hungry rabbits feasted on the

Morning Glory plants most of the summer.

The plants are only 6" tall.

But the flowers are big and pretty.

My one and only tomato plant.

Full of green tomatoes.

Will there be enough "summer" left

for them to turn them red?

Son and grandson,

enjoying some pool time.

Or, are they auditioning

for the circus?

Just Married

Someone got married and their car was parked in front of a restaurant in a little town not far from here. I was tempted to go inside and check out the bride and groom, but did not. Bet anything they would have been pleased to have me take their picture.

Across the street from the wedding car, I saw this bear bait sign. Now I can't decide if I should call Gene OR Butch OR just let the bears go hungry.

Now here's a good idea if you're trying to sell a house. Put it up on wheels. That way, the buyer can hand you the cash, hook the house up to his truck and drive away. Don't think you can see it on the photo, but it does say SOLD at the bottom.

There are prettier scenes of Queen Anne's Lace, but this field was across the street from the house on wheels and I thought it looked pretty. QAL is everywhere around here during the month of August.

Here in the upper Midwest there aren't too many days left where a boy can run wild with his water gun while Lucky, the golden retriever, stands guard. The boy is my grandson and Lucky lives next door to me.

Letterboxing

Nine photos is more than I usually post. The photos are not particularly good because it's not easy being a photographer when you're tramping through woods and fields with a seven year old boy.

For those who don't know, letterboxing is a "treasure hunt" style outdoor activity. Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and post clues to finding the box online on one of several Web sites. We used www.atlasquest.com. Phillip and I were letterbox finders not the hiders.

Letterboxes usually contain a log book, a rubber stamp (often hand-carved) and sometimes an ink pad. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp on their personal log book and leave an imprint of their personal stamp on the letterbox's log book. You can add your trail name and date next to your personal stamp imprint that you've made on the log book. You can also add a personal comment about your experience finding the letterbox.

Okay....I'm getting too wordy.

Phillip & Grandma Donna.

I'm Holding The Hair Off His Eyes.

He's Eating Red Licorice.

Our Hiking Bag Is Pack With:

Rubber Stamp - Pen

Log Book - Ink Pad - Compass.

Follow The Gravel Trail

Due South.

Take The Footpath To The West.

Do Not Bear To the South.

Stay Along The River.

You Will Approach A Clearing

On The South Side Of The Path.

Stop When You Reach A Point

Where You Are Fully Abreast

Of The Clearing.

Bushwhack To The Lone

Pine Tree In The Clearing.

Underneath It

Covered By A Bark Cap

Is The Box You Seek

Remove The Forest Leaves

Ash Stamp From The

Letterbox And Make

An Imprint On Your Log Book

Leave An Imprint Of

Your Personal Stamp,

The Eagle, On The

Letterbox's Log book.

Include Your Trail Name,

Skull, And The Date.

Once You've Finished "Stamping Up"

Replace The Container

As You Found It

Under The Bark Cap

Flash A Smile.

Mission Accomplished.

The clues were obviously more detailed than what I've put with the photos. Lots of opportunities to use the compass and count our paces.

Looking this over it doesn't sound all that interesting, but trust me the experience was priceless.

Been Doing A Lot Of This!

I've been doing a lot of weeding, deadheading and watering. Oh, the watering is wearing me out. Why doesn't it rain? Now that I've said that you can be sure it will start raining and not stop.

Have you ever met a Susan that you didn't love? Our Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm') aren't quite as nice as previous summers. The fact that back in early May we put six inches of mulch on top of them before they were out of the ground, might have something to do with it. Purple Fountain grass in the background.

The Snapdragons are finally starting to look pretty. They can always be counted on to put on a show near the end of summer. These are a mix of 'Snapper Purple', 'Liberty Mix' and 'Rocket Mix'. I see the hummingbirds on them often.

I can only imagine how sick of seeing my hostas you must be, but I won't let that stop me from sharing one more photo. These are growing at the back of the house and they are all in bloom and look amazing.

Phillip is trying to catch a bumblebee and Joseph is serving as his backup. Joseph's mother told him that bumblebees are so friendly that you can pet them. Not sure that's good advice for a couple of little boys, but they did catch it without incident. It was released about thirty minutes later. You know, so it could go back to its family. 'Maestro Rose Pink' Geranium, purple Petunias and white Dahlias in the photo.

Alley Cat has a new hobby. Watching for hummingbirds.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - 8/15/09

Too Tired To Post

This Photo Says It all

Joseph From Next Door

Plucked The Sign Out

Of My FlowerPot

He Couldn't Be Any Sweeter!

Thank You To Carol

At May Dreams Gardens.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day

Was Her Good Idea.

I May Be Too Tired To Post

But I'm Not Too Tired To Read

So Off I Go To Visit Your Garden.

Ramona and Audrey

Ramona is turning 92 in a few days. My mother is 80 and she and Ramona have been friends for 53 years. Ramona lives with her son, Jere, who treats her like a queen. A couple weeks ago my mother and I visited them and they gave us a tour of their yard. Ramona on the left and my mother on the right. Let me add, I love a clothes line that still gets used.

There's nothing wildly spectacular about what grows in their small yard, but it's tended to lovingly by the both of them and it's pretty and that's the important thing. It's what I wish for my own yard.

My Sweet Mother

Smelling The Sweet Peas

Here I am with Jere and Ramona. There was a story about this large planter, but the details have flown out of my head. Ramona and her family lived next door to us when I was kid. Jere and I, along with all the neighborhood kids, played together outside all day long.

This is their collection of ducks and ducklings. All were obtained by visiting thrift shops over the years and a few were gifts.

For a small yard, they have a lot of garden art and every piece is special to them with a story behind it. Oh, how I enjoy garden stories!

It was lovely way to spend a summer afternoon and so I'm sharing a little of it with you.

Look What I Found

Four years ago, this Butterfly Weed was planted in the "messy" bed and every year since it's come up really late in the growing season and always in a slightly different place than the previous summer. This year it wasn't until late July that I spotted it under the Russian Sage. It's a species of Milkweed and will have orange flowers from late summer into the early fall. I've always known that butterflies are attracted to it, but read recently that it's the larval food of the Queen and Monarch butterflies.

There are a few stems of Sneezeweed that the rabbits forgot to eat and those stems produced some orange ('Chelsey') and yellow ('Double Trouble') flowers that look pretty in front of the Russian Sage.

I like how Russian Sage looks in the garden this time of year, especially when it's getting plenty of sun and grows straight up. These plants were originally planted in the front yard where they had to reach for the sun and never looked pretty. I moved them to a sunnier location in the spring of 2008. There's an ornamental grass behind it that I don't know the name of but looks fabulous as we move into fall.

After I reading about and seeing a photo of Mallow (Malva 'Zebrina') on Marissa's blog, I found one at a local garden center and now it's planted behind the Lantana in the "messy" bed.

Petunias have not been planted in this bed for about five years, but every year since a few volunteers can be counted on to make an appearance and I'm always thrilled about it.

I am still unable to leave comments on many blogs including my own. Even though I'm signed into my google account, it appears that I am not and won't publish my comment. I go back to my dashboard and I AM signed in. I thought maybe it was a server problem and I was losing internet connection.....except.....that it's always the same blogs where I have the problem. Don't know if it's related, but when I'm on Facebook, I'm repeadedly having to sign in as I move from wall to profile to photos, etc.

Can You Bear Two More Hosta Photos? Guess I Had Naked On My Mind The First Time I Posted This.

So many blogger problems. But....I WAS able to upload these two photos this morning which seemed impossible a few days ago. There is something funny going on with the Save Now/Saving, as I type this. I'll just ignore it and see if this post publishes. Maybe I should start a new blog and see what happens.


Anyway......oodles and oodles of hostas in the backyard. More than I can squeeze into these photos. Interesting to me that they grow so well even though they get the hot afternoon sun. They are actually larger than they appear in the pictures.

Okay, now I'm going to click on Publish Post. Let's see what happens.

No Comment!

Will this post even publish? I won't know unless I try. A couple days ago I was unsuccessful in uploading a photo to blogspot.


These are just a few of the blogs that I dearly love and am able to read, but unable to leave comments.

urbanlittlehouse

ourmushpush

barefootfromheaven

I have tried all of your suggestions and appreciate the time you've taken to try and help. When I have more time and more patience and maybe more money for a new computer, I'll get back to blogging. Until then, know that I'm reading and enjoying.