Time does not stand still

BY SKEETER

 Hello Bloggers! I hope you are enjoying some of the wonderful temps we are having here in my Georgia Gardens! Glorious 80's and low to NO humidity! My kind of weather indeed! Above, you see the Crepe Myrtle Bush in bloom. This is Miss Myrtle that did the Splits for me last year when she was a tree. She is making a comeback. Click Here to see that.

I have been out of the blogging loop for a bit. My mother had hip surgery and I went to Tennessee to help my family. I am happy to say that mom is progressing along and is off the walker and on a cane! It will not be too much longer until that cane is doing nothing more then collecting dust.

I had several Blog Postings scheduled before I departed Georgia and had planned to visit many bloggers during my "down time" in TN. I found out quickly that I had very little "down time" during the 3 weeks I was in TN. Family and Friends kept me busy the entire time! Thus, few blogger visits from me.

Once back in Georgia, I found a new computer and a new lawn mower amongst other changes. I was not ready for "Change" as I dont really like change that well. I deal with it in time but was not ready to learn something new so soon after such a long exhausting 3 weeks of worry, lack of sleep, etc. I decided to back away from the computer.  

I now find myself pet sitting our favorite pooch, Zip, his three cat siblings and 3 Horse siblings as well. Zip and my Fur babies are getting along great as they are use to his visits with us. I now find myself ready to get back to blogging as I have kind of figured out this new computer format.

 Here is one photo you saw during my TN visit of the lamp post I created from an old pole. Click HERE if you missed that post. Notice the lush Vinca in this pic.

I return to GA and find dead looking Vinca! What on earth happen to my lush, vibrant Vinca while I was away?

The Saint did a wonderful job of watering all the plants I had asked him to keep an eye on for me. Vinca was not one of them as it is very drought tollerant and never needs any attention from me. Plus, we had massive rains while I was away. We had a total of 12.3 inches of rain the month of August which was close to the record rainfall for that month. Could we have gotten too much rain too soon for the Vinca or what? Any comments on this would be wonderful as I find this a total mystery...

 Signs of rain in the form of beautiful fungus are everywhere in the gardens.

Another thing I noticed was this area. This picture above was taken when preparing for the Post about the Foundation on the West side of the house. Click HERE if you missed that one. 

Look at 3 weeks growth. The elephant ears are now above the porch railing and the black ears are above the AC/Heat Unit. Yes, they like the sun, heat and water in this area. (Rose, do you hear this as I failed to answer your question on the comments for that post...)

All the Elephant Ears in the yard loved the excess rain fall. They were taking over the Butterfly Bush Island. It looked more like a jungle when I returned to my gardens!

I have since clipped back the over growth. I know these huge plants will have to be moved for next year.

New growth was seen on many happy bushes such as this Ligustrum.

Penta's has never been so happy! Too bad I only purchased one this year. Sigh...

To the right of the Penta's, I find a Yellow Iris in bloom! Suprise to me and I can only wonder if this iris is the type Tina recently talked about? Maybe in the Immortality family. Hum, another mystery for me...

Both Angel Trumpet's are also happy!

The Pink that Tina passed along to me.

The yellow scented passed along from a neighbor.

A surprise corn stalk growing in the middle of a newly planted Knock-Out Rose bush! Silly Squirrels, there are better places to hide your corn seeds.

The Saint tells me to go behind the shed and "check out" the Compost Heap. Ha, a Elephant ear and Pothos nicely growing after being dumped as nothing but dead looking debris! It looks as though I planted this but I promise you, I did not. I need to get a pot and dig up the pretty house plants and also move the ear elsewhere. No, TIME DOES NOT STAND STILL, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Fall is a Wonderful Time In the Garden

Fall is probably my favorite season of the year. All of the plants are full and lush (providing they survived the ravages of summer), the leaves on the trees are beginning to change, usually the rains have returned, the smell of nature is in the air and it is just a great time to be in the garden. Spring just can't compare with fall and all of its fullness and ripeness-and even color. Here are some pictures from my gardens so you'll see why I like fall so much and spend as much time as is possible in the garden. I always like to concentrate on how full the gardens become this time of the year (read no room for weeds!)


The above mums are located in my Rear Sidewalk Garden. All year long these mums sit incognito only to burst through as a pot of gold in the fall.

Asters and mums make a great combination. You just cannot beat these two very fine plants for the fall garden. Both are drought tolerant and reliable bloomers. If you pick your mums right you can have blooms from August through December in Middle Tennessee!!

More mums in the Front Center Garden. These mums simply glow a bright pumpkiny orange when the sun hits them just right.

Here we are standing behind the Redbud Garden (part of the concrete patio area) looking toward the house. The combination of mums and grasses is a good combination even though neither of these plants are located in the same garden. I always consider long distance views and this one just happened to work out for me. We are looking west and when that setting sun hits the grasses it is magical.

'Chocolate' eupatorium is stunning this year. This is more of a wildflower than a cultivated perennial. It will self seed itself around quite a bit. I don't mind because its dark purple foliage in the spring and bright white blooms in the fall brighten shady and sunny gardens alike. This bunch is growing in pretty much full shade in a very dry soil and still it does well. Gotta love tough plants like these!

Here we see three colors of mums (yellow, lavender, and red) with a huge group of yellow button mums (not yet in bloom-bud stage only) in the background. The yellow button mums are late bloomers and I have actually had them bloom in December in my gardens. They are wonderful! The red, purple, and yellow mums in the foreground are smaller florists mums. These florist mums tend to stay more compact but are just as floriferous and stunning as the yellow button mums.

The berries on 'Brilliantissima' chokeberry add to the excitement. This new shrub is located near a large crabapple. The blue jays, mockingbirds, bluebirds, and robins are all busy feeding on the berries and crabapples.

Now to the backyard and the Sunny Perennial Border (bordering the potager). This large aster (most likely 'October Skies') has so many flowers you can't see the foliage. The butterflies are going nuts in this area. The pineapple sage (red spiky blooms), lantana (orange blooms), and zinnias only add to the excitement for butterflies, bees, and birds alike. Fall is Mother Nature's last hurrah before the big winter chill sets in and wow is it ever a show.

The angel trumpets are very late this year. The first blooms showed up on October 14th in my Tennessee garden. Skeeter also mentioned in her Acorn post that her trumpets were late this year. My friend Geri also told me her very large white angel trumpet just began blooming; which is quite late for her. I was thinking I saw a pattern that angel trumpets were very late this year when at the PPSMT meeting this past Tuesday the speaker said her trumpets had been in bloom since July. So much for my pattern. This orange one of mine was planted out as a cutting in the spring and has only just begun blooming on the 14th. The fragrance is great. It is a lucky day for it to bloom too because if it did not I was not planning to take cuttings into the greenhouse. My angel trumpets never winter over for me so in order to have them each year I must take cuttings and winter them over in the greenhouse. I suppose I could dig this plant up but it would take up way too much room and cuttings work out better for me.

Fall is also special because we have a special visitor this year. This guy here is my mother's younger brother and I call him Uncle Rick. He is visiting us from Florida for the entire month of October while his wife visits Okinawa. I lived with my uncle when I was a senior in high school and for a few years afterward. We lived together even when I had my twin daughters with me. My uncle helped me to get on my feet when I was very young and fresh out of high school. Having family that will help you out is a gift indeed.

We lived in Fayetteville North Carolina; which is of course the home of the famed 82nd Airborne Division. My uncle was a paratrooper soldier who served in the artillery section of the Army. At one time (late 80s early 90s) we were both stationed at Fort Bragg. Then the Gulf War kicked off in August of 1990 (actually it was not war at that point and was known as Desert Shield) and my uncle retired and moved to Florida. Having served two tours in Vietnam and ready for retirement my uncle was very ready to retire. Me, I went to Saudi for six months to help with the war effort.



Now, twenty years later, we are presently in the Clarksville Tennessee area; which is the home of the famed Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. My uncle served with the 101st during his first tour in Vietnam. As such I thought it only appropriate we go and visit the division headquarters. And who should we see at the Division Headquarters but a Screaming Eagle paratrooper himself-parachuting right into the headquarters building.



One last reason I like the fall so much is because the camellias begin blooming. I have two shrubs in full bloom with these splendid pink blooms and they are really putting on a show. It is such a shame they do not have a scent though. 


I hope fall is spectacular in your neck of the woods....


in the garden....

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Acorn's

By SKEETER
Have I mentioned we had a drought in my Georgia Gardens this summer? Of course I have mentioned it and more then once. This drought continues to plague us in many ways. Here you see the tiny acorns falling from the Willow Oak trees.
In the middle of this picture, you see an Acorn from last years crop! This one is much larger then the tiny ones of this year. Yep, the drought has affected the acorn size. This shall have a snowball effect as the size of the acorns will surely be an issue for wildlife such as the deer that enjoy eating them. Note to self: Spray stinky stuff on remaining bloomers to keep the deer at bay...
Another drought culprit, the loss of this tree! It continued to die so it was replaced with a new Evergreen.
On a happy note, the second one seems to be doing well. Thus far anyway. But I do have a back up ready to replace this one if necessary.
On another happy note, one of the Angel Trumpets is finally blooming!
This one was given to me by a neighbor and we had no idea what color it would be. Ah, a pretty shade of yellow and it has the best scent that fills the air around this area.
The Angel Trumpet that Tina passed along to me has yet to bloom. But I have spotted two buds that may open before our first frost.
I will have to move the yellow one next spring as it is too large where it is currently located. I am thinking of planting it by the other one for a multi colored fest of yellow and peachy colored Trumpets. One happy Trumpet, one happy tree but no happy ACORNS, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

African Daisy & Trumpets

By SKEETER This picture was snapped back in March here in my Georgia Gardens. The Lily's were well on their way. If you look closely, you can barely see an African Daisy in the back of the Twig of an Angel Trumpet. The Angel Trumpet died back during the winter so at this point, I did not think too much about a dormant twig sticking out of the ground. Here is a picture of the same planter in June of LAST YEAR. Then, the Angel was already giving me its first blooms. (Click Here to see how this planter started out in my Georgia Gardens as a gift from Tina.)
One year ago this week, she was gifting me with over 50 blooms as you can see in the above picture! (Click HERE to see the follow-up on last years Angel) This year, she is slow to take off and not one bloom thus far. Hum, what did I do wrong with my Angel Trumpet? I did nothing but let her go dormant naturally and then cut her to the ground this spring. Should I have let her go dormant before I cut her? Should I have cut her before she went dormant? Should I have mulched her better for winter? What did I do or not do correctly?
Okay, lets get back to the African Daisy shall we... I had several of them last year but with little luck. Last year, I was busy running back and forth to Tennessee helping my parents with their flooded house and other issues. (Click HERE to see that disaster) So I was lacking in the watering department of my gardens. That may have been the reason why the Daisy's did not do well for me.
This year, I was determined to do a better job with my gardens. Even with a house renovation and the hottest/driest summer since we moved to Georgia 11 years ago, I prevailed. I dragged hose's and set up sprinklers and did my best to keep things happy this summer. My hard sweaty work paid off as the African Daisy is thriving in my gardens! She has given me blooms all summer long and calls in the butterflies. My only mistake was purchasing 1 and not more this year, sigh. Oh well, live and learn.Front View: I also added Saliva and Sage in colors of white, red and purple. They fill in the void once the lily have played out. I put a few pink and red Periwinkle in as well and they should reseed and add more color next year with little care from me. Just the way I like it, care free... Back View: As you can see, the Angel Trumpet is still chugging along. Something has been snacking on Angels leaves.Surely this Garden Spider (Click HERE to learn more about Argiope) that I spotted in the middle of Angel, will take care of the bugs. I am hoping Angel gives me some blooms soon as I miss those huge trumpets blowing in my garden.
I want happy AFRICAN DAISY & TRUMPETS, In the Garden...

Note: I have a second Angel Trumpet that is much larger then this one but not planted in the best spot. I did not think it would survive. I just stuck it in the ground with little thought. I will show you that one if she blooms...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden