Far and Near

BY SKEETER

 I am forever showing close up photos of blooms in my GEORGIA GARDENS. Close-ups give glory to the bloom while the plant seems to be lost.

 So today, I will change things up a bit and show some plants currently blooming. Hydrangeas are new to me as I have only been adding them to my gardens the past two years. I knew nothing of the plants but know they are a staple in a Southern garden.

 McCorkles Nursery (Giant Plant Sale) has Hydrangeas at such great prices that I decided to give them a try. I just love this "Mini Penny" above in my newest of gardens.

This Mini Penny is a Repeat Flowering Hydrangea and has hints of a creamy yellow with the blue coloring. 

 This Mini Penny is in the Semi-Formal Shade Garden.

This Mini Penny is the same plant as in the before plant but has more Blue to its flowers. More pine straw in this area for sure. 

 Midnight Duchess, as well as all my hydrangeas, had a rough start being planted during the peek of our 3 year drought. I really babied the Hydrangeas in my small collection during the drought. 

 Plentiful rains during Spring and into Summer have them shining. I really do like those purple-black stems on Midnight Duchess!

 Vitex  or Chaste Tree was added a couple of years ago and is doing great! 

 Bees love these blooms. Can you see the 2 bees in this picture?

 Rose of Sharon is a favorite of mine as it reminds me of my childhood home in Tennessee.  

 Here you see Sharon in the color of purple. I also have her in the colors of White and Pink. See the bug on this bloom?

 Balloon Flower has been with me for several years but will not seem to fill in for me.

 Even though it seems to be a slow grower for me, it does bloom each year. Am sure the recent rains are helping to make it stronger as the drought is finally over! Well, for now...

 I have 2 Trumpet Honey Suckle that are doing wonderful.

 Their bright red color attracts many pollinators.

And they are producing the most beautiful berry's as well.

I almost removed this Lantana from my garden this spring. It was late to return and I was clipping what appeared to be a dead bush when I spotted new growth. YIKES! 

I am so happy I spotted that bit of growth. I would have missed out on some beautiful blooms had I kept cutting the bush.

 Crepe Myrtle is now blooming. This tree is in the mending stage as it is "Miss Myrtle" that did the Splits on me in 2011. Click HERE to see that mishap.

She is bouncing back and blooming FAR AND NEAR, In the Garden...

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

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

Too Pooped to Plant

By SKEETER
These plants still have not found a home in my Georgia Gardens. They look pretty good here in this picture as if I planted them but not so. They are still in pots waiting for me to get around to putting them into the ground.
As you can see, the Red Rooster's (Crepe Myrtle) are indeed Red after all! They started out a white, then pink then bright deep pink and finally Red! These are my first Red Rooster's so I don't know if this is normal behavior for them or not. I planted two that I shall show you at some point. One will accompany me to Tennessee on my next trip and the other two, well, they will find a hole in my gardens at some point. Probably this fall as it is too stinking hot to plant anything now. Plus we are not having rain and dragging the hose around is getting old. The weatherman says 70% chance today so hopefully, we will get some moisture on the gardens. I am so behind on weed control again. That never ends, rain or not.

We have some family members coming next week for a visit. We are determined to get this renovation completed by then so we can enjoy some Rest and Relaxation! All but the vanity should be finished as our cabinet maker is on vacation. Due to the high humidity, he was not able to get the finish on the wood cured.

I have been cleaning out a closet to make room for misplaced items due to the renovation. Thank goodness we have a ton of storage space in this house. Unfortunately the closet's are up stairs. But we are flexible and will make it work.

Yesterday the washer broke so we had to stop what we were doing and research new washer and dryers. We decided to go ahead and get a dryer as well. We bought them at the same time so figured it was a matter of time before it went on the fritz as well. Funny how things do not last like they use to. Oh, have I said that a lot lately.
Anyway, I am just TOO POOPED TO PLANT, In the Garden...
Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Miss Myrtle Doing The Splits

By SKEETER I snapped this photo on June 23 here in my Georgia Gardens. The Crepe Myrtle (Click Here to see my Southern Belles) is blooming way earlier then normal this year.
Here is the same tree the very next day! This poor tree has had issues in the past few years. When we moved into this house, she was in place but had been drastically pruned (Click HERE to see Crepe Murder) year after year by the previous homeowners. After learning that Crepe Myrtles bloom on old wood, I decided to never prune this tree again.
Just look at my Southern Belle doing the splits! Sigh, Miss Myrtle thrived but was too top heavy for the branches to support the heavy blooms. Each time it would rain, the water would weigh down the tree and we lost a bit here and there over the past few years. Click HERE to see a post about the damage. We have been talking about going back to Murder as everything we tried would not work for this poor gal. So now she is split right down the middle.
It was heart breaking for me to clean up this mess. The tree was about half way in the blooming process. Yes, this tree loved where it was located. After the blooms finish, we shall cut down the remainder of the tree. I plan to have the Saint give her a clean cut at the base of the trunk and let her grow into a bush. He wants to remove the entire thing roots and all and plant one of the new Red Rooster Myrtles here but knowing how Myrtles send up shoots from the base, I want to give this tree one more chance at life. What a sad day to see MISS MYRTLE DOING THE SPLITS, In the Garden...

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

Happy Fall Colors in Georgia

By Skeeter;
I am popping in here today to say hello and take a moment to partake in Dave's Fall Color Project 2010. I will pop back in here when time allows :-)

I wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving... Hello everyone! I have spent most of my Fall days in Tennessee helping my parents get moved back into their newly renovated house after the May Floods. I spent most of my time inside therefore, not enjoying as many Fall colors as I would have liked to but work came first. I have been one busy gal this Fall but everything is falling (yes, Pun here) into place for me and my family. I am ever so happy these days. I have not been into my Georgia Garden in some time but knew I was not missing much with flowers playing out and plants getting ready for their long Winter nap. This past Sunday, I found a moment to sit in my swing. Look at the beautiful view I was given in my front yard! Fall happens late in the year for us Deep South dweller's. Even though, not much color adorns my gardens, I am ever so grateful to see such beautiful colors in our trees. In this picture you can see the big Green-leafed Willow Oak tree in the middle. It is the last to show color as well as loose its leaves. The last of the oak leaves will drop to the ground in late December and some times, may last until January. What about those wonderful Crepe Myrtle Trees? They give us beautiful flowers in the summer months then again in the fall with vibrant colors on their leaves.
One flower that continues to bloom for me is the Trumpet Angel that Tina gave me from her Tiger Gardens. I just love this plant Tina and cannot thank you enough for passing this beauty along to me!
The Saint's Bald Cypress is turning a bronze glow with a bright red Dogwood in the background.
The Saint's Crab-apple is yellow... and produced some fruit this year. Hopefully, the fruit will become a meal for the deer. That was the Saints plan when planting this tree in the route of the deer.

I am glad to finally be able to slow down a bit and enjoy HAPPY FALL COLORS, In the Garden...