Rose of Sharon Revisited

BY SKEETER

 Since I last posted, we have had over 2 inches of rain fall onto my GEORGIA GARDENS. I am ever so happy to not be out in the humidity dragging a water hose around! The Rose of Sharon are happy as well. I have three in a row in colors of....

 Purple...

 Pink...

 and Pure White.

 New to my gardens this year is First Editions, Hibicus syriacus 'Minspot'

 This bloom is really neat don't you think? 

Another new to the garden would be Hibiscus syriacus 'America Irene Scott'  A seedless Proven Winner.

 The variegated leaves make this one different then any of my collection of Hibiscus.

'Sugar Tip' is a beautiful bloom like no other.

 And a surprise from me, the Saucer Hibiscus decided to return after a year of being missing in my garden! 

 One of the many buds before opening.

And very large Hand Sized blooms! I am happy thus far with all the ROSE OF SHARON, In the Garden...

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

Rose of Sharon

BY SKEETER

A year ago, I added Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) to my Georgia Gardens.

I found these bargain plants in colors of Pink, White and Lavender.

I could not make up my mind which color to purchase.

At the bargain price of $9.99 for 3 gallon pots, well, I picked up one of each color.

These beautiful plants have survived their first year in my gardens and I think they will do well for me. They are giving me a show of blooms and I am really enjoying them.

I spotted a deer nibbling on one of them but she took one nibble and then moved on. I will be keeping smelly scent on these beauties for now to keep them at bay. I am happy with my 3 shades of  ROSE OF SHARON, In the Garden...

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

Hibiscus Luna

By Skeeter
Things are hot and very humid here in my Georgia Garden. Luckily, we have had a few afternoon showers to give everything a nice drink filled with vitamins and minerals that the hose cannot match. I don't usually purchase plants for the garden this time of year but some times, we get off our garden normal.

As I walked through the garden center on my way to pick up a few items at Wally World, I noticed they had some plants marked half price. I just had to stop and take a peek as to what remain on the shelf. I found this beautiful green healthy plant.

I had no idea what it was due to lack of a tag in place. But hey a half price bargain is a half price bargain ya know. Plus this was sitting on the Perennial rack so I could not resist.
The leaves are a heart shape and I just love hearts in the Garden don't you? Later on, I spotted the name "Hibiscus Luna" and "Pink Swirl" printed on the container. I still had no idea what I had purchased. To the Internet I went to find out that I have a Hibiscus Moscheutos, Also known as Rose Mallow and Swamp Mallow. I planted Luna in the ever growing Wishing Well Garden yesterday. This Gem of a plant will have large blooms, attracts Butterflies and Hummingbirds. Is heat tolerant and low maintenance.It loves the sun and can withstand temperatures low as -20 degrees! It will grow to a height of 24"-36" and will be about 24" wide. Me thinks me has a winner!Hopefully with 2 more months of heat, she will have time to establish before the cooler temps set upon us. Look at that bud of HIBISCUS LUNA, In the Garden...Update: Here is a Hibiscus Luna bloom that I saw in Tina's garden last summer. I wonder if mine will be white or a pink color? Only time will tell so stay tuned...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

TO OUR CRAFTY GARDENER DAWN!
Go over to C&G Design and give her a birthday greeting if you have a minute...

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

Updates

By Skeeter

I enjoy all the comments from you with each topic I talk about from my Georgia Garden. At times you ask for me to keep you posted on progress with certain topics. I am also curious of how things work out on certain topics in your posts as well. Although I have not been a good reader of Blogs lately because with so much going on in my life these days, I just don't have the time. I promise I will get caught up on blogging some day soon. The heat of summer is setting in and after this current trip to VA, I don't plan on going anywhere for at least a month. Maybe I can get caught up then! So now I would like to update you on some of my past blogs.

Of course the most recent talked about topic was the bluebirds making nests in the gourd we grew! (Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.) That was an awesome experience for me and how surprised I was to peek into the hole before taking the gourd down for cleaning to find the babies still inside the gourd! The Saint and I had thought they had fledged a few days ago as he said he saw a chickadee on the gourd. Well, not so as the babies are still inside on this day of typing which is Wednesday July 1. By the time this goes to posting, I am sure they will be out of the gourd and starting the next chapter in their life.

Last year, I talked about a Rescue we tried on a dogwood tree. The deer decided to make a meal of the tree and we could not let the tree die such a death. So we built a fence around the remaining dogwood. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: The little dogwood tree did not make a come back in this spot. Too much sandy soil and not enough rain from the skies above. The fence kept the deer from eating it but the tree was not happy in this spot. So the Saint took it out and put it into a pot for us to baby it for a while. Just look at that sad little tree. Here is the dogwood tree now! Making a slow comeback on the west side of the house under our watchful eye and lots of watering. We will find a spot for it this fall and hopefully the rains will start to fall again by then.
The Saint had something in mind for this spot but once digging a bit, he found rotting roots from a tree we took out a few years ago. This may be the culprit of the dogwood and not just the sand as the roots breaking down were leaving pockets of air for no water to penetrate. So after a bit of digging, he decided to fill the hole back up with dirt and let it go back to grass in time. Look beyond this spot and see what he did plant for me...

A few feet back from that dogwood spot of sandy soil, he found clay dirt! That is how it goes in this yard. One area is sandy and the next area can be clay.But we don't let clay get the best of us. We added bags of dirt to the hole to make a nice new home for my surprise. And the surprise is a Redbud tree! We do not see many Redbuds in our area but enjoyed seeing them with our spring travels in Tennessee and Virginia this year! We enjoyed them so much that the Saint brought one home to me on my birthday! I was not expecting this so it was a wonderful surprise for me. Thank you my wonderful Saint!

Here is the Redbud a few months later with some leaves on her!

I don't know much about Redbuds but I am finding the shape of the leaves really neat!

A nice little heart shape saying "get to know me and love me" which I will do as time continues forward...
I talked about how the Saint and I were Foster Parents to a turtle for a bit. Miss Tuttle has a wonderful new home and we still have the hibiscus plant we bought for her. Click Here to read about that topic if you missed it.

Update: The plant never made it into the ground this spring as planned. It continues to bloom on the front porch but I refuse to bring the plant back inside this winter. A closed door to cats does not make for a happy household. Does anyone want this plant? Come on down to GA and you can have it because I am going to leave it to nature this winter. Remember me talking about the squirrels destroying the Saints Crabapple tree this spring? Click Here to read about that topic if you missed it.

Update: The stovepipe on the tree trunk seems to be working. The tree is growing and the bark is healing. Some of you were concerned about heat building up in the pipe therefore doing more harm. But so far, no damage from the pipe and keeping the squirrels at bay as well. We even have a few crabapples on the tree!
I showed you the suet pole once we completed this project by topping the pole with a "See Rock City" Barn birdhouse. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: Even though we put the birdhouse on the pole as decoration, a bluebird built a nest in one of the holes! We had to stop putting suet cakes on the poles as he was fighting with all the birds that came to have a bite of suet. Here he is perched on top of the house keeping guard. The bluebird did not lay eggs in the house and we now have the suet back in place on the pole and all is happy. We plan to take the house off the pole and put screen on the holes to keep birds out of the house. We have birdhouses scattered all over the place and they do not need this one with those available. We like our wildlife to live in harmony and not fight with each other.
I recently showed you how we trimmed the butterfly bushes in the island. Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.

Update: The butterfly bush that we dug out and replanted after filling the hole with soil is now blooming. So it survived being taken out of the ground this spring! I was worried about this bush but no need to worry any more. It is not as tall as the other bushes but blooming and calling in the butterflies. Yippee, I did not loose one of my beloved butterfly bushes!

I asked advice from you all on the Saints Bald Cypress tree. Remember that blog about the twisted branch? Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.
Update: In the first picture of the cypress, I circled the twisted branch. As you can see the Saint decided to let nature take its course so he did not prune the branch. I hope he does not regret this in the future. The tree is doing well and really did enjoy the spring rains. Gee, wish we had some more rain as we are not getting it these days. Sigh, I know that feeling well... No drought this year, no drought this year.... Fingers crossed on this one...

Remember last year how I talked about one of my favorite Crepe Myrtle tree's getting damaged in the bad storm? Click Here to see that topic if you missed it.

Update: We pruned the poor damaged tree down to not much of a tree. We watched a local garden program on PBS that talked of Crepe Myrtles. The suggestion was to prune all but the main trunk's from the ground. So we did. It looked pretty bad don't you think? I was saddened for the once huge tree.

Here she is now almost a year later and looking mighty good! I am waiting for that gully washing rainfall as it never fails to get us once Miss Myrtle is in full bloom! (Do not enlarge this picture or you will see the suckers I have yet to snip. lol)
I showed you my solution for keeping the birds from building nest in the hanging plants this spring. I put the artificial nest and plastic egg in the nest of each hanging plant. Click Here to read that topic if you missed it.
Update: This solution has worked 100% for me! Not one bird has tried to build a nest once I placed the faux nest and egg in the plants! I should market this idea as many people complain about the birds in their hanging plants!
Ah, how could anyone forget the topic of the Saint and I scooping up some Natural Fertilizer? Silver (the white horse) and Georgia (the brown horse) were the providers of the wonderful fertilizer. I had reported that Silver had Crossed over the Rainbow Bridge to be with so many of our pets that once roamed this earth. It was a sad day for Georgia horsey as she really missed her sister horse Silver, as did we...
Update: Georgia's human mommy did not like seeing Georgia depressed about losing Silver. So now Georgia has a new brother. Meet Harley a beautiful horse which will be a new asset to fertilize our gardens this fall! He has such a wonderful personality. He gives kisses too!

I hope I could remember all the UPDATES, In the Garden...

Who will come to get that hibiscus? It awaits your arrival...

Note: I will pop in here when I get a chance. We are visiting Family this weekend!