Summer Happenings

BY SKEETER

 Just popping in today to say hey! It has been a different kind of summer here in my GEORGIA GARDENS this year. Plenty Too Much rain has fallen upon us, temps lower then normal. But as normal, the humidity has been really high keeping me mostly out of the gardens. But I am out there when I see a break in the humidity. The handy beach umbrella keeps the shade upon my body to assist in keeping me cooler as I pluck weeds. The old Christmas rug, keeps my bum and knees happier!

 The Saint presented me with a new Weed Eater! Have never had a straight poled one before so it has been a challenge getting the hang of this model.

 The Elephant Ears continue to grow larger and larger with the plentiful rain falls.

 We checked out the flooded Savannah River and spotted these beautiful plants amongst the water overflow.

 Zooming in closer, I see some sort of Hibiscus maybe?

 Of course I had to zoom into a bug eaten bloom! This happens when one cannot see the photo on the camera with full sunlight. ha.

 This Heron was enjoying the flooded area.

 I made a trek home to Tennessee to help my mom celebrate her Birthday! While there I enjoyed the deer that come into their yard each evening for snacks.

 My parents and I enjoyed driving over this bridge. You just do not see many bridges as this anymore. My mom was a bit upset that I snapped this photo while driving. Sorry to scare ya mom but the conversation amongst you, dad and I was priceless...

 I made a trek to the New Tiger Gardens and enjoyed some time relaxing by the pond with Tina and Farmer Fixit!

 Their pond is full of wonderful things such as this frog!

 And this one too as well as many more. They were not happy to have us interlopers near their home.

 A dragonfly posed for a little photo op as well.

 Back home in Georgia, I have enjoyed the window Hummingbird feeder immensely this summer. I have it on the window by the computer and the fur-baby's and I  get a kick out of observing them having a sip. The blue in the background is the pool which has been an asset this summer as well.

 We have found a few Geo-Caches when the humidity was not so brutal. Along the way we spotted this wild grape vine.

 Full of Muscadine's just waiting for the pickings.

 Don't know why we did not pick one and give it a try, Duh.

 We have spotted lots of wildflowers while out geo-caching as well.

 Purple and Yellow mingling together.

 Another beautiful wildflower along a dirt road.

Love the cluster of tiny blooms.

And we have also enjoyed some time on our boat at the lake with a full pool for a change! This about sums up our SUMMER HAPPENINGS, In the Garden...

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

Moon Flower & Red Cousins

By SKEETEROne morning I looked out into my Georgia Garden and spotted something glowing on the swing Arbor.
Zooming in, I could see huge white flowers! Oh my, what do I have here?

Big beautiful Moon Flowers! I saw these on someone else's blog recently and could not help but agree with them on how the center resembles a Starfish! Sorry for not remembering who mentioned that but you know who you are.
Here is a bud ready to pop open in the evening hours.
The leaf of Moon flower is large as is the bloom.
I planted these from seed packets so I have the name. She is Evening Glory; Ipomoea. When I purchased these seeds, I thought I was getting the same flower that once adorned my garden thanks to Tina passing along some seeds.
The Moon Flower that Tina has in her Tiger Gardens is Datura. Click HERE to see that beauty. Funny thing; When I picked up the packet of seeds, I thought I was getting the same flower that Tina has. How surprised to find out I have a vine climbing Moon Flower! Looking on the seed packet, I see it says "Night Blooming Vine" at the bottom. Well, Duh, on my part for not paying closer attention.
She is a beauty as she opens up in the evening but with all moon flowers, they do not last long. Just look at how large this bloom is compared to my hand!
By mid morning, the beautiful blooms have succumb to a blob of white nothing. Sigh, so pretty but for such a short time...
Where the blooms were once, I now see these things.
I can only assume these are seed pods. I sure hope so as I have enjoyed this flower and would enjoy it to reseed for next year!
When the Moon Flower is gone for the day, the Cardinal Climber is blooming to keep me happy.
This flower has been keeping the butterflies, bees and hummingbirds so happy this summer.
Look how differently this bloom looks then the one above it. Hum, lets do some research here shall we? Ahhhhh, this is not Cardinal Climber but Cypress Vine instead! Thank you Nina for the seeds! I have been seeing the Cardinal bloom for a while now and wondered why the Cypress has not bloomed. Well, well, it may have been blooming all along. I just have not noticed it as the blooms are so similar from a distance.

After a bit of researching on the computer I found this info.

Cardinal Climber:

Family-Convolvulaceae,

Genus-Ipomoea,

Species-Sloteri.

Cypress Vine:

Family-Convolvulaceae,

Genus-Ipomoea,

Species-Quamoclit.

Also the Moon Flower is Genus-Ipomoea. Ah ha, so these flowers are cousins! Learn something new everyday! The Climber and Cypress have been blooming like crazy and dropping old blooms daily! The ground by the swing is covered with them.
I also spotted this Scarlet Runner Bean blooming. It bloomed earlier in the summer but not for long. I was surprised to see this one blooming now. My seed packet says this one is edible but I will not munch on it and I don't see any bean pods anyway.
When that Grapevine covered tree fell (Click HERE to see) in our yard this past winter, I had a vision in my mind. I took that Wild Grapevine and turned it into an Arbor for this swing. (click HERE to see) That vision was continued with seed planting all around the base of the Swing Arbor. It is not often a vision in the head actually turns out as you plan but in this case, I am ever so happy with the results! I love that MOON FLOWER & RED COUSINS, In the Garden...

Note: Thank you Tina and Nina for the seeds to encourage me to try more seeds this season. Also thank you to all commenter's chatting with me. It has been a trying year for me in the garden as well in life. I will be Missing In Action for a bit. See ya when I return to the blog!

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

Seeds

By SkeeterThis year has not been a typical year in my Georgia Garden. I decided that in the years past, I was spending too much money on plants with some not returning the following year. Time to budget, so what's a gardener to do? Well, turn to seeds instead of purchased potted plants from a garden center. Excuse the blurry picture but the camera lens tends to fog over on these humid summer days!
The Grapevine Project (Click HERE to see) on the swing has done exactly what I had in mind when creating this little project. Okay, I had the idea and The Saint carried out the construction of the arbor. We do make a good team!
I did nothing more then poke some seeds into the ground beside the swing and just look!
I never have much luck with seed planting and I was thinking with their slow beginning, that these seeds were a flop as well. Once the Temperatures climbed, so did the vines as they really started taking off up the grapevine. The first picture was snapped on July 27 while the above was snapped yesterday, on August, 16. Yes, it is now growing like a weed! Zooming in, you can see the pretty red blooms she is finally showing me. This is Cardinal Climber from purchased seed.Here you see Cypress Vine from seeds passed along from Nina's garden. You may recall Nina as one of the original 7 commenter's in the beginning of "In the Garden" Blog. I visited Nina's garden last summer (Click HERE to see) and was captivated with the Hummingbirds buzzing all over her beautiful Cypress Vine. She informed me that the vine reseeds and she offered seeds for my Georgia Garden! How excited I was to receive those seeds and to plant them!One bit of warning though, they do grab a hold of anything in their sight to include unsuspecting Wind Chimes! I must check on the Cypress Vine every few days to make sure she is climbing where I prefer her to climb.
The Cardinal is starting to shine for me and hopefully the Cypress with its red blooms will be soon to show as well.
Zooming into the area below the swing, we find some pink and yellow pretties. Not sure what they are as this is an issue when planting seeds and not placing markers. I can only imagine how many seedlings I have pulled in other areas as those seeds never produced for me. Or did they?
I planted Morning Glory, 4 O'Clocks, Sweet Pea, Cypress Vine, Scarlet Runner bean, Cardinal Climber and Chinese Lantern below the swing on both side. The Cardinal Climber, Cypress Vine and Scarlet Bean are the only things I have been able to identify as things growing from seeds. I thought I had snapped a picture of the Scarlet Bean but I could not find one on file. It was a late spring bloomer for me which I enjoyed, although, it did not bloom profusely. Tina and Nina both gave me some of the above seeds as well as me purchasing some. I am wondering if the above picture is of Morning Glory? The morning glory I am familiar with are climbers and these are not but these bloom in the morning then close up by noon not to be seen again until the following morning! Looking at my empty seed packets, I also planted Moonflower but thinking it was the Jimsonweed type Datura that Tina has talked about in the past being white and large blooms. (Click HERE to see) Could this plant above in colors of yellow and pink be Moonflower?
Here you see the plant in the afternoon with blooms closed up and gone for the day. Also, you can see the Cardinal Climber grabbing onto this plant. Could this mystery plant be something else from seeds Tina or Nina passed along to me. What you think ladies, do you have this beauty in your gardens?
Zooming in to the Tipsy Pots, we see some color as well. Again, the humidity got to the camera lens. Geesh, I will be glad when the humidity is gone but on the other hand, once the humidity is gone, the flowers will be soon to follow. Sigh...
The top pot is home to Purslane. I have mixed feelings about this plant as she only blooms in the morning then closes up for the day. Like the mystery plants in the ground beside her! I prefer blooms that last all day long for my enjoyment as well as the bees, hummers and butterflies but Purslane finds its way into my garden occasionally.
This little beauties name escapes the brain at the moment but she sure is pretty calling the second pot home.
The third pot is home to Red Heart Hens & Chicks. I decided that not all the pots need to have a trailing plant. This Hen loves this spot and has been thriving all summer long. She is shaded a bit from the western sun and does not require as much water as the other two plants above. The bottom pot has a trailing green plant that touches the ground but very difficult to see as it is covered by all the vines and my Mystery Plant. (All the Tipsy Pot plants were purchased instead of grown from seed) I should be more diligent about marking where I plant SEEDS, In the Garden...

Note: A great big Thank You to Tina and Nina for passing along seeds for me to enjoy in my garden. I will show you more on Thursday...

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