Always Growing and Changing

By SkeeterThings never seem to stay the way they start in my Georgia Garden. I have showed you my little Wishing Well Garden in the past. Things change over time, some for the good, some not so good. This picture above was snapped on Oct. 2, 2009. Canna, Daylily, Ginger and Sage are the main plants in this garden.
Three days later, the baby bananas were added extending the garden to the swing and other end. This picture shows the Good of time and change.
We now jump to spring of 2010 and we see the not so good of change. The Ginger and Bananas did not return.
But never fear, because I had more Free Lilies to plant!
In this picture you can see how I moved the Wishing Well off what will one day be the pathway linking this garden to the Butterfly Island (as well as another garden). The Well is now nestled in the middle of the Canna and Daylily.
One month later, the Lily are standing tall and the grass filled in as a frame for the garden. Also added to this planter; Gerbera Daisy, Purslane, Christy Speedwell, Apricot Twist Wallflower and the red Sage, which the Humming birds love!
In this picture, you can see I have another thing to add to this Garden. I had a few baby Bananas in pots over wintered inside the house. One small banana was planted near the swing but you cannot see it as it is so small. You can see the one in the pot to the left of the garden. I had intended to plant it in the Beach Planter where it was removed from last fall. After reading Tina's post on how her bananas grew and spread, (Taking down the Bananas) we feared the bananas were too close to our house foundation so we opt out of planting this fella so close to the house. We will instead, extend the planter a bit to add the bananas leaving plenty of room for them to grow and spread.
The Angel Garden is close to this Garden so they will be attached via a gravel pathway some day in the future. I also have a plan for that cement slab of a sidewalk you see in the background. The orange thing on the ground is an extension cord.
Another Freebie you see added to the planter is Iris. I am so happy I finally have Iris in my Garden. Iris reminds me of my hometown in Tennessee but I have never had any in my garden. Thanks to Tina, I now have Iris in my garden! Thank you, thank you, thank you Tina!
Vines are climbing up the grapevine of the swing and I am ever so happy for that plan panning out for me! I have another plan for under the swing in the future. Here you can see I am already removing the grass.This is where this post ended as of Thursday when I wrote it. Now the weekend has come and gone with more yard work. Ah, this Garden was extended and the banana planted! I dug all that sod out by myself in the humidity and with dry soil, it was a tough job. I used my brain a bit and had a fan blowing on me and lots of water near by. The Saint collected the sod and placed it on a large bare spot in the front yard. I left plenty of room for the Banana Trees to take off if they should desire. I also spread pine straw mulch in the planter. As you can see, I still need to tweak the shape of the planter but not in this heat. I am finished for now. Also since Thursday, some of the Free Lily have started to bloom. Yes, this one is Orange as I was told they would be. But lookie here, this one is NOT orange!And this one is NOT orange either! I have multi colored Lily and for Free! I am so excited about these beautiful freebies...
I will soon be off Blogging as I plan to get back to Tennessee with my family. My niece will be getting married soon plus my parents need some help and support during the flood rebuild. So here is something that I will show you now as it is related to the Banana Trees.

This Beach Planter is where I had the Banana Tree. The hot Georgia sun faded the fish so they will soon have a fresh coat of paint. I also finally found a Pelican to add to the planter. The metal cat silhouette to the right was a bargain find at the Humane Society Yard Sale. As I mentioned, the main banana did not return after our abnormally cold winter. The baby banana's I wintered in pots inside went into the Wishing Well Garden so this left me an opening in the Beach Planter. Lola had given me a lily and it is located to the right and even though growing slowly, still growing for now. The Saint and I went on a quest this past weekend to find something Tropical looking to fill in the empty spot. We found this "Silver European Fan Palm" with a tag that reads Cold Zone, one of the worlds most cold hardy palms. Full sun to part shade, low water, Temps to 0-degrees. We decided to give this palm a try as we think it will be fine in this spot. Only time will tell though. Wish us luck.....

Tina, the root ball of the Mother Banana, after one year of being in this spot, was as large as a bowling ball. It took the Saint some time to remove! Thanks for the warning...

Things are ALWAYS GROWING AND CHANGING, In the Garden...

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

Update the Wishing Well

By SkeeterHere you see my small Wishing Well Planter I added to my Georgia Garden last fall. When I started this planter, I knew it would grow larger in time. All I had originally were the cute Well, Cannas and some Sage. You may remember my cat being mesmerized with a Visitor to the Sage before it was placed into the ground last fall. The two Salvia Greggii, "Wild Thing" Sage have thrived in this area and gifted me with lots of blooms such as above.

This year I added some new things to this Planter. I put the last of the 12 Bargain Serena Angelonia's I told you about a while back. I also added some Lilies.

The Spring Rains were nice to us but not so nice where weeds in the Garden are concerned. I had a lot of weeds to pull out of this planter as well as other planters and gardens. Here is a closer peek at that bright Lily that popped out first for me. I don't know her name as she was a bargain Lily with no name for $1.00. I have two of these side by side but this is the only one which bloomed for me.Another Bargain Lily with no name! I think the law should be all plants should have tags with names on them even if bargain finds. I am joking of course, but it would be nice to know what I have here. I found 3 of these for $2.00 each.
Ah, now this one I did not find on the Bargain Shelf.
Meet the lovely Minnie Pearl, the Lily Bloom and not the Hee Haw regular we all knew and loved from the old TV show.
Here is something that Lola passed along to me last fall with some Canna's. I had the Zingiber Zerumbit/Shampoo Ginger in a pot inside during winter and it was growing well. In Spring I put it into the ground in a spot where too much rain was turning it yellow in color. I took it out of the ground and in the process, I broke off every stem of the plant! I was devastated to say the least. I put the rhizomes back into the pots and in time it started to grow for me once again.
This time, I very carefully planted it in the center of the right side of the planter behind the thriving Angelonia. A Banana Tree was planted here once. Tina was so kind to pass the nanner along to me but the poor thing bit the dust from what I assume to be too much rain in the winter months. Sigh, we do not like droughts nor do we like too much rain. I long for a garden with perfect rain fall conditions. Does anyone know where that place is located? The Ginger grew nicely but no blooms this year as it was late going with the earlier mishap.
The main thing Lola was sending me last fall were some Canna from her Florida garden. I was after a certain one and she sent me a huge box full of goodies. I was like a child at Christmas opening that package!
Here is one I recall being known as Tropical. It never bloomed for me this year but I am holding out for blooms next year!
This one I believe to be Durban but not sure. I had so carefully tagged them each and put the tags into the ground only to find faded names when I peeked at them for this post. She did not get as tall as my other canna but taller then the Tropical.
The colors to this canna are just beautiful.
I was only lucky enough to get two different bloom times from this canna with the most recent being October 2. I am hoping for many more blooms next year.
The colors were just awesome to my eyes!

Lola also put some Caladium in the goodie box! They did not do too well and I doubt they will return next year but I can cross my fingers and hope though. A Fromosa Lily did not make it either. It started out with such growth then died once planted in the Beach Themed Planter. However, it did produce a second small plant so I have hope for the lily next year.

Here is one of last years canna showing its bright red colors again this year.
As did the Orange Canna from last year. This canna has given me many babies and this single plant bloomed all summer long with its last bloom being October 2.
Here is a close up of a bloom after a nice rain fall.
This picture was snapped on Aug. 18. All three colors of Canna were blooming along with the Butterfly Bushes, the Periwinkle and Crepe Myrtle. I was so thrilled!Look at how full the planter is getting now! The Ginger really filled in and I can hardly wait to see what happens to this planter next year. Notice that tall banana tree in the planter by the water hose!
When starting this post a few days ago. I was going to end it here by saying more would be added next spring.
From the birds-eye view, you can see where something needs to connect this planter to the swing.
Well, why wait until Spring when you have nice weather in early Fall? I took out some of the baby Banana plants from the Beach Planter while the Saint dug out some grass to extend the Planter for me! A bale of Pine straw will finish off the look for now.
Now the birds-eye view tells me to move the Wishing Well from the center and place it else where while connecting the walkway from this planter to the Butterfly Bush Island Garden! And to also make a pea gravel base under the swing. Ah, the ideas, they are a flowing...
Oh, how exciting it was to UPDATE THE WISHING WELL, In the Garden...

Thank you so much for the gifts from your Florida Garden Lola! I give you full credit for giving me the motivation to make this once small planter into something special!

Wishing Well

Fall time is the perfect time for me to play in the yard. I can create new things without melting away in sweat from the hot Georgia days!

It was a while back when I picked up this little wishing well. I see them in front yards all over the south so decided I needed one. I had no idea where to find one then someone suggested I look at Harbor Freight. I think it was Cindee at Cindee's Garden but not sure. Please correct me if I am wrong as to who gave this hot tip!

To the left of the well is the small Canna & Caladium bed I have talked about in the past. To the right of the well, is the banana plant that Tina gave me while on a visit with her. It came complete with roly poly bugs! Too funny Tina...With the Saints help, we dug out the grass into an oval shape. I then got busy and pounded a brick border and poured a pea gravel pathway from the grass to the well and around to the back side. Then I planted the Sage plants I had sitting on the back stoop for some time. You recently saw our last hummingbird sipping from the blooms. Then topped it all off with fresh pine straw.

I was not sure where the wishing well was going to end up but Lola helped me decide. Lola was kind enough to send me lots of Canna and Caladium from her garden this fall. So I needed to extend the Canna bed and this came to mind! Thank you so much for the inspiration Lola. As the Canna, Caladium and Banana trees flourish, I may end up extending this small garden to the swing and spread things out a bit. I can hardly wait until next summer to see what happens in this new garden.

Lola and Tina, Thank you both so much for the wonderful gifts! I will think of you both every time I look at my WISHING WELL, In the Garden...