The August Garden

I'm still here, in case you've been wondering. Life's responsibilities and unexpected events (which always take priority over blogging) have left me with very little time or energy to compose a real post of any kind.

But, right now I find I have a minute or two to spare and a desire to share some photos of the beautiful flowers in our garden...because flowers have a way of making me smile, and I hope they'll do the same for you.

Esperanza 'Bells of Fire'

Giant Milkweed, also known as Crown Flower

Brazilian Buttonbush

Fennel

Salvia 'Indigo Spires'

Are you smiling yet?

The June Garden

Welcome to our garden! Here's what's blooming right now...

The Crape (or Crepe, if you prefer) Myrtle tree is just starting to bloom. We don't prune ours back like many people do. We prefer to let it grow naturally, only trimming back the deadwood when needed.

The Knock Out roses are nearing the end of their second flush, though there are still a few fresh flowers and some buds, too.

The flowers of the Esperanza look like yellow bells, which is what many people call this plant.

A new addition to the garden is 'Sweet Tea Southern Charm' Flowering Maple, an impulse buy at a market day sale. I tried to walk away from the loveliness of this apricot-orange flower, but I just couldn't do it. 

I finally got around to planting more Tropical Milkweed. I placed a few large stones around the bases to keep the chickens from uprooting them and it has worked...so far.

More coneflowers were added, too. There can never be enough coneflowers.

The Turk's Cap is now as tall as I am (5 feet, 4 inches). It takes me 16 normal-sized steps to walk completely around it. That's big, but it will get bigger! 

It's loaded with blossoms, each one holding a puddle of sweet nectar, which is good news for pollinators. It's a favorite of the hummingbirds that migrate through our yard and for that reason, a favorite of mine, too.

The May Garden

The Knockout roses are finishing up their first flush of the season. I spent some time one evening snipping away the spent blossoms and they look neat and tidy now.

This is Bee Balm, but imagine it's a photo of a neat and tidy bed of Knock Out roses.

We allow the chickens to forage in the garden and I think they've been a real help in keeping the weeds down. But because they turn the mulch over so frequently, it's broken down quickly and we've had to add more.

Bee Balm again...but you can imagine a freshly mulched butterfly garden, can't you?

The real challenge of gardening with chickens is figuring out how to protect new plants from being dug up by all their scratching. I bought new milkweed and purple coneflower several weeks ago that need to go in the ground, but I've been holding off until I could come up with a good plan. I recently read that adding large stones around the base of new plantings will help. I think I'll try that and maybe add a wire cage for good measure.

You guessed it...Bee Balm...imagine whatever photo you think should be here.

The best of the flowers right now is the Bee Balm. It's been a literal bright spot in our garden during a week of clouds and rain. It teased us with buds for weeks and then...boom...an explosion of color!

Bee Balm...no imagination necessary.

Smile, it's Monday!

Garden Goodness

Our vegetable garden is producing something good for us to eat every day.

The cherry tomatoes are coming in by the dozens. They are great in salads, or course, but they also jazz up a pan of scrambled eggs. And if I get hungry between meals, I just a pop a couple in my mouth—a burst of pure sunshine from the vine.

It looks like there are plenty more cherry tomatoes on the way and the slicing tomatoes are just beginning to ripen. I'm looking forward to that first BLT.

The zucchini and yellow squash are producing well, but it won't be long before the squash beetle takes over. Until then we're eating squash every week. I'm trying out new recipes and found a couple of winners. I can recommend this cheesy squash casserole and this recipe for stuffed zucchini is very similar to the one I used.

We planted a variety of peppers, but poblano are my favorite. They are spicy, but not too hot. I like to use them in place of bell peppers when I want to kick it up a notch. I just so happens I used up all of my frozen poblano peppers from our previous season's garden, so these peppers are arriving just in time. I picked a large one for our pot of chili the other night and it was so good!

The cucumbers are coming in, too. We planted a pickling variety, but not enough to make pickles. I just love how crisp and fresh tasting a homegrown cucumber is. We've been adding sliced cucumbers to our green salads and eating them just as they are.

We're still waiting on the eggplant, but the blossoms indicate we won't have to wait very long.

It's amazing how much goodness can be grown in two 4' x 8' garden boxes!

Fresh Veggies on the Way

It's amazing how much a vegetable garden can change in a couple of months.

This is how our garden looked on February 24.

And this is how it looked yesterday.

We've begun to harvest the first of the zucchini, picking it before it gets too big.

And it looks like a bumper crop of yellow squash is on the way.

John has put a PVC frame covered in bird netting around the tomato plants to protect them from the mockingbirds.

I most certainly do not want anything getting our tomatoes. Homegrown tomatoes are the main reason I wanted a vegetable garden in the first place.

We've harvested all of the romaine lettuce, the peppers are putting on fruit, the cucumber vines are blooming, and the herbs are strong and healthy.

Fresh veggies are on the way.

The March Garden

Not only are the Texas bluebonnets opening up in our garden, but so are many other flowers. Here's a photo roundup of what's in bloom this month.

Society Garlic

Wendy's Wish Salvia

Double Knockout Rose

Mystic Spires Blue Salvia

Mexican Honeysuckle

Lantana

Autumn Sage in a Pot

Mandarin Orange in a Pot

Lovely flowers, all.

Texas Bluebonnets

It's bluebonnet season in Texas.

A Texas bluebonnet in our garden just starting to bloom.

On our drive to Fort Worth last week to visit our children and grandchildren, we enjoyed the wildflower vignettes along the roadsides. 

Sometimes a large standalone patch of bluebonnets, deep blue in color, would make me think we should stop and take a picture. 

A photo of Texas bluebonnets I took in April 2013, Gay Hill, Texas.

At other times a mix of bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and yellow wildflowers called to me, but I didn't listen.

We kept driving on in anticipation of holding our grandchildren in our arms, enjoying the scenery along the way, but never stopping for photos.

Another of our garden bluebonnets, more fully open.

I don't regret our decision in the least...

An armful of love!

because hugs from grandchildren are far better than flower pictures any day.

The February Garden

I should be doing laundry...or cleaning house...or planning meals...or any number of inside chores, but the sunshine is calling me outdoors. I think I'd rather be in the garden today.

The Wendy's Wish salvia is blooming and looking rather good. I think I might be able to clean the weeds out this bed today.

The latest flush of rose blossoms have faded. All that's left are a few hips. I think it's a good time for a little pruning.

Most of the seed pods on the Esperanza have split open. Maybe I should collect the unopened ones. I've never grown Esperanza from seed. Have you?

Another salvia, Mystic Spires Blue, is also blooming. Blue is my favorite color. It makes me happy to see this one doing well.

Fireworks gomphrena has been hanging on all winter. I'm expecting lots of volunteers from this plant when the weather warms up.

And that brings me to the Turk's Cap. It never looks good through the winter, but I don't mind. The fruit the it produces is loved by the birds, as evidenced by the pecked holes on this piece. It's time to whack back the "sticks" and let the new growth at the base shine.

If you need me today, I'll be in the garden.

The January Garden

Last year the garden was sadly neglected for the more pressing matters of life. It was rarely weeded, never mulched, not fertilized, and left to do its own thing, which as you can imagine resulted in an overgrown mess. We hope to put things back in order this year.

And yet, despite our neglect, flowers bloomed, hummingbirds congregated, and butterflies abounded. And even in winter there are blossoms to enjoy.

The flowers of the firecracker bush are vibrantly colorful.

The fragrant blue mist flower, is going to seed and putting on new blossoms at the same time.

The shrimp plant, though leggy from having to fight its way through the overgrowth, displays its flowers proudly, only slightly nipped from recent frosty mornings.

And, the roses are actually blooming better in the cooler temperatures than in the heat of the summer.

So grows our southern garden in January—until (or if) we get a freeze.