Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all my bloggin' friends. I hope everyone has a very happy holiday season filled with love, peace, and blessings!

My Christmas wish this year is that we would all spend more time showing gratitude for our family and friends by praising and blessing them.

Let us all take care of each other throughout the New Year as we continue on our journey for personal growth.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and as always, Happy Gardening!

The Corner Succulent and Cacti Garden

When planning my garden spaces I've tried to keep it somewhat native. I've designed wildflower gardens, butterfly gardens, humming bird gardens, perennial gardens, shade gardens, and even a water garden for the pond. But the garden that I wasn't so sure about was my Cacti and succulent garden. I thought about putting container gardens in the area where I wanted this garden, but I also wanted to keep that area rather rustic looking. So I decided to plant a corner garden with a Yucca plant Vera Jameson Sedum and a couple of cactus.

The pink blooms of the Yucca plant and the pink blooms of the ground cover that the Sedum provide make for quite a bright surprise in the fall.

Til next time,

Happy Gardening!

Changing Seasons in the Garden

The days of summer have come and gone and autumn is now upon us. This is the second year that I have been able to plan and design my own gardens, and I have had the most wonderful experiences. The many flowers and trees that I planted over the past two years seem to have been the perfect choices for my gardens. I have enjoyed with great pride and awe how my gardens have flourished without a whole lot of stress.


I'm not saying that the process has been easy and without failures. Because it was hard work and there were a few casualties. But all in all I've decided that what grows and what does not grow are both examples of lessons that are taught to us by Mother Nature. Lesson that must be appreciated.


My first big project this summer was the planting of my Earth Kind Rose Garden. I planted nine rose bushes and developed a garden around the bushes.

The second project was to landscape my two tier pond that I installed last year. I kind of went away from the usual water plants and designed a butterfly hummingbird garden around the pond which has a peach tree for a backdrop.

(I've never eaten any of the peaches, the squirrels always get to them first.)

That idea proved to be an excellent one! The butterflies showed up daily to drink the sweet nectar of the flowers and flaunt their beauty. The hummingbirds made their appearance in late summer.

The sound of the waterfall in the pond - the fragrance from the zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers,salvia, and blanket flowers - the constant visits from the butterflies - not to mention the array of songbirds that stopped by for a drink, made for a very tranquil and beautiful space in my gardens.

Summer may be gone, but autumn is no slouch. Most of my gardens are still in bloom and now the mums and asters have made their debut. They are bursting out all over.

I know the fall will be just as beautiful as the summer was.
I used to think that spring was my favorite season. But now I can't decide. I guess my favorite season of the year is the one I'm experiencing right now.
I hope you have enjoy my look back over my summer of 2009. The holidays are fat approaching and this yer will soon be over. I've discovered that life goes by much too quickly so we must always stop to smell the roses or whatever flower that we are blessed to be near.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

Mellow Yellow Monday - Yellow Mushrooms in the Garden

I know they may be a little creepy to some, but I think these little yellow mushrooms are cute. I found them in my garden this morning and thought they would be perfect for Mellow Yellow Monday.

Happy MYM to all!

Ruby Tuesday - Roses Are Red

Finding candidates worthy to post for Ruby Tuesday has become one of my favorite things to do. This week I'm going to the garden again. Here goes.

Red Knock Out Rose Bud

Red Knock Out Rose

The Knock Out Rose is a member of the Earth Kind Roses Family. They are easy to grow, disease and insect resistant and above all beautiful.

These Knock Out Roses led me to plant a rose garden comprised of 5 different varieties of Earth Kind Roses. I highlighted the process in an earlier blog My Earth Kind Rose Garden .

I hope my Ruby Tuesday selections bring you joy.

Til next time,

Happy Gardening!

Mellow Yellow Monday - Friends in the Garden

Well it's Mellow Yellow Monday again! Hope everybody had a great weekend! I spent mine watching the rain come down. I'm not complaining it was great weather to stay inside and watch football.

Here are my entries for MYM! I hope they bring you joy.

Turks Cap is one of the favorite plants of the Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly!

These two Fiery Skipper Butterflies found more than just nectar when they visited this beautiful Zinnia in my garden!

This little bee found more than enough pollen in this bright yellow Cosmos that I planted near the pond in the garden!

Happy Mellow Yellow Monday!

Water Smarts in the Garden

It's Saturday afternoon here in Arlington, Texas and its been raining for the past 2 days. Being a gardener, I must say that I am very appreciative of the rain. But it got me to thinking about all of the dry hot days we experience here in Texas.

While most of my gardens are comprised of native plants, lets face it, they all need lots of water. I try to conserve as much as possible, so I'm always looking for new ideas to help me learn better ways to help me do that and help environment at the same time.

I ran across an article in the September/October 2009 issue of "Gardening How-To Magazine" entitled: Get Smarter About Water. It had some great ideas and I thought that I would share one of the tips that I really liked and thought that I would be able to do.

BRING INSIDE WATER OUT:

Garden water isn't limited to rainwater or the outdoor hose--use kitchen water too. If you've just boiled eggs, pasta, or vegetables, pour the leftover hot water on weeds and they'll soon wilt and die (great for weeds in driveway crevices and along walls). Let the water cool and you can use it on any of your plants--they'll especially love the cooking water's trace minerals. And don't dump water out when you rinse your almost-empty coffee pot. Instead, pour it on acid-loving plants like impatiens, begonias, irises, hydrangeas, aloes, and azaleas.

Look at the ways water goes to waste in your house and put it to good use. Place a pitcher on the kitchen counter for "recycled" water; whenever someone doesn't finish a glass of water, pour it into the pitcher. When it's full, use the water on houseplants or patio container plants. If your bathtub faucet leaks during your shower, put a bucket under the faucet, then use the water on an herb pot or window box.

I hope you find this article helpful. Like I said there are many other good tips on the website if you would like to visit www.gardeningclub.com.

Until next time.
Happy Gardening.

Ruby Tuesday - Red Hat

As you can tell by my blog title, I love gardening and spend a lot of time in my gardens. While that is my passion, I must say that there is another thing that I am quite passionate about.That is spending time with my Red Hat Society sisters.
For those that don't know, the Red Hat Society was started about ten years ago by a woman who was determined to enjoy life past the age of fifty. She wanted to celebrate life with her girlfriends around the same age. Donning Red Hats and Purple outfits the tea parties, vacations, and other fun outings began.

From one woman's determination not to let life

pass her by, an international phenomenal has swept up women around the world.
I'm proud to say that I am one of them.
So for this Ruby Tuesday post I thought that I would share a few of my favorite red hat things.

Mellow Yellow Monday- Pandora's Box Day Lily

Pandoras's Box Day Lily

Happy Labor Day!

Hope you enjoy my Mellow Yellow Monday Selection.

This day lily is reblooming from early spring.

It was quite a surprise when saw it a couple of days ago.

TODAY'S FLOWERS - NASTURTIUM

NASTURTIUM

I discovered this delicate white bloom in my Butterfly & Hummingbird Wildflower Garden. It only started blooming just a few days ago. What a lovely surprise. I hope you enjoy it as my Today's Flower entry.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

SkyWatch Friday - Happy Labor Day

I'm a proud American and this flag graces my home each and every day. With the upcoming Labor Day Weekend approaching I thought that this shot captured by my daughter early one July evening would be perfect for SkyWatch Friday. I hope you agree.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

Ruby Tuesday- Red Rules

Good Tuesday morning and welcome to my first Ruby Tuesday post.
I hope you enjoy my selections.

This red bloom is Turks Cap. It thrives
easily in my garden and the humming-
birds and butterflies love it. So do I!

This little Red Barn is a replica
of the many signs that you
will see while traveling through
the cities near Lookout Mountain,
Georgia. I found this bell at the gift
shop in Chattanooga, TN's airport.

A bright red Zinnia was just the spot
for this Swallowtail Butterfly visiting
my garden.