If Only For a Day

Hi all! I hope everyone is doing well. Jamie and I have been busy trying to get the garden clean and hitting a few nurseries for some good bargains. We’re at a point now where we aren’t really buying as many plants as usual due to the fact we just simply don’t have the room. We have however, been making plans for a few changes in the garden, which have already started BTW. It’s beginning to look a little over grown, so we are going to be thinning out a few things and replacing others. We also have several holes that still need to be filled from the things we lost this winter. We’ll get around to doing things in due time, what a precious thing, there never seems to be enough of it. Even as I sit here and type there are plants waiting to be put in the ground. It’s just so dadblame hot out these days!

I thought I would post a few pictures of the daylilies that have bloomed recently. The foliage looks reallllllly ratty this year. We had a dryer than usual spring and the watering system needs a few additions to cover areas that are no longer getting reached. Despite all that, we still are being rewarded with several beautiful displays even if the leaves are a little crispier this year.

I haven’t been able to visit a lot of your blogs lately due to time restraints. I want to thank all of you that continue to read my post, despite my inability to visit you all as often as I once did. I’ve been doing pretty well about reading a few on the weekends. Hope you enjoy the flowers.

'Custard Candy'

'Mildred Mitchell'

'Strawberry Custard and Strawberry Candy'

'Crimson Pirate'

'Tiny Pumpkin'

'Pandora's Box'

'Daring Deception'

'Little Girl'

'Pumpkin'

And the Winner Is...

I want to thank all of you that participated in the little giveaway. I know a lot of bloggers consider it to be in poor taste to play a part in these little posts. I personally enjoy doing them and I’m sure the winner enjoys the fact that they entered as well! That being said I’ve been offered the occasion to do this on a relatively frequent basis and I believe I will continue to do it as long as the opportunities present themselves. Please take part as often as you like and feel free to tell your blogging friends. Everyone enjoys the chance to win a drawing or competition and I won’t hold it against them if they aren’t regular readers of this blog. *wink*

Another thing I wanted to mention very quickly is that the companies I host for do not request that I refer my blog readers to their sites. They simply ask that I very naturally find a way to put a link in my blog post. It is my decision to ask you to visit their site. It is my opinion, if they are willing to provide us with such very nice gifts the least we can do is show our gratitude by taking a peek at other objects they have to offer.

That being said, Jamie closed his sexy brown eyes and stuck his nimble little fingers down into the bottom of the pot and pulled out a name. And the winner is….

Dee from Red Dirt Ramblings! Congratulations Dee! This is a very nice looking watering can; I know you are going to enjoy it. It’s so pretty I don’t know if I would use it to water my flowers or put flowers in it like a vase! Whatever your choice I hope you enjoy it for years to come. Dee, please contact me thru the email provided on my blog profile with your mailing address and we’ll sort out all the details. To the rest you that entered thank you very much for participating, I do so enjoy the opportunity to give away a little gift and hope you enjoy the chance to enter. Hugs to you all and happy gardening!

Lets Have a Giveaway!

The generous people at CSN Stores have provided me with another wonderful opportunity to give you guys a gift. They have over a million products in their online store to include landscape lights, patio furniture, gardening tools and a lot more. Now, I’ve never been one to beat around the bush about my reasons for doing this. I think it’s only fair if you get something you need to give something in return. We all know this is promotional. *smiles*

Here is what I would like you to do in order to qualify for the giveaway. Don’t panic I’m not asking a lot and since CSN is being so generous I think it’s only fair. I would like you to go to CSN through the link provided above and tell me if you saw anything there that struck your fancy. It has a dual purpose; it will generate traffic to their site and will give me an idea of what items you might like in future giveaways. Don’t limit yourself just to the lights; they have a fantastic selection of garden related items.

This giveaway is for a beautiful, classically designed water can done in copper. Below is a stock picture borrowed from their site with permission.

Can you picture yourself in a big floppy garden hat walking around watering your flowers? I can! The deadline to enter this giveaway is 11:30 PM Friday, June 25, 2010. The names of the qualified entries will be placed in a flower pot and one will be randomly drawn by Jamie. Good luck! And thanks again to CSN for providing us with this fun giveaway!

Not So "Native Gladiolus"

Gladiolus Dalenii
'African Parrot'

When I first sat down at the computer this morning it was my original intention to do a post showing you all the daylilies that are blooming right now. Along with the daylilies the ‘African Parrot’ gladiolus are blooming, so I thought I would just throw in a picture of them as well. It occurred to me that I really didn’t know that much about them other than the name so I resolved to do a little research. What I discovered about them fascinated me, so I decided to share it with you.

Jamie and I have a wonderful friend named Carol that I’ve known for about 20 years now. She has a beautiful old home on a dirt road in south Alabama. Jamie and I had noticed wild glads growing on the side of the road a couple of years ago and made the decision to dig some up to bring back to our garden. I googled pictures of wild gladiolus in Alabama and found a picture of these flowers and were able to identify them as ‘African Parrot’. Until this morning I had left it at that and enjoyed the flowers. What I didn’t know was these glads were the first of seven brought to Europe in the 1600’s from Africa where they are native plants. ‘African Parrot’ or ‘Sword Lily’ was crossed with G. Oppositiflourus in 1823 to create the very first hybridized gladiolus; we inadvertently dug up the great grandfather of all modern day gladioli.

The plants were introduced to the United States sometime in the very early 1800’s. Even though these plants are considered native gladiolus because they have been growing wild for so many years, technically they aren’t. If you find the babies growing wild somewhere, you can just about count on the fact that in the last 334 years there has been a home somewhere nearby and someone now long gone from this world cherished the same blooms you have found by accident.

Gladiolus represent infatuation…

Just a Few Flowers

Hello everyone! We are in need of some serious rain here in Prattville. The grass is brown and crunch and the plants look haggard. We have a very effective drip system that waters the beds, but nothing can replace God’s water. Plants always look so much more vibrant after a good rain. Someone once told me rainwater is rich in nitrogen, is that true?

Anyway, I’ve been short for time here lately so I’m a little behind on my blog reading. I usually take my lunch at my desk at work and do my reading then, but the head of the IT department has told everyone no more internet usage. Sooooooo, that’s an hour of the day I don’t get to catch up on my blog reading. Which really sucks. I guess I just have to do what I can on the weekends because there is simply very little time during the week.

Here are a few pictures from the garden. I hope everyone has/had a great Memorial Day.

'Tequila Sunrise'

Variegated Iris

'Becky'

'Double River Wye'

'Darius'

'Daring Deception'

Unknown

'Raspberry Pixie'

'Chorus Line'

'Catalina'

Around the Garden 05/17/10

Jamie and I were out working in the garden a little this weekend. I was trying to catch up on a little cleaning and Jamie was busy planting some annuals. He got some beautiful African Marigolds, a few of his Petunias and three ‘Firewitch’ Dianthus planted. I had gone over to inspect the Louisiana iris because we are getting ready to do some serious thinning out and I found this beautiful guy.

Look at those beautiful pearl colored eyes and the pretty blue spot above his jaws. Those gold wings shimmer just like little jewels.

In another area of the garden two of the clematis have managed to escape the wrath of the weedeater. This one is called ‘Galore’. The blooms were much bigger last year. I’ve been afraid to throw out any fertilizer this season for fear Maxx will eat it. He eats everything. He has a special fondness for garden spiders and pieces of bath towels right now.

We have a couple of late blooming azaleas in our garden. This first one is ‘Gumpo White’. It’s a very compact plant and we purchased them for that very reason.

Here it is again coupled with some yellow ‘Anblo’ Yarrow blooms that have fallen over on the top.

Another late bloomer is ‘Cascade Pink’ it stays very low to the ground and can spread to about six feet in perfect conditions.

This plant is 3 feet wide and only about 11 inches tall. It’s almost like a ground cover.

‘Pink Cascade’