Now that the rain had stopped for a few days, I was able to go out and do some weeding and planting. I love that the weather was warmer, too. In this post are flowers that bloomed this week. SPARAXIS DUTCH IRIS DENDROBIUM ORCHIDS I got this large dendrobium orchid pot from my cousin. They … Continue reading Rain-kissed Flowers
Odd title to start today isn't it? I like to be very unconventional. What I really had in mind for the title is "Wordless Sunday" because I don't feel like saying much just...wordless Sunday. I opted for the title "Picture Day" because essentially that's what my flowers do every day, waiting to get their pictures … Continue reading Picture Day
Today is a day about red flowers and I've got a few! Years ago I never thought I would love red flowers or anything red but just last year I really started "digging" red flowers! Red was too loud, screaming for attention, I thought. Well, not anymore. I like screaming for attention IN RED. Today, … Continue reading Red Flowers
As promised, this post is all about plants that naturalize or multiply. With these plants you will never have to buy again. Cerinthe Major or Honeywort below just needed to be planted once and let the seeds spread once the plants die at the end of spring. In late fall here in Southern California, the … Continue reading Plants that Naturalize
I was out sometimes last week and saw my garden for the first time after the rain and freezing, cold weather. They looked so pretty. I feel I should capture the scene before it will change again in a few months. Trees and plants growing so fast each year. I am always amazed when I … Continue reading My Garden Today
Happy Valentine's Day everyone! These flowering Peach Blossoms are the perfect winter beauties! For the past two weeks I've been greeted by them each day as I come and go through the front of the house. They've been there for three years now and this year's blooms are much more abundant than last year's. I … Continue reading Flowering Peach Blossoms
The past few weeks have been pretty cold for me to go outside to do gardening. When I say cold, I meant the low 40s and 50s degree Fahrenheit. I went outside last week and found all kinds of flowers in my garden. I was glad to see spring signaling that it is around the … Continue reading Daffodils, Stocks, and More
Several things are budding or flowering this week. Here in Southern California we have a warmer winter than many places in the U.S. so many plants like hibiscuses, roses, and nasturtiums are growing happily this winter. I don't know much about reblooming bearded irises in other parts of the U.S, here in my area they … Continue reading Colorful Winter Garden
This weekend I wanted to share some pictures of my desert roses and bearded irises. While not many things are blooming outside in my garden, desert roses and bearded irises are making a big scene this week. I've been in love with desert roses (also called adeniums) for a long time. Years ago I tried … Continue reading Desert Roses and Bearded Irises
Happy new year everyone! This is my first post of the year! This post I would like to share some interesting plants and scenery these past weeks. With the holidays coming and going back to back in the past couple of months it is good to take a moment to relax again. To start, I … Continue reading Random Weather and Garden Things
As we finish off 2022, I'd like to showcase all of my favorite flowers that were mentioned in the blog for the past year. It was an AMAZING year of beautiful flowers again! Before posting this I thought I wasn't going to have as many beautiful flowers as I've had in the past but after … Continue reading Best Flowers of 2022
Today on Christmas Eve we are hosting a party for extended family who we have not seen in a long time. About half of them told us yesterday that they willl be coming! Luckily they will be bringing some food too so I think we will be okay. Hopefully everyone is enthusiastic about seeing my … Continue reading Merry Christmas
This is the year of ornamental kale. I grew a pink ornamental kale two years ago but this year I grew several different kinds. They are called the Lucir White and Kale Crane varieties in pink, red, and white. I wrote about some that were in my Ornamental Kale post a few weeks ago. Ones … Continue reading More on Ornamental Kale
Today this bible verse really comforts me with all the troubling things going on in the world. I don't know about you but I worry about the world where my children and grandchildren will grow up in. I fear that God will be forgotten and morality dissipating. I have spent many days worrying and praying … Continue reading Bible Verse John 8:12
The ornamental kale that I grew earlier this winter have finally changed colors and taken shape. It is a slow process so patience is needed for growing ornamental kale. The only one that is the oldest is the one below which I first talked about back in December 2021. Yes, it is the same one … Continue reading Ornamental Kale
This week I have a bunch of cute and interesting pictures I want to share. Some are pictures of my dogs and some are pretty flowers in the garden. I also found some interesting grasshoppers in my backyard. Plus you'll find out how I love planes! Dogs Let's start with my dogs! My dogs are … Continue reading Dogs, Flowers, and Interesting Things
After a year of growing in the ground with no flowers I decided to read up on these iochroma cyaneas. They were growing taller and bushier every minute for the past year but no flowers! I learned that you have to trim them in order for them to bloom. I still can't figure out whether … Continue reading Iochromas
Yes, it's a flush of fall colors but not the usual oranges, browns, and reds. These are purple, pinks, reds, and yellows of fall blooming flowers. I have some new blooming bearded iris, a couple of dahlias, a rose mallow hibiscus, a stump grown pineapple plant, and a few others. Bearded Iris Dahlia Morning Glory … Continue reading Flush of Fall Colors
This week I am seeing a lot of pretty roses in my garden. The weather has been cooler and feels more like fall season. Hibiscuses seem to like this time of year too because they have been flowering more. Last week I showed you some hibiscuses and brugmansias. There are more this week but they … Continue reading Roses, Hibiscuses, and Brugmansias
This past week when I was dealing with some difficult people, I prayed to God. He reminded me of these bible verses for finding peace within myself and be at peace with the people who caused the unhappiness. Matthew 5:11-12 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of … Continue reading Bible Verses for Dealing With Difficult People
Yes, more hibiscuses! Those of you who follow my blog probably see a million pictures of all my hibiscuses year round. It feels like they bloom all the time. They seem to do the most in late summer to early fall. You've heard that they're my favorites, probably? Today I'm going to be very short … Continue reading Hibiscuses, Daturas, Rain Lilies, and More
I'm excited that some previous bloomers came back for a second round of flowers. In this post I have a couple of beautiful purple hibiscuses, pink powder puff plant, "Twilight Zone" rose, red portulaca, and a variety of ornamental kale. Only the "Black Dragon" hibiscus below is flowering for the first time this year. I … Continue reading Black Dragon Hibiscus, Purple Flowers, and Ornamental Kale
Earlier this week we had an amazing, perfect rainbow and a pink blue sky. I love the pink and blue effect in the sky. It looked surreal, I want to say armageddon-ish. The backyard view is the rainbow which I've never seen a more perfectly-shaped rainbow than this ever. The front yard view has the … Continue reading Southern California Pink Sky
The heat in our Southern California area has been brutal. For the past two weeks it has been in the high 90 to low 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was also very humid. I was out there watering every day before I go to work. Luckily the plants survived and have been given me the best … Continue reading Heat Lovin’ Plants
Well, I'm embarrassed to show you my collection of bonsai trees but I must... just to tell you that you should never take on more than you can handle (like I did) when it comes to bonsai trees. I had this great ambition of growing a few bonsai trees. I was going to be re-potting, … Continue reading Bonsai Trees
This week I was excited to see some of my purple and pink flowers bloom. It's been a few weeks now since I've seen major developments in my garden. For those who know me, I grow a lot of purple and pink flowers. Love them to death! They are two of my favorite colors. I … Continue reading Purple and Pink Flowers
I made myself another pendant last Sunday. I needed a pendant with silver and pink colors to go with some of my outfits so ergo the Aza pendant in this post. I got the free pendant pattern from beadsmagic.com. Lately I've been into make pendants because they are quick projects that I can do in … Continue reading Aza Pendant
I have been MIA (missing in action) for almost three weeks. I don't know why I was gone from blogging. I think I just needed a little break from working so hard in the garden and on blogging. I just reached my three years anniversary of blogging this August. I think every year when I … Continue reading Update on Epiphyllums
As a blogger, have you noticed that most views happen on Saturdays, Wednesdays, or Fridays, in that order of importance? I noticed most of the seasoned bloggers post on THOSE days. They must know something. Normally I don't like to emulate anyone but I noticed those are the most popular days for me as well. … Continue reading Gloriosa, Sweet Peas, Godetia, and More
I came upon a great verse today in the Bible that I feel I should remember and always be doing in my every day life. My problem is that I am always wanting things: plants, clothes, desserts, jewelry, and perfumes. Sometimes I forget that the more that I collect, the more troublesome they become to … Continue reading Being Content
This post has a lot of hard to grow plants, at least for me. I grew some of these from seeds and it took a long time, 2-3 years to get them to grow big and flower for me. The rose mallow and lisianthus are challenging taking TOO MANY years to flower! However, only the … Continue reading Voodoo Lily, Lisianthus, and More Flowers
Summer is the best time for lilies to bloom. These past few weeks I have seen non-stop flowering from all of my lilies. Most are very fragrant and tall. They are very easy to grow and can tolerate so much heat in my planting zone. All of the Rose of Sharon hibiscus varieties you see … Continue reading More Lilies, Hibiscuses, and Other Flowers
I have been putting off beading for a long time, so this past weekend I made time to create this pendant. As I was making it, I remembered how much FUN it is to create using different beads and color combinations. I get so excited to see the finished product! This design is given by … Continue reading Bali Pendant
After I came back from vacation I noticed my garden had a big burst of blooms from my lilies and hibiscuses. The weather had been around 90 degrees Fahrenheit every day this past week. Every morning before I go to work I would water all the pots and vulnerable plants like hydrangeas. By the afternoon, … Continue reading Lilies and Hibiscuses
Ooops! I made a mistake the other day in my post about my road trip vacation. I forgot to post pictures of my Reno visit! We didn't stay long enough to explore and get nice pictures but there are several nice areas I wouldn't mind retiring to some day. There are parts that looked a … Continue reading Day 2-4 Reno and Lake Tahoe
I just came back from a long road trip with my family yesterday. The trip was five nights which include stops in Death Valley National Park, Reno in Nevada, South Salt Lake City, and Sequoia National Park. It was really long. I am not a fan of long road trips. I also fought tooth and … Continue reading Day 1-2: Death Valley and Reno Vacation
I have been busy last week with my oldest son's graduation from high school. And this week I am preparing to go on vacation with the family before my son starts a new job and the youngest start cross country running camp. I had lots of flowers in the garden but many were not captured … Continue reading Hibiscuses, Cleome, Wasabi, Asiatic Lilies, and Cornflowers
I read that blogs should give something of value to the readers, something for them to walk away feeling that they learned something. I realized that my blog doesn't have interesting tidbits to share, it's mostly about me gushing over my flowers. So...today, I will share three tips I learned while growing and developing my … Continue reading Gardening Tips
Today I thought I should start creating and eventually print a gardening book that will contain all the flowers I showcased in this blog and more that I couldn't post before. I would put in tips on how to care for them and where to plant. It would be overloaded with pictures of beautiful flowers. … Continue reading A Bevy of Flowers
In this post I have a lot of plants I grew from seeds. There are many that I grew from the end of winter that have not flowered yet but these below are some very quick growing ones. Columbines This year Columbine is my favorite flowers to grow. I tried planting several seeds and also … Continue reading Columbines, Statice, Schizanthus, Linaria, and more
On Mother's Day I was surprised by the biggest and most extravagant of blooms by these two: epiphyllum and and amaryllis plants. Last year my epiphyllum only had one bloom, this year, there are 13! The flowers are about 7 inches wide. It only flowers in the spring but it is an amazing sight. I've … Continue reading Epiphyllum and Amaryllis Flowers
This post is about flowers and a Barbie that have the words "rose" in them. The Rose Barbie is one I had promised to show you many months ago but kept putting it off. The Barbie is from a Flowers in Fashion Collection consisting of the Rose, Orchid, Calla Lily, and the Iris Barbies. Plum … Continue reading Roses, Moss Roses, and Rose Barbie
I just realized there are parts of my gardens that I haven't shown in the past, called "the unpopular gardens". It was because it was really barren. Luckily, now everything that I've grown in the past year have filled out. This area of the garden is way in the back corner with my avocado tree … Continue reading The Once Unpopular Gardens
These puppies in the garden are not puppies actually, they are full grown 5 and 6 years old dogs. Still puppies to me, though. LORD WAGGLES This cafe au lait colored dog is called Lord Waggles but we call him Waggles for short. We are not quite sure what he is but we think he … Continue reading Puppies in the Garden
Happy Easter everyone! I hope you are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus today with your friends and family. My family is hosting an Easter lunch today for my husband's family. It's not a big party this year and it's the first one we have since the Chinese virus hits us two years ago. Here's a … Continue reading Happy Easter!
Bearded irises are blooming again! I love these flowers. They come in the most vibrant, spectacular colors! They can handle dry, clay soil like a champ and they multiply each year. You can divide and share! My love of the irises started when I received a bulb at my mother-in-law's memorial service. She loved irises … Continue reading Bearded Irises, Alstroemeria and a Few More
I am officially done with buying plants for the season and possibly until next year! I have spent most of my weekends to do weeding and to plant 80+ flower seedlings. My garden has no space that I can dig up myself anymore. The next option is to put things in containers but I tend … Continue reading My Verdant Garden
This sturdy seedling is buckwheat. Look it has grown tiny little flowers already! It sprouted from seeds within a few days and grew really fast. The picture of the roses here does not do it justice. The pink is a dark, striking pink. The flowers are at least 5 inches wide and so plentiful. In … Continue reading Irises, Roses, and Statices
We've had one whole day of rain here in Southern California this past Monday. I had two 50-gallon rain barrels out there for the first time and they are completely full. Yesterday I attached a hose to one of them and filled up my watering can. It is wonderful to be able to use free … Continue reading Springtime Yellow Flowers
Today I wanted to share a video I made of my garden with birds singing and chatting in the background. These birds are so chatty that they go on for half of the morning while I'm in the garden. I am out there so much, I'd like to believe they see me as their friend … Continue reading Birdsongs Video Blog
Last week I said I was going wordless in the last post but I ended up ranting a whole lot. I was planning to make this wordless too but I find that I can't resist giving you some write-up about some of the interesting things you will see in this post. Enjoy the flowers and … Continue reading Garden, Flowers, and Dogs
Verdant Garden 