The Once Unpopular Gardens

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 on the left, gladioli, daffodils, and pink bougainvillea. There is still a lot to clean up here but for now it’s quite colorful.

This area below have a lot of bearded irises, old gladiolus bulbs, daffodils, and lilies. Later in the summer and fall seasons I expect a great flowering garden here.

In the center of this group are the lavatory assurgentiflora “Island Mallow”. It hasn’t flowered yet and this is the second spring that it’s been there. Behind it are the large, silver-leafed verbascum “Arctic Summer” which have been there for two seasons and hasn’t flowered but it should flower this year.

This group has white statice growing abundantly next to a large grow bag filled with lemon basil. My Babcock peach is in the background. Purple geraniums as groundcover.

The below captures the prettiest tapestry of colors in my garden. There are blue bearded irises, pink alstroemerias, orange nasturtiums, Siberian irises, cranberry hibiscus tree, and the fading cerinthe major purpurascens “Blue Honeywort” in the front.

Below are the magnolia soulangeana tree in the front right, behind are the pink anisodontea “Strybing Beauty”, purple red roses bush, tall iochroma cyanea “Royal Blue” behind that, pink alstroemeria to the left, and chicory plants in the front left.

In this area I have the red Cinco de Mayo roses, yellow plumeria (not flowered yet), yellow roses called “Sparkle and Shine”, and chicory bush right behind it.

That’s all of my back and right side of the gardens. I hope you enjoyed the flowers presented. See you soon!

Puppies in the Garden

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 is a Maltese and cockapoo mix. He likes to lie down on his back in the garden like this picture below. That spot is cool and shady so he likes to spend his time there. My Cinco de Mayo roses are next to him.

Dreamy
Half dead
Dead to the world
Yep, gone

This is the opposite side of that shady spot and it is drier and always sunny. He likes to sleep there sometimes when he knows I will be in the garden for a little while.

HUNTER

This here is Hunter. He is our Harrier and American Foxhound dog. He is especially troublesome whenever he is outside. He howls and barks at neighboring dogs every day.

Sometimes I worry that he will attract coyotes to our yard because he howls for long periods of time, letting them know there is food nearby. Coyotes eat cats and dogs here regularly so I am a bit fearful.

He eats our unripened peaches and figs every day so far this spring. Whenever I pull weeds, he would be instantly by my side. Why? To eat grass and slugs that are exposed.

Hunter is a medium-sized, long-bodied dog with short legs. However, those legs are super duper fast and powerful. When he runs after something it sounds like an Arabian horse stampede. In these pictures he is just pondering where to go next…inside or stay in the sun.

Sometimes when I’m outside for too long and he wants to go in, he would come stare at me beseechingly.

That’s all I have about my dogs. Enjoy the pictures below of creatures I found exploiting my flowers and plants.

Happy Easter!

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 favorite verse for today:

JOHN 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

I also HAVE to show you my flowers from a few days ago. One of my peony plant flowered and I was shocked! I thought this Itoh peony would flower in its second year but this “Kopper Kettle” flowered after one year. She is AMAZING!!! Love the colors.

PEONY

Colors changed to lighter pink by the third day.

TULIPS

I am not sure which tulips these are but so beautiful. Lights up a room is what it does!

ANEMONES

IXIA

BEARDED IRIS

There you have it, everything that is lovely and magnificent this week. Have a great week ahead!

Ranunculus