Have you ever seen zinnias like the ones at Rosalie’s?  She has this great raised bed, and for the last three years it has been exploding with zinnias, four o’clocks, and several other wildflowers, all planted from seeds.

 

We love seeing them in bloom as we near the top of Five Forks Drive.  

 

 

THANKS, ROSALIE!!!

 

The Devil’s Walking Stick trees are beginning to bloom all over the neighborhood.  I haven’t noticed any others, but they are probably all along the roadways.  They are about 8-10 feet tall, and easy to spot at 45 miles an hour.  These are on Five Forks Drive just across from the new Deer Crossing sign.  

 

The flowers are pretty to look at, but the trunks of the trees are covered in sharp spines.  Not a tree that you would plant in your yard (to mow around) but definitely an interesting tree to see and appreciate at a distance.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

We loved the rain on Saturday, but the storm that came with it broke off a few of my huge sunflowers.  

 

They were out of reach (10 feet high) so we couldn’t pick any anyway.  But when they came down, I couldn’t help myself.  I saved as many blossoms as I could, and put them in a vase in the house.  And, you know me:  I also saved some seeds to plant again next year.  

 

The flowers in the vase are real;  those two on the table are my silk summer decorations.  Hard to tell the difference.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Don’t you just LOVE Crape Myrtle?  So do I!!!  

 

Because of their long bloom period, in China they are called the “flower of one hundred days.”

 

The Crape Myrtles all over town have started blooming, and this is my favorite: lavender.  But they come in white, lavender, red, and pink.  There are several pink ones in the neighborhood, a few white ones, and the new plantings on the entrance road are blooming red.  This one is at Hughes Outdoor, right beside the steps.  Close enough that you can actually smell it.

 

I hope you see some pretty ones in your travels.

 

 

HAPPY AUGUST!!!

 

I know this doesn’t look like much, but here’s the thing:  We cleaned out this bed completely on Monday morning, and reseeded it.  I took this picture on Wednesday evening.  That’s just 2 days to germinate!!!!

 

We love this arugula bed, and have been growing arugula here for the last 15 years.  Sometimes, we leave it to go to seed, and save the seeds.  Sometimes, we just pitch the old stems and start over.  Most years we get two or three crops of arugula.  

 

Can’t have too much.  ;)

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

This is one of the four hanging baskets hanging across the front of Hughes Sporting Goods in Blairsville.

 

They are beautiful and HUGE.  They are full of begonias, purple wandering jew, Dichondra, and sweet potato vine.  These baskets are so full that Ralph says he waters them a couple times a day.  

 

Be sure to look to the right when you are heading into Blairsville.  They are breathtaking.

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Ok, this is our total garlic harvest.  We ended up with 100 bulbs of garlic.  

 

That’s enough to last the year for cooking, and some to replant in October.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

Now that is a tomato!!!  One of my pineapple tomatoes.  You can’t see, but the bottom is red.  When we slice it to put on a pizza it is beautiful.  And delicious.

 

I love growing these tomatoes every year.  Wait…I only PLANT them.  They GROW all by themselves.  OK, with a little help from me and my two green thumbs, and ten black fingernails.  

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

These are two of the three trays of tomatoes that need to be canned.  Aren’t they beautiful?  They are all heirloom tomatoes.  The smaller ones are a paste type tomato, good for canning, and the big yellow ones are pineapple tomatoes.  The pineapple tomatoes are yellow on top and red on the bottom.  The big red ones are some kind of heirloom, whose name I have forgotten, and the pinkish ones are Brandywine pink.  I should start over with fresh seeds next year, so I can be more precise with the names of them.  If it really matters….

 

I picked 40 tomatoes on Tuesday, and we spent the afternoon blanching and canning them.  It was so much fun.  We love working as a team in the kitchen.  

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!

 

 

 

When we were in the garden, Joseph was fascinated with this bumblebee “doing its job.”

 

We must have watched it for 5 minutes, dipping into the rattlesnake bean flowers.  

 

I love sharing the magic of Nature with my friends, especially the young ones.

 

 

HAPPY GARDENING!!!