Sunday, November 28, 2010

Orchids and roses, etc.


We are having a lovely, quiet, gray, with a little rain, Sunday. I am hoping we get a lot more rain as we really need it. Speaking of water, I posted this summer about losing our well, and having to use city water for watering gardens. I don't water like I used to do, even though I was frugal with watering then, but am more so now. This week in our water bill we were told that it's possible our water bill will go up $50-$75 a month, because of the EPA. Oh for goodness sake! What next? Here's what next, we found out in the same days' mail, that our car registration went up around $22 more for each vehicle.

Ok, enough being unthankful. I'm thankful we have clean water and vehicles to drive. Now, where's that $$ tree to grow in my garden?

*****
DH has been sorting through iron collected through the years, some to sell for scrap and some to keep. Well, in his keep pile, I found two smaller heart gratings for windows. I showed the larger one here. As I was sitting here writing this all out, I thought of where to hang these on our cottage, and told DH what I thought. He said it was a great idea. They will hang on either side of the front window on the outside wall of my little space, after we repaint of course. Which is a project for cooler weather. Yippee!




Here come the blooms: click on pictures for a larger view.

Cassia bicapsularis




Confederate Rose ~ A pale yellow, but in this lighting it looks more chartreuse.



Desert cassia



Golden sun



Louis Philippe a.k.a. Florida Cracker rose



Next two pictures are of morning glories.





Pink Pet or Caldwell's Pink in the next two pics.





An unknown, that someone told me the name of recently but I don't have it in my brain yet.



These next tiny orchids I bought many years ago at a local garden event. I lost the tag.





Here is a Vanda I think, given to me by a friend a little over 20 years ago.





Last but not least is a comical picture of our outdoor girl, who is sleeping in a nest in the liv. rm. right this minute. This terra cotta chicken is a planter, but I haven't put anything in it because there is not a hole in the bottom. Anyway, we put water in it and Tork likes to drink out of it.



***

Don't go through life,

grow through life.

Eric Butterworth

***

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

22 comments:

Ami said...

I always admire your roses. Love that lavender hint from that Caldwell's Pink rose. Both of your orchids are beautiful. I think the second one is vanda too. I have one similar to yours is currently blooming too.

denimflyz said...

Hello Lovely Flowerlady,

I am so glad you had a quiet and wonderful Thanksgiving.
I'm going to re-heat some leftovers from dinner tonight, I splurged on some wine, usually reserved for Holidays anyway, and the ex will stop by so I got some things reheated for us. My turkey turned out fabulous, it was a Butterball that I got for 78 cents a pound and went back and bought 3 more turkeys at that price to keep in the freezer. That will get me and the folks by for over a year.
I love the photo of Tork. What a hoot, cats drink out of anything! Love all of your floral photos, its very drab and brown here.
Anyway, have a lovely day and week.

Always,
Denim

Annie said...

Love the iron. Question: What aspect do you have your orchids in? I have a little snip of one that keeps alive but never does anything. Thinking of moving it.

Anonymous said...

What a cool piece of ironwork. That will look so neat. I love your flower pics too. Its so fun to look at them with nearly everything around here being brown and dead.

Jenny wren's nest said...

I am so glade someone still has beautiful blooms, my flowers are gone for now.
Jenny

Corner Gardener Sue said...

Hi FlowerLady! You write like I do:

"An unknown, that someone told me the name of recently but I don't have it in my brain yet."

"I lost the tag."

"Here is a Vanda I think,"

You have some nice looking blooms still. I will enjoy seeing them, since mine are pretty much finished.

I like your grate, and the idea for where to put the heart ones.

Yes, things keep getting more expensive, and they are talking about cutting back Social Security. I don't think it will affect those on it now, except they aren't currently giving out cost of living increases.

Well, I hope you get plenty of rain.

Hugs,
Sue

Randy Emmitt said...

Very cool iron piece! Never heard of or seen those cassias before, do the yellow butterflies use them for hosts?

sweetbay said...

I would be upset if my water bill went up by that much too. That's a lot.

I love the Cassias, the orchids, the morning glories and of course the roses. I hope you get a good soaking rain.

Karen said...

Flowerlady, I love the wrought iron piece, very pretty! I can't wait to see it in place.

Your flowers are so gorgeous, just the pick me up I needed. I just got in from outside and am trying to defrost my feet from the cold. (I was putting up Christmas lights so we have some color outside besides white!)

I know fees keep going up, where it will end is anyone's guess. I love the orchids, so ethereal.

Hope you had some nice, gentle rain!

gld said...

Your pictures are getting very professional looking! The confederate rose makes me think of okra blooms.

When you said "a month", I almost fell out of my chair! I think everything is going up...some are subtle so we won't notice, like some Medicare deductibles will go from $100 to $150 before insurance kicks in in 2011. Our farmowners policy went up. A woman in the Office of Aging for the state told me we can expect all medical insurance to increase .... a lot.

The ornamental iron grate is a lovely thing. Be sure to show us when you get it up.

Autumn Belle said...

Your blooms are gorgeous. For a moment, I thought your confederate rose looked like my okra flowers. Your orchids are so sweet and delicate. We are experiencing escalating cost of living here too. Food and utility prices are rising but not our income :( By the way, Tork is cute.

tina said...

So sorry about your bills. It seems municipalities are grabbing money whereever they can the customer suffers. It is painful for sure. The flowers are so pretty. Those orchids simply exquisite. I've never seen that first one that looks kind of like sweet peas to me.

NanaK said...

I am enamored of yellow roses lately. Golden Sun is beautiful. Is it an OGR? Is it on its own root?

Your ironwork is going to be perfect by your window. Hope you get some cooler "painting" weather soon.

L. D. said...

Your photos are so wonderful. I really like your cat too.

Southern Lady said...

We are hoping for some rain too. It is so dry here. Your blooms are beautiful. Carla

Morning's Minion said...

Your flower and garden photos are so soothing to look through. I think our long and lovely autumn is over, so instead of flowers in my dooryard I'll need to enjoy your winter blooms.

Darla said...

I love the iron too. Where can I buy a
Florida Cracker Rose?

Val said...

'Hope you're having a good week. It's December?! :)

Susan said...

Hi FLowerlady...You've got so many beautiful blooms in your December garden. Both your orchids are beauties. Love that little delicate white one. And, your kitty is very cute, too.

Anonymous said...

Cutie pie kitty and lovely blossoms, Flowerlady.

Morning Glories in Round Rock said...

It is so nice to see all your lovely blooms. I love all your yellow flowers, and of course the Morning Glories. Mine are gone for the year. We had a killing frost last week. The iron is so nice. So frustrating about the cost of things getting so expensive. Especially when you have always tried to conserve. I guess it is the one thing we can count on!

Antique ART Garden said...

I like your old window guards iron pieces. You and DH are so sweet. Lucky blessed woman you are, love to you, GIna