More from Plum Cottage

Good evening Folks ~ We’ve had dinner and before I get too sleepy, I’d like to get this post written and sent.

We are watching the weather to the east of us, which has become a tropical depression.  Earlier I read that it was slowing moving south, which would be toward us, now I’m reading that it is heading north-westardly, and may impact Bermuda if it becomes anything at all.  We should be getting some rain and hopefully we will.

Below are pictures I took yesterday morning and today, here at Plum Cottage gardens, where we live in a tropical climate.  It has really been hot and humid for the past week, but thankfully we get easterly breezes from the ocean which is about 3 miles to the east of us.

This morning I grabbed my clippers and headed out to do some trimming of stuff that was growing into pathways.  I just let things fall and left them where they lay as by the end, and I didn’t even finish, I was too hot and pooped to do anymore.  I can rake the stuff up in the mornings when it is cooler.

This is our front patio area, looking south.  The pathway goes to the mailbox which is off to the upper left, then on around.

On around the corner.  The 5 lane road is about 10’ to the left/south of the gate on the left side of picture.

This is on the west side of the main garden looking north.

Here we are at a junction of the path above, heading left/west/north to a seating area under a lattice rooflet.  The rose ‘Phyllis Bide’ is growing up and over the top. We bought that Victorian wire bench at the flea market for $10, many, many years ago. I painted it purple a couple of years ago.

This is at the same junction but heading easterly at the back of the main garden.  We used roll roofing (some found, some bought) and found shingles for the pathways.

The next three pictures are of Mom-of-millions.  When any one of these little bits fall off the plant more grow, so you can see why the name.

Below is a mushroom that popped up in a crack in the pathway.

Penelope roses

Pandora vine blooms in the hedge material along the path. The foliage smells like garlic when you cut it.

I guess that is it for now.  Hope you all have a nice evening/morning wherever you are. A new day is a gift and I wish you all much joy and peace.

I'm itchin'

It's gently raining now and there have been a couple of loud thunderclaps that made us jump, but the rain is so welcome. It's been raining at least a couple of hours now.
We've had rain off and on for the past few days and things are greening up and growing nicely.

The heat and humidity have been absolutely awful so that I've hardly done anything at all outside, except some hand watering, and pulling a few, very few weeds. I need to get out the weed wacker to edge borders, I need to grab the clippers for stray vines and shrub branches, the electric hedge clippers need to be put in use too.

Hopefully in the mornings this week it will be nice enough to get out and do some gardening as I'm really itchin' to get out there and do something. I watched some garden you tube videos today and they always inspire me.

I see so many things that need doing around the yard and am antsy to do something. The heat/humidity forced time off from gardening really has me chomping at the bit, I'm sure some of you know what I mean. Even though the heat makes me feel ill and aggravated, I'm ready to get out there once again.

The pic below shows the secret garden and it definitely needs trimming, weeding, etc. The statue is out of the little bird bath because the dang 'coons get up there to play and poop. DISGUSTING! We've been keeping it empty, but the rains have filled it up and coons found it again and used it last night. So, it will be time to clean it tomorrow.

(Click on pictures to enlarge.)




Here we have the orange hibiscus in the next three pictures. This is a bush we found thrown out curbside in front of a house many years ago. I know some of you have told me what this is, but at the moment the name is not in my brain where I can recall it.










Red hibsicus.







Pandora vine



Pinkpet or Caldwell's Pink



Night blooming jasmine.




Spicy jatropha.



Glory bower vine or Clerodendrum thomsoniae




Three Chrysler Imperial rose buds.




Yellow firecreacker plant blooms, Russelia equisetiformis.







******

Even the smallest landscape

can offer pride of ownership

not only to its inhabitants

but to its neighbors.

The world delights in a garden....

Creating any garden, big or small,

is, in the end, all about joy.

Julie Moir Messervy

Happy Gardening,

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Flowers, Laundry tip, next embroidery piece

Good afternoon. It is another hot and humid day. Right now the weather page says it's 92, but feels like it is 111. I was out this morning mowing, weeding, planting, trimming. Got a load of laundry washed and hung out, just brought it in. While I was doing all that, the bread machine was making a loaf of garlic/Italian herb bread, so that the place smelled yummy when I came in.

The laundry tip is one I tried the first time the other day with a load of white laundry. The tip is add 1/2 c. white vinegar to your final rinse as a fabric softener. It works and your laundry does not smell like vinegar either. It's definitely much cheaper than fabric softener, something I've not bought in many, many years. I really enjoy using my homemade powder laundry detergent and now the vinegar as a softener.

It's about time for a nap, but here are a few pictures.

Here is a piece of paint chip on our jacuzzi deck, from pressure cleaning the area the other day. I love hearts, and they just pop out at me sometimes. I didn't save this one except as a picture. :-)



Here we have the lovely Pandora vine, Pandorea jasminoides



The next two pictures are of our Queen Crepe. I think we've had her three years now. These are her first blooms this year.






Here is my next embroidery piece of a Zebra longwing. It's from one of my own photos, and I'll be adding hamelia paten blooms too.



That's it for now. I hope you are all keeping cool, and are having a nice day.

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

What a difference ...

in the weather this time of year. It is still hot and humid but not nearly as bad as it was last month. I am thankful.

This is when our gardens start to come alive. Roses are full of new growth, buds, and blooms. Everything else looks great too. Not having the sun blazing down from directly overhead makes a huge difference.

The last few days I've weeded the main garden, mowed, trimmed and cleaned up. I've got some potted babies and others to plant either in the main garden or in larger pots. All the potted babies were grown from seed, popcorn cassia, desert cassia, Jerusalem thorn, Vitex, Dwarf white orchid tree, white powder puff tree, lance pod or lilac tree (which the snails have eaten all the leaves from).

Right now, the sky is clouding up, and of course, I washed a load of laundry this morning and was going to hang it up on the lines to dry. Doesn't that figure.

Below are some recent blooms and one garden helper laying down on the job.

Click on pictures to see larger view.

Below is a wonderful statue of St. Francis that I've had for many, many years. I love the way he has become covered in various colors of growth through the years. He stand maybe 3' tall and is on a pedestal.

This next picture is South African foxgloves.

Here is Pandora vine flowers.

This is Mexican Bush Sage.

Maggie

La Marne

Homere

Basil blooms.

An unknown hibiscus.

Last but not least, my garden helper, Tork.

Hope you all have a lovely Wednesday,

and a great rest of the week also.

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL

Glimpses of beauty

Here it is a few hours later, and I feel a little better. I worked on editing pictures taken the past couple of days. These glimpses of beauty always make me feel thankful, in spite of upsets that happen during my life. I know a lot of you feel the same way about your gardens. You can walk out into them and your troubles seem to melt into the background. Living in the beauty of the moment is more important. All things will work out.

Go to a garden
And just stand in it.
Breathe in the air, the fragrances,
the light, the temperature,
the music of the different plants, insects, birds, worms,
caterpillars, grasshoppers, and butterflies.
Inhale the prana (cosmic energy) of all the abundantly
growing things.
Recharge your inner batteries.
This is the joy of natural meditation."
Lama Surya Das, "Awakening to the Sacred," 1999

Click on the pictures for a larger view.

Zone 10 ~ s.e. FL