Sunflowers at their max~~Sunday Stills for May 3, 2009

I took these photos early this month, before my sunflowers started to droop. I'll probably have to cut them down this weekend as they are drooping and drying out. I looked down and saw many seeds on the ground, which I'll gather up. BUT...don't worry...there are several new crops of sunflowers coming up in my front yard and out by the street, along the fence! I'll be sure to update you! Sunday Stills for May 3, 2009. Enjoy your day!

Garden update 042509

Well, my African daisies are pretty much gone. They have gone to seed and I'm scattering the seeds around so that next year I'll have another crop. I already miss their cheerful colors that greeted me every morning. I'm going out tomorrow morning with my weed wacker and whack them off and the Bermuda grass that is growing up with them...(sob, sob!). But, it must be done, unfortunately! So, here are some parting shots of my daisies and poppies...I will miss them, but I know they will be back next year. It's just getting too hot here in the desert for them. I already have some Tithonia seeds that I'll plant in their place. I took these pics about a week ago, before our 100 degree heat hit, so they are pretty much all dried out now...sigh...any ideas/suggestions on what to plant in their place?

Out and around the garden Sunday morning

We like to stay home Sunday mornings. Hubby enjoys the news shows and I prowl around with my camera. We ordered a huge dumpster on Friday because we need to remove a very large branch of our Chinaberry tree that crashed into the yard last week during our horrific wind storm. So, we also cleaned up the front yard. My white cat, Loki, was on TOP of the dumpster this morning, being harassed by the mockingbird family. Methinks perhaps he was naughty last night? A baby mockingbird showed up out in the driveway and he was probably someone's meal last night. The mockingbirds are especially noisy and irate this morning. So, armed with my camera, I made the rounds of the front yard.

Flower giveaway!

Linda over at http://beautifulmustang.blogspot.com/ has a new blog, http://emilydickinsonsgarden.wordpress.com/ and is sponsoring a flower bouquet giveaway from Teleflora. Just stop by her garden blog and leave a comment and you are entered for the drawing! She will have her drawing on May 4 and believe me, I'll be stopping by quite frequently! Check out the two arrangements from which to choose. Now, go out and have fun!

Daisy, my cat

My cat, Daisy, loves to sit at the corner of the front fence and watch the birds! Sometimes the mockingbirds will swoop down and heckle her and then she moves further down on the fence, keeping out of the way from their attacks. She loves to peek over the sunflowers! Isn't she cute?

"M" is for...

mammoth sunflowers! And, yes, these are mammoth! They now tower over our 6 foot fence! Birds love them and people in cars and walking by stop to admire them. It's the first time in 35 years that I've actually had a crop of sunflowers that not only have sprouted, but grown! Mammoth, monstrous, magnificent...all these words describe them! I enjoy seeing their bright color every morning, although this morning they are a bit frazzled by our high winds last night. ABC Wednesday for April 15, 2009. Enjoy your day!

next crop of sunflowers

My next crop of sunflowers is coming along quite nicely. These are at the other end of the front fence and some are around a mesquite out there. I planted a mixture of different kinds of sunflowers near the mesquite. Some were tall, some were smaller, so we'll see how they come out!

sunflowers and daisies 041109

My sunflowers, alas, have some kind of worm eating them! Many are missing leaves and the leaves that are left are badly chewed. I do NOT want to put any insecticide on them because the birds visit the sunflowers, so I went out yesterday and gave them a good hosing off! I'll have to keep an eye on them! Any ideas or suggestions? I have quite a few that are blooming now and my next crop is coming up nicely, although a few of them were also chewed. I took my weed wacker and wacked around them yesterday afternoon because otherwise the city will come by and give me a "friendly warning" about how I'm lowering property values in my neighborhood with 2 sprouts of grass coming up around them! (Don't EVEN get me started...) So, I was a good citizen and wacked away. Some of the daisies are going to seed, which is good, because next year they'll come up on their own! So, here are the most recent pics of the sunflowers and daisies!

new sunflower

I've been so busy with school this week (it's the last week before our Spring break), that I haven't gone out to see my sunflowers! But, last weekend, this beauty was just opening. It is on one of the flowers that has bent over and is on a child's eye level.

My African daisies ~~ Mellow Yellow for 040609

African daisies and both orange and yellow and these yellow ones were blooming the other afternoon when I went out to water them, so I took a picture of them. Mellow Yellow for Monday, April 6, 2009.

more sunflower pics

I took some pics of my sunflowers last week when I went for my neighborhood walk. There is one that is down at "child level" and some people do stop to view it! I'm glad it isn't up high where they really can't get a good look at it! Here are pics of the sunflowers from last week.

Sunflower in the afternoon~~SkyWatch Friday 040309

I walked outside with my camera late this afternoon hoping for a few pics. I ended up walking all around my neighborhood, taking photos with the lovely afternoon light. My sunflowers are now in full bloom and there are several of them blooming, including this one. There are two more ready to open up and bloom. One is drying out, however. I cannot imagine this corner of my fence without them and I'm going to have to think ahead about what I can plant there when they are gone (sigh...)... But, for now, I enjoy seeing them every day. Skywatch Friday for April 3, 2009.

Morning quiet

I like the morning. It is quiet. Sometimes my dogs wake me up about 4:30 and I love the peacefulness of the early morning. This morning, when I put them out front, I heard the "whoo, whoo, whooo" of an owl. We have a huge, thirty year old cottonwood tree in our backyard and sometimes owls come for a visit. There is also a family of orioles that build their nest in that tree every year. I love early mornings. Photo is of my African daisies in the early morning light. I love how they close at night.