Wednesday, November 25, 2009

"S" is for sunflowers~ABC Wednesday 112509







These are some photos of my sunflower garden in the front of my yard last spring. I planted the seeds next to my front fence in December 2008. By April, they were 6 feet tall! We used to have a huge eucalyptus tree in that spot, but during a windstorm a few years previous, it fell over onto our fence. Our son came by and replaced the broken fence boards and I had a large bare spot. So, I figured I'd plant sunflowers there and see how they did. They grew and grew and grew! I'm sure it wasn't up to code, and my neighbors on one side sprayed the next crop with ROUNDUP, but I, and others, enjoyed these sunflowers that year. ABC Wednesday for November 25, 2009.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Cactus Blossoms~Cactus Monday 112309


I found this beautiful cactus blooming at the Living Desert Reserve in May one year. I couldn't resist a closer look, like many of the insects that visit cacti. While I don't have any cactus in my own garden, I always enjoy seeing them at the Living Desert. See the blossom that hasn't opened yet? Cactus Monday for November 23, 2009.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

My African Daisies~Today's Flowers~110809







These are some pics of my African daisies from my front yard last spring. I threw out the seeds last December and by April, they were in full bloom. I threw out seeds again a couple of weeks ago, but they haven't germinated yet and a neighbor threw dirt and debris from the street all over them, so I'm going out this morning to toss more seeds out and rake the area out by my front fence. Today's Flowers for November 8, 2009

Monday, November 2, 2009

Yellow morning light~Mellow Yellow Monday 110209




When the time changed, I went out into my front yard and noticed the light hitting my chimes. I'm never home at this time during the week, so I was amazed to see how pretty the morning light was yesterday. Mellow Yellow Monday for November 2, 2009.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Another setback (...sigh...) My garden destroyed

As I've posted before, I have had problems with my neighbors to the east of me. Last spring, they instructed their gardener to spray ROUNDUP on my sunflowers, which were NOT in their front yard. Instead, they were quietly growing next to MY FENCE on MY PROPERTY!!! So, he trespassed on my property and did the deadly deed. I asked my other neighbor, a landscaper, if she would confirm it, and she did. There was an oily residue on them and they turned completely brown in a couple of days. Mind you, these were healthy plants. I confronted them and we had a nasty screaming contest. I told them that they were my third graders' science project and, of course, they denied everything. I KNOW they did it, additionally, because their other neighbor, 2 houses away, had the same thing happen to his flowers. IDIOTS! We haven't spoken since.
So, imagine my HORROR when I went out to water my African daisy seeds and California poppy seeds on Friday morning. SOMEBODY came by and THREW dirt and debris that I had raked up from the day I raked over the planting bed and threw it on top of my seeds to make a point that I needed to pick it up. I DID pick it up, except for a small pile on the street outside the planting area.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Here I am, trying to make my property a little greener, a little more attractive, and some IDIOT came by and threw dirt and rocks on top of my little area of heaven? I mean, how cruel is that?
So I'm off this morning to Home Depot to buy more seeds....sigh...what can I say? They KNEW it was recently planted as I had spread mulch over it.