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.

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

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.

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.

New garden by street~That's My World 102709

I spent Sunday morning raking the area out in my front yard where I had my sunflowers last spring. At that time I gathered up many of the seeds from the dried flowers and I kept them over the summer. I planted not only sunflowers, but also some four o'clocks, African daisies, and California poppies. I got tired of waiting for rain to come. We've had zero rain this season! So, off I go to water them this morning. That's My World for Tuesday, October 27, 2009.

Sweet peas

My grandfather used to grow the most gorgeous and healthy sweet peas! He had a strip in his own garden at home and he planted one for my mom. They always grew over 6 feet tall and I could smell them on grandma's kitchen table when she cut them for a bouquet. I have decided to plant some where I had my sunflowers last season, then rotate the sunflowers there after the sweet peas dry out next spring. Anyway, that's the plan for now. We've had nice, cool days and nights, but the temps are shooting up to 99 degrees here this weekend, so I'll have to wait to plant the seeds. I bought about 7 packs at (...ugh...) Home Depot because Lowe's didn't have any last week. They will grow up the front fence and face the street, safe from our dogs.

Flowers~Mellow Yellow Monday 100509

My garden is dormant. We are between seasons. Everything has died over the summer and I'm still afraid to plant for fall in case we get another blast of heat. But, in the meantime, I visited my local Lowe's yesterday to check out the flowers. It is really too late to plant marigolds, and perhaps too early for pansies. I'll wait another two weeks before I plant anything. In the meantime, I cleaned out my planter yesterday. Mellow Yellow Monday for October 5, 2009.