SURPRISE

This just opened this morning. What a wonderful sight! I thought they might just be weeds as they were sprouting, and was tempted many times to pull them out. I am sooo glad I didn't--I'm not sure what they are; maybe some sort of poppy? The whole stand should be blooming soon. This is so much fun! Every day I am finding new flowers on my late-blooming wildflowers. Someday I might remember what I planted and remember the names--but why? I like being surprised!!!

Sis Was Right Again!

Desert Bluebells

Desert Bluebell Stains

This looks like the hand of a heavy smoker!

I spent three hours helping out my sister today, pulling up desert bluebells on her 3/4 acre before they went to seed. This is the end result--permanent stains!! I used everything I had to remove the stains, but to no avail! I guess I will have to just hide out for a while! I did wear gloves--but I guess it seeped through in spots. I wondered why my sister had on three pairs. She did warn me about the stains, but just I thought she was exaggerating. As you can see, she was right again. It was backbreaking work, but my sister said I would burn 1,300 calories an hour. I weighed when I got home and didn't lose a pound! I guess she's not ALWAYS right!


She said I just needed to get my doctor to adjust my thyroid meds again, come back in two weeks to help pull up all the other wildflowers and then the 1,300 calorie burn would kick in. All the diets I have been on haven't worked, so I will give it a try. Remember, she is the sister that knows a lot about everything!

Blooming Bounty

Copper King ~ Mammillaria elongata

I've had this Copper King cactus for over 6 years. This is the first time it has bloomed! I guess the extra rain we had over the winter is the reason.

There is a yellow spined version of this cactus. It looks just the same and has the same flowers, but the spines are a straw color. Copper King is not as common as the yellow spined version.

Opuntia basilaris

My beaver tail cactus just bloomed this morning. It's loaded with buds soon to open. Of all the Prickly Pear cacti, I think this species has the prettiest flower color.

Zinnia elegans

The yellow/orange zinnia is in full bloom. This is the only color that has opened. It's so odd the way certain colors bloom at certain times. I wonder what will come next!

I picked up a few packs of Vinca today at Lowes. I have always planted Vinca the end of May after all of the spring flowers have fried. Vinca is the only flowering plant in my yard that will take full sun all summer. They will last until September when I'm ready to plant fall flowers.

EASTER

I miss the old hymns that we sang on Easter morning, such as, HE Arose and Jerusalem. I don't like the contemporary church music of today. YES I am old!!!!!!!!
Today the family will eat a late lunch at my youngest daughter's home. For the first time we will not have the annual egg hunt. All the grandchildren are beyond it. YES I am old!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miss Photogenic

My Gazania is in full bloom. Don't you just love the color? I don't think you can take a bad photo of a Gazania--They are so colorful and so full of color variation that they could win a contest for the most photogenic flower.

So far the only wildflowers to bloom in my garden are Desert Bluebells. Their vibrant, true blue color will knock your socks off. Desert Bluebells should be named "Old Reliable" because no matter what, they never fail to grow. They could also compete with Kalanchoe and be called "Mother of Millions" because each plant drops about a million seeds.

All the wildflower seedlings are up and growing, but not a single flower on any of them. If my plants don't flower soon, summer will be here and I can forget having a spectacular display. Oddly, the only Sweet Peas that bloomed this year are purple!

This has been a strange year in my garden. I'm going away for a few days, and hopefully I will return to an explosion of color!

Quilt Giveaway

Do you love beautiful quilts? Would you like to enter a giveaway to win one? Dana at Old Red Barn Co., is giving away a lovely quilt and a lot of other goodies as well. Stop by and enter by Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m. EDT.

ROOM WITH A VIEW

Every morning for the past 17 years, I've awakened to this view! It's a pleasant backdrop of desert mountains and lake. It's the sweetest spot on earth!. Blessed be that spot! Over the years after saving enough money, I replaced the double windows with french doors, enlarged the patio, bought a spa, and added an awning. After a couple years of the spa blocking most of my view, I gave it to my daughter and haven't missed it at all!

The daily dilemma I have is whether to lie in bed and look at the view, or get up to go to my swing on the patio and look at the view.

"By just exchange one for the other given...There never was a better bargain driven"

~ Sir Philip Sidney

Time to hit the road!

Time for the nasty COOTS to leave! We have a thousands of these things that migrate to our lakes every winter. They foul up the walkways, stir up the dogs, and they are not very attractive to boot. They usually spend the winter and then in early spring go back to where ever they came from.

The development owners decided the best way to deal with the coots was to eliminate rye grass overseeding in the common areas around the lakes, thereby eliminating the coot's food source. They intended to dye the dry bermuda grass a green color to retain winter beauty.

For some reason, that plan fell through, and the coots remained. Maybe next year they'll come up with a workable solution.

Blooming Spring

Take a tour around my garden. Here are a few of the flowers currently at their peak. Nothing unusual here, I just started gardening a couple years ago.

I'm just learning about my micro-climate and soil and I consider myself at the experimental stage. Hopefully, one day I will have a magnificent flower garden that will equal my Grandmother's.




Climbing roses covered the pathway to the porch. The pink-flowered Queen's Wreath vine twined through the orange trees, the screened porch and most of the two story roof. She had two lush, colorful flower gardens--one near the house, the other by her vegetable garden next to the dairy barn.

Our jobs were to cut and fill buckets full of massive bouquets for the house. We gathered eggs, cut flowers, and took in the aroma of citrus in bloom. These are some of my most cherished memories of childhood.

Sweet are the memories of the simple pleasures I experienced at my Grandmother's house. Uncle told us that it was God's Acre. Rightly so.

Beloved Sweetpeas

Photo Taken March 1, 2007

March 12, 2008

I took this photo this morning after two Sweetpeas finally opened! The funk I have been in for two weeks has lifted! I don't know why the flowers are so late this year. Maybe the extra rain and wind we had this winter, or the mild temperatures? Now, I'm hoping they all will bloom and last until May.

My family and friends have waited patiently for their annual Sweetpea bouquets. I have tried to convince them to plant a few themselves, but they like having Mom deliver them daily. I love shopping the whole year for the perfect small vase, it has to be the right size, shape and color to complement the Sweetpeas. It is just as much fun finding the perfect vase as it is cutting the flowers!

People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.

~Iris Murdoch

Name the Dog

This is the newest addition to Daisy's family. She is an eight-week-old female Mexican Hairless. The pictures are not very good, as she would not stay still! Her paws are hairy, as well as her head and half of her tail. Her body is hairless and the skin is spotted.

Her spots and my hands and arms match, so they wanted to name her after me, but luckily, my name doesn't start with a D! This is their fourth dog--all with D names. Diesel is a Mastiff, Daisy a Boston Terrier, and Denver is a Dachshund. Please help me find a D name for her! I choose Diva.