I finally got out and did some of the hard stuff. Cleaned out the daylily bed--all the dried up scapes, plus fighting back the wisteria. I swear the wisteria grows faster than I can think. Pulled weeds in the daylily garden and in the front garden.

The daylily bed is probably 40-50'x 8'. It is shared between our yard and that of our neighbor, Shirley. We have an odd property line; although the bed run perpendicular to the road, the division of it between our yards is at an angle. Her s… Continue

The humidity has decreased and the temperatures are going down, although still in the 90s. Time to return to the garden. I am having a new central heating and air unit installed next Wednesday and am worried about the guys trampling over my plants. I have two small Japanese maples on either side of the "path" they will need to use. Even closer are my "Lady in Red" hydrangea, elephant ears and ginger lilies. I will have to cut back the hydrangea--it's time anyway--and widen a path for them to use… Continue

It's not like it has never bloomed before, but this is my first time to actually see the funky flower. My Stapelia gigantea usually waits for me to leave town, then blooms for everyone else to see; the dry cleaner delivery guy, the vacation pot-watering guy, and the flies who are specifically attracted to its putrid perfume for pollinating.

This succulent, sometimes known as starfish cactus started as a spiny nub, a

… Continue

Now is the time when I get a craving for the "good old
d… Continue