Saving the Melons

Mr. Flower has his own garden.

I am given assignments where it is concerned.

My latest assignment is “Save the Melons.”

I have to admit that I failed at this last summer.

I put a little fence ring around the melon.

I put a cover over the ring and checked it for ripeness each afternoon.

Just before picking time,

I discovered that something had crawled down into the fence

and eaten the inside of the melon leaving only the peeling.

So this year I am trying a new approach.

I have put Mr. Flower’s melons in mesh bags.

I am hoping the varmint will not like getting his claws or teeth ensnared.

Let’s hope this works.

Mr. Flower take produce production seriously.

Flowduce

The Cacti Don’t Care

It’s much too hot for me out there, but the cacti don’t care.

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Candelabra cactus/ Dragon Bones/ Euphorbia lactea

They keep on growing without slowing.

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Firesticks cactus/ Euphorbia tirucalli

When the sun is blazing they are amazing.

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Epiphyllum /orchid cactus / ‘Over the Top’

They tend to thrive where no others survive.

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Rhipsalis salicornioides

They get dry but do not die.

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Lifesaver plant/ Huernia zebrina

They think it’s fun to sit in the sun.

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Huernia zebrina bloom

I’m no fool. I am in where it’s cool.

Flower

Sleeping, Creeping, Leaping

One of my garden mantras is “Never ever plant ivy.”

I may have to add another vine in there.

I love my Creeping Fig, Ficus pumila.

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The first year here, it seemed to be sleeping.

Last year it began creeping over the wall.

This year it has leaped onto pots and statuary.

I took these two photos seven days apart.

I still love this vine, but too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.

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Flow

Almost Frogs

I was about to clean out the acorns from the pond,

when I noticed some had tails and were swimming!

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What I was seeing weren’t acorns, but itty bitty tadpoles.

I have watched them develop this week.

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They are almost frogs.

They have stopped swimming and have climbed out onto the floating leaves

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to sit in the sun and absorb their tails.

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These tiny little frogs are precious!

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Flow loves frogs

 

Watching Water

I have been watching the water…and thinking.

It is still and smooth most of the time, with a ripple here and there.

Sometimes a line of waves forms and changes everything.

That’s how my life is right now.

Waves keep rolling across my smooth life.

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I am in control of only my own buoyancy.

The water acts and I react.

Will I float?  Will I swim with the waves or against them?

Will I rise and fall with the water

or let gravity win and go under?

I do not know what the water will do

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but I know what I will do.

I will stay afloat

Because I am a survivor.

I choose to stay up

no matter the water.

Flow

The Banana Forest

Yesterday when the sun was high, I sought some shade in the banana forest.

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Its giant leaves served as umbrellas.

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The wind moved them like fans.

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The banana forest was dancing around me.

An oasis away from the sun and heat.

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I was surrounded by swaying green.

I pretended my cares were far away, not just across the driveway.

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Everyone should have a banana forest to escape into.

Flower

Orange Perfection Phlox

I am finally seeing blooms from my ‘Orange Perfection’ garden phlox.

It has been here for two seasons.

I guess my cheap self shocked it by dividing it into six plants before planting it last spring.

I am pleased with the color. It’s a lovely salmon with a magenta eye.

The stems are a bit floppy, but I like how it leans on the rocks and peeks over.

I am happy with them. They are the perfect orange.

Flower

My Friends’ Farm

I usually visit this farm in June at the peak of daylily season.

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I did not get there until July this year. I am glad.

There was a whole different crop of flowers.

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They seemed unbothered by the heat of the southern summer.

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This place used to be a working dairy farm then a daylily farm.

Now it’s just home to folks and flowers, goats and horses.

Here are some daylilies that bloom mid-July.

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Classic Edge daylily
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Highland Lord daylily

 

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Willie Lyles daylily
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Raspberry Sunshine daylily
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Bold Tiger daylily
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El Desperado daylily

I always enjoy my time with these friends and their flowers.

Flower

Stokes Aster is a Star

I am so thankful for this beautiful and easy plant, Stokesia laevis ‘Peachie’s Pick.’

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When other flowers start to wilt and fade in the July heat, it steps it up.

I do not give this one any special treatment.

I divide it every few years.

It has thrived wherever I plant it.

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No wonder it’s ‘Peachie’s Pick’ Stokes Aster.

Whoever Peachie is, she know her plants. Butterflies like it, too.

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Flower