Garden Pic Wednesday: Rain Garden & Pink Vinca!

It started off this morning with a summer thunderstorm, but by lunch had cleared off, though it remained cloudy. Plus the rain cooled things off, so it has halfway pleasant to work outside.
My planned outside project was to finish cleaning up leaf debris along the house foundation on east & south side and refresh the pea gravel.

Most is done, except, though I ran out of pea gravel to finish  behind the strawberry bed.

I have a frame house and keeping the foundation edge clear and visible helps protect it from termites, which can be a serious problem in Florida.  Also makes things easier for the termite guy, since our annual inspection is coming up.

Today's Garden Pics:
A nice recent shot of my rain garden on the north corner of the house including Ponytail Asparagus Fern, purple Ajuga and a Hosta.
I love the upright habit of this Ponytail Fern. Despite it's name, it isn't a member of the fern family, but is, in fact, a Lily family member. It can also be called "Bottle Brush Fern," or "Emerald Fern," or more properly, a "Foxtail Fern."

Next: A pretty shot of a light pink Vinca out front by the driveway.

Vinca's are great garden flowers! The re-seed themselves prolifically so I have tons of volunteers popping up all spring and summer and they bloom until a hard frost. Here in Florida, they can even come back from the root as well. 

Their shiny dark green leaves all have a white lines down the middle, which makes the seedlings very easy to identify and their color range is many shades of pink to white.

This particular Vinca is ONE single stem. I've been pinching it off and shaping it into this nice mound shape, since it came up this spring.

 Vinca's are marvelously easy to shape by simply pinching or snipping off their stems, which makes them branch out. Then, as they grow, you just keep pinching off stems that are too long.

This also makes for more blooms.

Of course, they do alright left to their own resources, though they can be quite leggy and floppy and  pinching keeps them out of the way of my mower.
Be aware Vinca's are so prolific, they can take over a garden space within a couple summers.

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That's it for today! Come back for Mama Kat tomorrow!