Choice Morsels

Two Garden Pics today: First, my one Gardenia bush is blooming again! It seems to be a variety that blooms heavily in spring, then again less heavily during fall and winter. It's flowers are not as large as the other I have that strictly blooms just once a year, but I have  to give it kudos for enthusiasm! Next, New Garden Art: I kept back a few mugs from my purge in July for charity give-away that I thought would be nice additions to my garden. This one is a very large Cracker Barrel mug that I put in the front bed by the mailbox. I planted Chinese Stonecrop in it and planted sprigs of Golden Creeping Jenny nearby. Both are ground covers that like sun and both winter over. I like the red lava rocks and add them here and there as accents. In the shady spots, being porous, they become homes for moss.

Today, a nice shot of my Gardenia Topiary. Years ago, I found a rooted stem under my big Gardenia shrub out front, dugit up, planted it here and trimmed and trained it to grow into a single stem, short tree, roundish at the top. It always puts on a good show every year! My Veggie Garden: A  Pretty Bouquet of Garden Flowers: Really, I like growing flowers so I have some to snip and put in a vase. Glads, Hydrangea and a Trumpet Lily pictured here. The big white face isn't a Easter Lily, but a different breed of trumpet lily that came with a mixed set of cutting lilies I ordered last spring. It's more wide in front and not as long as an Easter Lily. Lasted all week in the vase. I like putting a Gardenia in my vases for the smell, but the flowers have a short life, regardless of whether they're on the bush or in a vase.