Choice Morsels

The Garden Pic for today is my Pink Pampas Grass, which is just coming into bloom! On Answered Prayers this Past Week: #1)  If you recall in a previous post I told the tale of hiring a gutter company to redo my guttering and the sign I prayed for to choose the right one. The one I chose was busy, as they all are and wouldn't get to my project until at least July.  However July came and went. It was August---getting close to a more active period for tropical systems. My prayer about the gutters was, "that they'd be installed and finished before any heavy tropical rain started." I reached out to them about a week ago on when I might be getting on their work calendar? Eric, who I learned is the owner of AGS, called back that they'd come Thurs last week. By this point I knew Tropical Storm Fred was headed our general direction, though far away. They got the gutters completely done by Friday and by the following Monday Tropical Storm Fred arrived on the Panhandle---12...

August means Pampas Grass Blooms! Here's my White Pampas!  It's putting on a spectacular show this season! My Pink Pampas! It's just getting starting! The blooms are such a pretty baby pink when they first open, then the sun bleaches them to a creamy tan. And Our New Sliding Glass Door! It's a shatter-proof glass, storm/wind resistant door. Also UV reflective. Same as the rest of our windows now. Plus a clear view out to the bird feeder!

I took this photo a couple weeks ago. It's the last of the Pampas Grass fronds still standing, the last touch of summer.  The rest were bent and broken by various summer storms. This is the Pink Pampas out front. I have one of these---a smaller one in a vase on the kitchen counter. (Just the fluffy portion is 20 to 24 inches. Pretty big.) 

Today I got out and got my tray of Broccoli planted. (9 plants) It did rain on my lightly while I was working on this. I also bought a tray of Red Romaine and planted it, but I don't think lettuce likes to be transplanted. I think maybe it prefers to be direct-sown.  I just planted the Broccoli on one side of the garden, opposite the melon. Also planted Curly Parsley 2 container gardens and Red Petunias in 4. Today's Garden Pic is my lovely Pink Pampas Grass that's out front.  "Pink Floosie," is my pet name for this Pampas Grass that blooms all these extravagantly fluffy plumes every September! I haven't counted this year, but 25 or more is the norm. Of course, a fter days in the Florida sun, the plumes turn a light tan color, but they are a pretty baby pink when they first open. From base to tip-top of the tallest bloom is about 8 to 9 feet tall. That's it for today! Stop back for Mama Kat tomorrow!

I feel a change in the air already--the feel of autumn! I mowed the back yard today and it was so nice outside. Warm, but with a dry feel. Finally--not sweltering! For Garden pictures today, I have 3 things: First: A Balloon Flower blooming in front of my blue ceramic cat: This Balloon Flower is one of about a dozen I raised from seed I saved last fall and planted various places. I put one in each pot that sits in front of the Pampas grass out front. This one looked so sweet blooming in front of the ceramic cat! That ceramic cat looks beat up because the deep freeze of the 2014 Arctic Vortex it sort of blow apart, but since it's yard art, it's okay if it looks a little rugged. Balloon Flowers are a terrific, compact perennial that bloom all season. I prefer the blue, because I collect blue garden flowers, but it also comes in white. Next: My fully bloomed out Pink Pampas: A couple weeks ago I had a bloom of the first couple plumes, but here she is in all he...

Last night at Bible Study the warm-up question was, "If you could have a theme song play every time you walked in a room, what would it be?" I knew that was going to be the question, so I had time to think about it, since I'm not all that savvy on music. I can never remember what artist played what song and I'm relatively ignorant of anything current.  I'm more familiar with classics of the 60's & early 70's. After pursuing a number of considerations via Youtube, I finally settled on the 1970 hit "Green-Eyed Lady," by Sugarloaf as my perfect theme song, since I do have green eyes.   It's more instrumental, heavy on the bass beat with a few stanza's of totally flower-child words. If it doesn't ring a bell, you can hear the original album cut  here via Youtube. Enjoy! My project today was trimming down another Pampas Grass; the 2nd one of a pair I have in beds in front on my property border.  Because of this location,...