Choice Morsels

I had a big gardening project this week! My order of  new daylilies arrived! Five new colors for $20 from a nursery I use often. (Normally they're around $15 apiece.) Spent a couple hours planting them Tuesday.  T oday's Pic,  a nice sun high-lighted Spider Lily! Just took it this morning. I was keeping an eye on it, watching how the sun touched it. This is a type of "magic" lily common to the South that bloom on the cusp of August & September.  I know I have many bulbs in the bed, but, so far, only 2 have bloomed. I think perhaps some of the bulbs might still be too young.   

This little vase of white Gardenias & Rusty Dwarf Marigolds was my Thanksgiving table arrangement! I made it from what's still blooming outside!  It's still on the table today, though I've been removing Gardenias as they expire. I have a Gardenia bush out front that has persisted blooming till now, though I think it's about done. With Gardenia's it's best to snip them just as about to open or even buds, as they will fully open in a vase. They smell like cloves. My other project this week was digging up Red Spider Lily clumps and spreading the bulbs out. They look like this in September. They're a type of Magic Lily. That means the leaves only appear in winter, then later in fall, their bare flower stems "magically" appear. Right now is the only time of year I can see where they are by their leaves. I had about 3 clumps that needed separating.  The bulbs crowd each other after 3 or 4 years, resulting in poor flowering.  ...

I worked outside about an hour today and a half cleaning up sticks, cones and cone-cobs. (Cone cobs are the pine cone core that is left after the squirrels burr off all the petals to get to the seeds.) I also racked up a stack of pine cone petals scattered about the walkway and bit of yard just in front of the entryway. That area is under a couple pines trees, directly beneath where squirrels are busily cobbing-cones. I also planted beet seeds in a very large container in the back yard--hoping I'll get beet greens all winter. The melon in the garden that I thought was dead, recent sprouted a couple new vines. I guess the roots aren't dead. If it wants to keep going that's okay by me, though I will be planting Broccoli soon in on the other end of the garden that's empty. I have a small breed of Bell Pepper seeds I've been sprouting in the house. It's designed for containers, but I'm going to plant them in the bed next to the front door where they'll ...