Choice Morsels

 It's been rainy over night, so it looks wet outside this morning. Can't mow, but perhaps I'll be able to walk around and pick up the cones and branch clutter left over from Isaac's wind. I have sad news about that Swallowtail Butterfly crystalis I had in a container to watch. It did hatch--about 3 days earlier then expected. However, the wings didn't form properly. It was crippled. I was heart-broken. But I've seen that before in the insect world. It happens. I've seen it happen in the human world, too---I used to work in labor & delivery while I was in the Air Force---not all "butterflies" come out properly formed. That things work that way now doesn't mean they ought to work that way. I was reminded of Romans 8: 20-21 that says, " For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from it's slavery to corruption in...

  I have 2 Garden Pics for you today: First photo up is another one of the 10 new day lilies I ordered and planted last fall. This one is called "Prairie Fire." It's a strong maroonish-red with a bright yellow throat and the first of the 10 to bloom. At this time, only 2 haven't bloomed yet: the white and one called "Midnight." Day lilies have a broad blooming season, though. Some re-bloom, some blooming only once. Prairie Fire blooms once it appears. However the new yellow and "Grape" seem to be re-bloomers. Day lilies are an excellent flower in the flower bed for care-free areas you want to naturalize or in borders or to use as a medium-high filler in a bed with tall flowers at the back and shorter in front. If you like spring daffodils, they make a good companion planting partner with day lilies, since they come up first, then die back before the day lilies appear. So plant your daffodil bulbs among your day lilies! Next pi...

The Garden of Pics of the Day  are a couple views of my flower beds and a shot of my tomato plant laden with tomatoes. First up, my front flower bed: This is what people see when they park in the driveway or pass the house. It's a corner bed, triangle shaped. You can see my large pot sitting on the stump that once was a pine tree. This is the pot that has the little blue ceramic cat in it and also has the creek stones I brought back from Indiana. This bed faces east and just gets morning sun.  I took this photo around noon, which is why it's so bright.   Next, a view of the flower beds on the opposite of the driveway from the front bed: You can see the gravel parking space we built below. In the foreground is one of my Rubeckia plants full of blossoms. My house is on the left, the neighbors on the right. In the background you can see a very tall, leafy plant with grassy pampas behind it. That tall thing is my Hardy Hibiscus, which is j...