Choice Morsels

Here in Florida it's time for spring yard work, even though snow is still falling elsewhere! We got a few bedding plants from both Lowe's & Walmart last weekend. Garden Pics today are some of the new purchases: Pictured below are Million Bells (pink flowers to left) and a   new Mexican Heather (to right) I'm particularly fond of the Million Bells. One of these is already planted in the large container garden out front. I had to add a new day lily to that same container this year and it has a orange-pink tone, so I thought the pink Million Bells would be a nice change. And New Hydrangeas! The photo really doesn't do justice to the beautiful range of pink to purple to dusky blue these heads are! I have just blue or just pink, so these will be different. If you remember, I mentioned two Azaleas out front died and I intended to replace them with Hydrangea's? These are them.  So Hubby dug out the dead Azalea roots for me, which were on eith...

Last week for the Between The Lines series featuring women bloggers over 50! You can view the interviews with all of them & the linky list,  here . My favorite was Mama's Little Treasures , which belongs to Nina, who is part of a group publishing a quarterly online Christian magazine called "Ruby For Women." They take contributions, so it could be a writing opportunity. You can view their interests & submissions guide,  here . To read my Between the Lines guest post from last week about how I got into blogging, go here . **** Today's Garden Pics: The Garden Visitor: This most beautiful neighbor cat occasionally visit to enjoy sitting among the day lilies below my bird-feeder. She (or he) is all white except for touches of orange tabby on the face, legs and tails. And  blue eyes. First blue-eyed cat I've ever personally seen. Large, too. Maybe 14-16 pounds, sleek and healthy looking. She promptly leaves if I come outside and goes back over th...

I'm slow getting to this today--it's nearly 5 pm, but there's been a thunder shower hanging overhead for the past hour and I didn't want to be on the computer while lightning was going on. Today's garden pic is of my unique Hydrangea: Two colors on one bush! Blue blossoms appeared earlier this spring on stems from middle to rear of shrub and, presently, front-edge stems are bearing pink! I obtained this particular  Hydrangea as a rooted cutting from flower shop I used to work at. Someone else had snipped it from a pink hydrangea, and, long story short, I ended up bringing the cutting home. I planted it in the bed opposite my front door, where it flourished and grew large. First blooms were pink, then the next year, were mysteriously blue. I thought my acidy soil had caused it to revert, then this year it bloomed both blue, then later pink. Mystery solved! It's both colors! Surprise!  Other Hydrangeas I have: I have 2 lavende...

"Can I get blue roses?" was probably the most often asked question at the flower shop where I worked for 17 years as a floral designer. And the answer is, "No."  Fresh, real roses do not come in blue. Even those with names like, "Bluebird," are lavenderish and not blue. If you want roses in blue you're going to have to pay a visit to your local silk flower retailer. Below are two photos of real roses classed as "Lavender" colored from a florist shop web page. You can see "lavender" in roses varies from more pinkish to more lavenderish. Roses classed as "purple," generally run to the maroon side as a natural color. (If you see roses that actually look purple the color has probably been artificially applied someway---and I don't recommend painting---it's stinky and only effects the outer surface.) The pinker rose to the left called "Ocean Song Lavender" and the one on the right was unnamed, but h...