Choice Morsels

This shot is out along my front walk: Purple Shamrocks, Dusty Miller in the background, Shasta Daisy greens to the bottom left and directly behind the strawberry pot & shamrocks are the tall spikes of my Siberian iris.  

I have two containers of Red Salvia brightening up my December! This one near the front door and one on the back patio I see out the sliding glass door! Actually, I took this shot in November and more Salvia has popped up both containers and come to bloom as well, so there's a lot more! When the blossoms turn brown, I break them off and put them on the soil in the container, so any seeds can grow.  Temps have been down around 36F degrees at night, but that doesn't bother the Salvia, Vinca or Alyssum. If temps do threaten to freeze, I'll cover the Salvia and that usually works pretty well. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas & also a Happy New Year!  

 This is my Maple Tree in my back yard: Actually, it's reasonably pretty this year. The trick to good fall color in deciduous trees is it has to get cold gradually. If cold comes on too suddenly, the change is swift and leaves fall too quick for a good showing of color and that's true regardless of location. Here in Northwest Florida, there are plenty of deciduous trees mixed in among the evergreen pines, magnolia trees & live oaks: Maples, Pecan Trees, Cypress, Sycamore, Scrub Oaks and all of them color as the weather cools between November & December. Pecan Trees turn a brilliant yellow. Cypress range from burnt to ruddy orange. Scrub Oaks turn a deep red tone. Anyone with a Japanese Maple gets burgundy. This Maple is called a "Florida Maple" or a "Florida Sugar Maple." It's a wild tree that was already established on the property when we built our house.

This is front yard boarder the lays along my property line with my neighbor. It's looked this pretty until just yesterday, when it got a little cold over night that put a dent in the Mexican Heather and some of the white Vinca, but the Marigolds persist. (Those are their solar flamingo lights, which look pretty at night.) And this is a shot of my front bed by the mailbox: That pretty light green plant with the magenta blossoms is a 4'Oclock called "Limelight." This is a fresh growth that sprang up in late September, I think. Here in Florida, 4'Clocks are perennial.  There are actually 3 of them in this bed; this one is the largest.  

    The Mama Kat question I'm doing is: Book Review! What is your best (or worse read)?        I joined a Book Club last year. We meet once a month at a local restaurant that allows us to come in at 10 am to discuss our book, then we order lunch. Everyone is 60 or older, I think--who else has free time to do a Book Club at 10 am?      I joined for 2 reasons:     1) Social Interaction. It gets me out of the house and around other people.     2) To Try Out New Books to Read. I'm fairly particular about what I read and the club is reasonably conservative in book choices.      Frankly, not every book choice has been fantastic , but I have two I consider the "Best Reads" this year. The 1st is non-fiction based on a historical event and the 2nd is fiction based on a historical event. I happen to like history, so I probably enjoyed them more then most of the other ladies, but I highly recommend both: Eighty Days b...

I have a nice row of Dwarf Marigolds & Vinca out front that all the bees & butterflies have been loving.  These shots are from about 2 weeks ago, while it was still mildly cool and sunny out. It's the same Bumble in both shots. There were numerous honey bees and this one large Bumble. It's a Brown-Belted Bumble identifiable by the furry brown stripes from waist to tail and the fuzzy yellow thorax. Bumbles are always completely fuzzy; Carpenter Bees have a smooth rear end without any fuzz.  

  Today's Garden Pic is a harvest of Sweet Basil & Greek Oregano laid out in dryer trays for drying! Temperatures outside are getting cool, so since the Basil will freeze and I only have the one plant, I decided yesterday to hop-to and get it picked for drying! The Greek Oregano I can get anytime as it's winter hardy here in Florida. So, I tray Basil & 3 Trays of Greek Oregano. Once dry, I separate leaves from stems, crush up the leaves with my fingers on wax paper, then slide the herbs into a recycled glass herb bottle. Since I had so little Basil, I combined them in one bottle labeled "Italian Seasoning." Consumer Reports tested a number of common commercial herbs & spice brands for arsenic, cadmium & lead. Popular brands including Walmart Great Value, McCormick, Spice Islands, 365 Whole Foods, Badia and many others for particular spices & herbs: basil, oregano, black pepper, chili powder, cumin, etc. The report is not encouraging. A lot of them ...