Choice Morsels

  Today's Garden Pic features a shot of one of my container gardens behind a Dwarf Nadina shrub in the area where a large Pampas grass once stood g iving my container garden a central spot in the garden and letting the pretty Nadina be seen. Dwarf Nadina's are a common landscape all season shrub here in the South---one of my better garden decisions after I figured out I didn't want any more huge shrubs to have to trim all the time. In the container garden are a variety of bulb plants the bloom from spring thru fall: Cheers Daffodils (the white flowers), Dutch Iris, Amaryllis, & Orange Spider Lilies. You can see white sticks marking where I planted a set of Peony roots. I'm not sure how they'll do---but they are rated for this planting zone. So we'll see. Below is a closer view of sunny Cheers Daffodils: clusters of tiny double white Daffodils that smell like baby powder on each stem. 

      Today's writers prompt is, "Tell us about a wrong number where you either received a call in error or made one."  Once upon a time, quite a few years ago, I got a completely unexpected message on my cell phone from someone I didn't know about something I didn't know anything about. The message was this: "Hey, if you need a ride to the funeral, give me a call back." That was it. No name, nothing. I looked from my phone to my husband and told him the message said, then said, " "Looks like someone's going to be disappointed when they don't get a ride to the funeral."  ******* If you're interested in participating in our Thursday Writer's Prompt, visit here sometime posting is due on Thursday to choose your prompt. 

 Two Garden Pictures today! This healthy bunch of greenery is called either Red-Veined Sorrel or sometimes Valentine Sorrel because of the red veins. It is an edible perennial. I've tried it in salads, but the red veins turn everything purple. It can be used in soups. I haven't yet. Mostly, I like it because it's so pretty. Next is my Patch of Winter Broccoli: Six plants in a raised bed. Winter is the best time to grow it here in Northwest Florida---no insect pests and it doesn't mind a freeze. Pretty healthy looking. They are in the side-shoot phase. I collected a few small heads that were ready for a stir-fry for dinner. Probably hold onto them until end of March.

I had computer issues last week I needed to resolve, so wasn't able to do my Garden Pic, but here it is this week: a couple shots of my Winter Jasmine!   And a closer shot of the sunlit blooms!

  Garden Pic of the Day: Snake Iris Here in Northwest Florida, the end of January spells the end of winter and the beginning of spring! Everything is starting to "wake-up." Leaf buds line my rose stems and my Snake Iris has just started blooming! Here's an excellent shot of one of the 3 first blooms! It's a unique looking Iris, miniature in size, with deep purple outer petals and lime-ish inner petals. It occupies a container out front.

Last week, one winter day when was warmish and muggy after a rain, I found this "Stinkhorn" Fungus in my flower bed that's along the walkway to the front door.  Also known as Column Stinkhorn or more amusingly, as "Dead Man's Fingers." Stinkhorns have emit a smelly odor to attract flies and so on, who then brush against spores and carry them off--that's how it reproduces.  They are quite unique---though I don't put my nose up close!   Last week we had our first hard freeze--everything except this Alyssum and the Broccoli in my raised garden got freeze-fried.  I was out of town right then, so unfortunately I wasn't able to cover my Salvia or anything. But amazingly, this Alyssum carries on!

Today's Garden Pic is a close up of Asparagus fern in seasonal red & green! Check out all those berries! (Birds can eat them. Not for people.)