What's Been Growing On...

I have not been able to plant nearly as fast or as much as I'd like in this barren new yard. We're trying to work around the "master plan", but since we don't have one yet it's been a little difficult to get going. We want to build a pool someday, so I don't want to plant my Four O-Clock seeds (harvested from neighborhood walks at the "old" place... shhh!) and have them ripped up because we end up with something else there. And really, what is the best landscaping plan for that 3rd level up there in the back yard...?? We're waiting for a professional to come give us ideas (so we can do it ourselves...) In the mean time, I'm itching to get to planting SOMETHING. As it is, we have a lot of pots here and there. And in this incredibly hot summer that has just begun, I'm doing a LOT of tending and watering.

Keep forgetting what these little guys are called, but they are GREAT in the baskets on the back porch. They're supposed to like morning sun, but I think it's just a bit too hot for them. The one that gets the most sun keeps needing a shade break.

The rose bushes we planted out front are starting to get busy with blooms. I was looking forward to having them planted for us, but for some reason we didn't get rose bushes like most of the other houses built before ours.

We finally gave up on our begonias out front and planted some periwinkles and blue bells. Bunnies aren't supposed to like these. (They seem to like begonias and impatiens...) So far, so good on these new blooms. We stuck some dark and light potato vines out there with them and they're going to town vining away.

This is a fun little guy. He has a strange name, so I can never remember it right. He always looks like he needs water, but he just has droopy blooms. Supposed to like shade, so he's on the front porch. I've already had to move him so he can get a little more sun, though.

We have pink and purple bougainvillea out back. Hoping they start trailing over the walls by the stairs soon. They had some trouble getting going and hanging on through some rough winds, but their roots are digging in now to hold them down.

Took a while for the Gardenia to finally open up it's blooms. When we planted it, there were a bunch of buds that looked ready to go, but they just sat there. After two Miracid waterings (two months!), we finally saw our first bloom and it's been going ever since.

And then there's the newest addition - the Plumeria! The beautiful Plumeria!! Oh, I'm so excited!

You see, there's this story I heard once about a Plumeria...

Once upon a time, after ten years of marriage, a couple went to Hawaii. They managed to smuggle, I mean, bring back a root of a Plumeria plant. The wife coddled and cared for the root until it started putting forth beautiful leaves. The new plant was sheltered in the winter and given a special place in the morning sun on the back patio. She gazed longingly at her mother-in-law's beautiful flowering Plumeria in Houston. A couple of years passed. Then, one day, there was a BOY with a bat. End of story. (yes, the boy did live...)

It's been five years since the "bat" incident and he still sheepishly promised not to come near the new plant for any reason. The boy with the "elephant" memory remembered...