Cactus Blooming

Cactus Bud

Open Bloom

Another Open Bloom
The center of the bloom is very interesting. It has a lot of stamens that are close together making it look like a tongue. This seems to be the highlight of my garden at the moment.

One More Open Bloom
Not sure what this cactus is. I bought it at a garage sale last summer and it was not blooming at the time. I thought it was a barrel cactus but I looked at pictures on line and it does not look like one. Anyhow the flower opened this morning. I have been waiting and checking every day to see its progress and today was the day. Its really pretty I think.(-: I hope you enjoy it too(-:

Got Ants?

It seems that when it is dry and hot the ants come marching. I have noticed a lot more activity lately around the garden now that summer is here. The smoke is not bothering them I guess.
I bought this ant at a garden center one year because a friend kept telling me how big the ants were in Texas...(-: So... I got one extra big and said well, California has big ants too.(-:

GardenJoy4Me

Hi GardenJoy4Me, My rather polite and quiet raccoons just want to let you know that not all raccoons are obnoxious, especially ones made of cement!!! They also want you know that they are thinking of you and hoping for a capture soon(-:

Heirloom Phlox

This is another hand me down. This one comes from my great aunt who will be 102 on July 1st! Yikes!!! Anyhow its a very reliable plant and it comes back every year. I have had it at least 18 years here in my garden. Not sure how long its been around in hers. I do not know what the name of it is. It has a pretty white flower tinged in a purple-ish color.

Light The Torch

Or maybe just grab a flashlight!!!!!
If you want to see this cactus flower, (Peruvian Torch)
you have to view it at night. It blooms only after dark. My friend at work gave me several pieces of this cactus last month. I planted them in a pot and was anxiously awaiting to see it flower. I forgot what she told me it was called. I took pictures of the buds but today when I was out looking at it, it seemed to have already bloomed. )-: How could I have missed it? I did a little searching on the net to see what type of cactus it was and how it bloomed. Well duhhhh its a night blooming cactus. No wonder I didn't see it before!!! I felt like poor Mr. Wilson in the that movie "Dennis the Mennis" !!!! Anyhow, I was finally able to see it and take a picture. (-: Enjoy!!!!

Daytime picture...

Daytime picture...

Tonight...

Another tonight picture...

Grasshoppers love Sunflowers

Yup Grasshoppers sure do love to eat the leaves of my sunflowers. You can see where they have chewed them to pieces in the picture. I guess that is why they didn't grow to tall this year. I did plant a few so maybe some of the other ones will do better. Maybe the grasshoppers will die now that it is so smokey here. They might not be able to breathe with all the smoke and croak. One can only hope(-:

The Cashmere Flower

Does anyone have one of these growing in their garden? You can't kill them so they are a good plant for someone who doesn't have any gardening skills. (-: They multiply like crazy and they require little attention. What more could you ask for? I bought a one gallon plant about 16 years ago and now I could start my own nursery of one gallon pots of Cashmere Plant. Oh and they smell Horrendous !!!! I am not kidding either they down right stink!!! What is there to like about this plant? Well like I said you don't have to do much and they keep on growing. The flowers are pretty. Just don't cut one for the house.

Let Me Show You Something...

I had to laugh when I thought of Fire Marshall Bill Burns. Did anyone ever see Jim Carrey in that skit? To funny... Anyhow this is what it looks like here this morning. Fires burn out of control all around us. Its so smokey I can't go outside. (I have asthma) So I am hanging out with my buddy Jack and granddog today again!!!!
Below are a couple of links re: Fires in California and in and around my area...


Map of Fires In California

Fires In My Area

Semps in a wheelbarrow update

Had to share a new picture of the Semps. They are all doing so well. I love all the different colors of each of them. I have been really busy this week. I am re-doing my son's room. He went on a vacation and I thought I would surprise him when he gets back. It will be like the show Extreme Makeover. LOL!!! He is a major pack rat so its been quite an operation to get it done. After I re-did my daughters room a few months ago he said he wanted me to help him with his. Well, we never did get to it so I thought this would be a great time, since he will be gone for a couple weeks. His best friend just got discharged from the Marines after four years and is coming home. My son and his three other friends flew out to meet him in North Carolina. All five of them will drive back to California sight seeing along the way. Kinda cramped up in his new jeep but they are having a great time. So far they have been to West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and are on their way to Kentucky.

Roberts Flowers

These are flowers made by rmurray on Garden Web (GardenJunkForum) They are made using old faucet handles. I just love them and I had to share with everyone that may not know about the Garden Junk Forum. There are a lot of crafty people there and lots to learn and create!!! Everyone is so helpful and kind and they love junk!!!! Hop over there if you get a chance. If you love recycled art that is the place to visit. You will get many fun ideas to create your own treasures!!!!

MeeT SpOt

This is my first Agave(Manfreda). Thanks to Pam of Digging for getting me interested in trying one!!! Spot was his given name. I found Spot a cute pot at Target yesterday. I think the pot was the perfect color to set off his "spots" I planted him with a couple of his new friends, Susan, Sopa and Leneca which are all Semps. I hope they can all flourish and live happily ever after.(-:

Mister Lucky

Mister Lucky
He is a lucky daylily that's for sure. He got to come home to live with me. I adopted him today from the nursery. I couldn't resist. Could you?

More Daylilies

Hotlips

Old passalong double orange daylily
I got a start of the orange one about 20 years ago from my great aunt. She is almost 102. She was always an avid gardener and shared many plants from her yard with me.(-:
This plant has been divided and moved everywhere in my yard. I love the look and color of it.
The Hotlips I just got at the nursery a couple weeks ago. I wasn't sure on the color but they said it was red and that is what I wanted. I was not disapointed. It is a beautiful red.

What's Bloomin' Today?

Cecil Brunner

Hollyhock

Easter Lilly

The Cecil Brunner is a very prolific bloomer.
The Hollyhock is blooming this year for the first time. I hope it reseeds and continues to do well.
The Easter Lilly is a plant I bought a few years ago at the store for Easter. It continues to return every year...just not at Easter(-:

Heirloom Hydrangeas

I still have the two hydrangeas that my Grandpa dug up and gave to me about 20 years ago. The picture shows the different colors on the same plant! My grandpas' hydrangeas grew and bloomed so beautifully in his yard. I wanted to try them in mine. He actually dug up three pieces of his for me to try. One died a couple years ago. Of course the other two have never been as beautiful as the ones were at his house but I keep them going because they are something he gave me. I feel like since he is gone now, it's like having a little bit of him still here with me.
My Grandma loved the color blue and the hydrangeas had tints of blues in them as well as pinks. She would absolutely love the new modern hydrangeas that are that deep dark blue. She loved anything that was blue. What a lot more to choose from now days!
I hope I can pass on a few pieces of my hydrangeas to my grandchildren someday.

PlaNtEd ShOe WiTh SeDuM & a DaYliLy

The shoe is resin with mice peeking out of holes around the shoe. The sedum is Sedum rupestre. My daughter got the shoe for me at the flea market.(-:
Not sure on the name of the daylily but it is a pretty light pink with a purple ring around the center. A small plant over all.

RoCk HeAdS

More fun garden art(-: I love rocks and these two guys crack me up. Hope they bring a smile to your face too!!! Happy Thursday...its the last day of school for me!!! Yahoooooooo!!!!

Cake Pan Flowers and More

I made the cake pan flowers last year and they have rusted up quite nicely. They are a lot of fun and extremely easy to grow, requiring little care!!!!
The other flowers are Nasturtium and a red Asiatic Lily

Just Ducky

The ceramic duck was a thrift store purchase and he fits just fine inbetween the flowers. The bird bath was from Lowes.

Daylilly Siloam Shocker

It was open yesterday when I got home from our lake trip. I just purchased this one at the nursery on Friday. I bought two other ones that have not bloomed yet. Hot Lips and Strawberry Candy. I can't wait to see them bloom!