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Here are some shots of the bed I have to excise, and a sad view of the Oleander. I feel sorry for it. One of the most difficult things I ever have to do as a gardener is to take out live plants. Somehow, it just runs counter to nature and even if there’s only one measley little lingering leaf, you can bet I’m not going to want to rip it out by the roots until all hope is gone!

We’ll have company all next week, so these guys get a stay of execution for at least a week, and I’ll be hoping for some inspiration (and taking suggestions!) about what to put in the new blank slate.

I hope this post does justice to the beautiful color of these Gerbera daisies. They are in a rustic metal pot on my back porch and are the most stunning salmon color. Not pink, not coral, but a delicate shade that just makes you appreciate nature’s endless palette.
This little friend kept coming out onto the patio where Tanner (the tomato-stealing dog) kept eyeing him. I shooed him away into the garden twice before having to leave. I sure hope he stayed put, because Tanner’s taste for tomatoes is only second to bugs!!

Ah, seeds. The beginning and the end. The end of the bloom season and the start of new possibilities. These wisteria beans hang regally from the young vine growing in the back corner of our yard. I love the few little blooms that brighten up our Spring here, but I am in absolute awe of the wisteria growing along Lady Bird Lake and Cesar Chavez that completely covers the top of a city building along the lake. It’s hard not to start the day with a smile on your face when you drive by that every day!

Here are a few more pretty pictures of things in my garden today, like this Texas sage along the driveway.

Our magnolia blooms are just about to open up again. They are certainly happy with the cooler, wetter weather reminiscent of their preferred southeastern habitats

Lucky for me, I had the macro lens on my husband’s camera and caught this beautiful swallowtail having some lunch while I was browsing the garden in search of photos!

Say hello to my very sad, single agapanthus in the front yard. When I planted a bunch of them in the back, there was one much larger and different than the others, and since I was planting them in a line to create a curved river bed shape, I decided to plant this one elsewhere. Unfortunately, I didn’t think about the deer and the bunnies. They were very happy to see this Lily of the Nile, and ate it down to the nubbins within a week! But the agapanthus perservered and is blooming (albeit not particularly attractive!) in spite of its tough beginnings. I’m glad, because I find them to be beautiful, regal plants and I’ve got my fingers crossed for her!

Finally, I am thrilled to report that my very green, leafy, overflowing morning glory vine is BLOOMING! It’s a beautiful little gem – for which I have been waiting for literally months! It went into the ground in June and gets plenty of morning sun, but we just haven’t had quite enough sunny days. I look for blooms every day and today I was rewarded! Its next-door-neighbor-vine, the Mexican Flame Vine, has been blooming for several weeks now. Next, I’ll be looking for the blue morning glory that lives between these two on the fence to bloom. I planted it from seed, however, so it is far behind these two in growth. Guess I’ll just have to keep talking to it~!

Okay, it rained on our day-before-Labor Day Family Pool Party again – second year in a row. And we have rain forecast for yet another whole week, and hurricanes heading in our general direction, so the clouds may be with us for even longer. It has been the absolute oddest weather year I’ve experienced. Guess we all got so used to the drought and we don’t know what to do what an abundance of rain. Makes you really wonder about the very direct effects of Global Warming on our everyday lives — now — not just in the abstract future.