Tuesday, June 24, 2025

SUMMER HOUSE

I don't know where the week is going. I started packing for my first jaunt of the summer but then Travel Penguin's words came to mind...why pack, it's not like you're going to be wearing many clothes. So I took five square cuts and threw them in a paper bag. The houseboys can deal with my packing...they know my wants and needs. Since it was slow today, I left work early and came home to tend and potter in the garden. I was out there in nothing but denim short cut offs, and I got a "Looking Good" from the neighbor lady. It felt nice, but I would have loved it more from her husband who looks like Travis Kelce. But I digress. I wanted to tend to the garden, dead head things, pull a few weeds, water, and a few other things before leaving later in the week. As hot as it's been, which kids, call me crazy, but I love the heat. The only problem is the boys hang down way low. But that's another story. The garden continues to bring forth new stars of the show.  And two more new residents are bringing delight. And from the picture above can you tell I'm getting in the mood for beach time? Some snaps from the garden this week.

Begonia

The roses have gone insane! And the newest addition from last year yielded its blooms...purple ice.
Straw Flower
First of the wildflowers are blooming!
I also tried my hand at a topiary this year. So far, I have kept all three balls trimmed. And below is one of the new additions doing very nicely...Justicia carnea or sometimes called the Brazilian plume flower or Flamingo plant. Imagine me liking anything from Brazil! 
The coneflower just bloomed today
The other new addition was this agapanthus. I've always loved them. In other news there is currently three family of nestlings. These are baby sparrows below, four of them, in a hanging fern plant. They look like cranky old men, no? Needless to say, once they all fledge, and the others, I am going to have to put Sophie on a short leash. My little bitch got another bird last night, this time a cowbird. 

I say, does this cute face look like the Garden Killer Bandit ???

29 comments:

  1. Anonymous6/24/2025


    So sorry dear, my feelings for agapanthus (aka Lily of the Nile) match your feelings for Crocs. Enjoy them until you have to dig up and divide the rhizomes.

    Will Jay

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    1. Thanks for stopping in will. Although your message sounds very cryptic. Now I'm worried!

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  2. You, of all people, should know how to take care of balls.

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    1. Oh I do and I handled them with such care.

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  3. Though, good to read that your balls are well trimmed.
    My dog killed a baby blackbird - some canines are worse than cats.
    Sx

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    1. Ms Scarlett, I have never ever had a dog that my entire life that went after birds and ate them. Every time this happens I can't tell you what that horrific image does to me, to see a Tail Feather and little legs sticking out of her mouth.

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  4. I love the diverse array of flowers. That's the cutest Garden Bandit I've ever seen (next to you, of course). Jon

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    1. She's been more of a handful than any dog I've ever had I think Buster thinks she's got a screw loose.

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  5. Beautiful - I love this time of year in the garden! Jx

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    1. Thank you dear. But if this heat keeps up while I'm away, I may be coming home to a barren garden.

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  6. Oh my god! My roses are going CRAZY in the heat! The heat wave is starting to abate, so I am gearing up to get the yard work done early this morning.

    My cats are anxious to get outside, too. Both to eat the lemon grass around the yard and to dine al fresco. Songbirds beware...

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    1. I have a feeling the songs of birds don't last long in your backyard!

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  7. Oh well. Cowbirds may not be the worst birds for Sophie to off. Natural selection. Your gardens always look how I would expect them to look. You create beauty.

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  8. Your flowers are absolutely beautiful. And your dog....she's adorable. She looks like she is on watch guard duty!

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    1. She probably was squirrel Duty. She has yet to catch one of them.

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  9. Oh yeah, that Sophie is a killer. Just look at that menacing creature..!

    Your flowers are beautiful. And if you like the heat, you're more than welcome to some of ours. We're roasting down here.

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  10. So much color, but the Purple Ice are stun-ning!!!

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    1. I planted the climbing bush last year,but to no avail no blooms. This year it took off. I love the color and the scent.

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  11. Those are gorgeous flowers!

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  12. The houseboys will surely have a good time while you're gone. Mark those gin bottles!
    So gorgeous. You DO have magic hands, don't you?
    That face is so cute. It's a good thing I'm not in the area, I'd be there with Sophie all the time!

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    1. Just what makes you think any gin is staying behind? LMAO

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  13. How lovely to have house boys to sort you out !
    Your garden is Fantabulousa,
    Enjoy your Jolly Jaunts

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  14. Could I have misread, that you need help packing your assets into square cuts? No? Could I have read that and do you need help? LOL.

    As always you're garden is breathtaking. I hope your house boys remember to water otherwise it might be burnt up. I love that Brazilian plume plant.

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  15. You know I always like your little appointments. I just love that little scene in the first picture. You always put the best looking things together that works. And are those all shells that you found?

    As always I love the garden. Our weather here is much different but I can't imagine this flowers doing too well with this heat. And I know you have a lot of roses they all look so pretty. And I absolutely love that Brazilian palm plant. I've never seen anything like it. I assume that does well in heat? And what's not to like about wildflowers. One of the few things that thrives in the sun. And I still can't get over what a little mischievous creature Sophie is. She must be the polar opposite of Buster.

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  16. Your flowers and garden are always a mood boost, Maddie! As for Sophie, it's hard to believe such an adorable face masks such a killer...

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  17. Your Garden is Lovely, the Baby Birds are Ugly in an Adorable kind of way that Baby Birds just are. Yes, keep the Bird Killer on a short leash. *LOL* Have Fun on your Summer jaunts.

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  18. OMG
    The little birds!!
    And I love your garden and the care you put into it. Love wildflowers. I think I love wildflowers harder than I love their pretty sisters.

    XOXO

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Go ahead darling, tell me something fabulous!