The heat, and no rain, is taking a toll on the whole place.

The trees are dropping leaves almost as bad as fall.

Only good thing...less to pick up in fall.

Not much to eat, for these guys. 

Well....except for our landscapes.

Since it's so dry...

...why do I need so much of these?

I don't dare go out without it.

The mosquitoes LOVE me.

It's not all bad, though.

The early morning light still looks good.

Willow enjoys hanging out on the bridge...

as long as the sprinkler's not going.

Sweet Potato loves the heat.

And, so does the Firecracker Fern.

And, some of our recent sunsets, have been very nice.

I was worried about some fungus looking things on this

Golden Barrel Cactus.

It turns out it's new growth!

Yay!

And, this could be good or bad...

Our son-in-law is a safety consultant in the oil and gas industry.

The workers were clearing a site, and plowing up these.

If I read the photo right, they're Sotols of some kind.

He asked if I wanted some.  I said, of course.

So, he's bringing me some.

I hear there are ten..

I need to do some research to see how long they can stay out of the ground.

They live a distance away from us.

So, that's what's going on here.

Trying to keep things alive,

and staying out of the heat.

Tomorrow is supposed to be extra hot.

Then we have a "cold front" coming in.

We could be all the way down to 99!!

Hey...it's all relative.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Here we are in the MIDDLE of 

NOVEMBER!

Wow....time is flying by.

Time to join 

Pam at Digging,
for Foliage Follow-Up.


It's pretty much the same old, same old here.
Agaves, yucca, cactus....

We did get a couple new Mediterranean Palms,
and got them planted before the Arctic Blast.
(one in front bed, just right of right side tree)

And, I moved some Red Yucca from beside that Rosemary,
to fill in where the deer had made a mess of the
Color Guard Yucca.


I potted up two of them for the Fenced Yard, and caged the third one in the Back Bed.

They had chomped and pulled them up, over & over.
They did a job on them....grrrrr.

It looks better now.
And, since the deer have left that Red Yucca alone so far,
maybe we're safe.
For a while.....

At least they haven't eaten the metal Prickly Pear.

They did try to eat the 'silk' chrysanthemums on the front porch.

Yes folks, I've resorted to FAKE flowers on the porch.
And, the deer even tried them.

If you want to see more Foliage Follow-Up,
be sure to visit Pam.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

have been CHOMPED!

Maybe we need more metal plants, concrete yard art....

a GUN?

Nope...can't shoot them.  Just would like to.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Here we are at Friday again...already.

We've had another busy week.

You know how little kids love to be swung around?

How they don't want to stop, and yell, "One more time!"?

Well....I'm beginning to feel like the gardens here are little kids,

and we're the adults swinging them around.

And, they keep yelling, "One more time!"

This is the way the front looked, the first time we visited this house.

This is July, 2008.

Don't you just love that power box thing?  Great addition to curb appeal.

But, we're here to look at that front bed.  Lush groundcover (vinca),

 boxwood, an old Viburnum, and some old Nandina.

I knew right away I wanted to change all that.

The previous owner must have poured a LOT of water on this...
and the St. Augustine grass...
to make it all this green in July.

2010

Fast forward to 2010.  

2009 was spent mostly upgrading the inside of this 40 year old house.

The groundcover didn't fair too well, during the drought and heat of the

summer of 2009.  I wasn't too sad about it.  I wanted something different.

But, most of what you see above didn't make it, either.

2011

So, the Miscanthus that didn't make it, was replaced with a Soft Leaf Yucca.

The Blue Fescue was traded for some dwarf Yaupon Holly.

Not a very good photo.  You have to look closely.

2012

Last year, we redid the Island Bed.  Ripped out the groundcover that always looked ratty,

and planted some really drought tolerant things.

2011

And, we built the Driveway Bed.  That's changed since then, too.

But, I digress....

Late March, 2012

The front bed was looking pretty good.

2011

I was feeling pretty smug.  This all made it through the 

2011 'Summer From Hell'. 

 (Sorry, but that's how it felt.)

What do they say?

Something about pride going before a fall?

Well, Fall here didn't look all that great.

Another dry, hot summer.  NOT as bad as 2011.

But, bad enough.  It all adds up.

And then, there are the sweet little deer.

Remember back in January when I was whining about the deer...again?
Well, I didn't show you the Viburnum and Nandina.
Yes, they...or she....chomped that, too.
I wanted them out anyway, but this pushed us to decide.

So, Mr. P. ripped them all out.
Lovely, huh?
I especially like the downspout thing running across the bed, that we should have had buried...
but, didn't.


Then, we hauled off to that garden center on South Congress.
(Hint: Great Outdoors)


There's still a way to go, before we're finished with this round.
But, it looks better.


There needs to be something behind the Sabal Minor.
I'm thinking Bamboo Muhly, but haven't decided.
What do you think?

The boxwood are staying.  It would look just too naked, without them.

Need more mulch, and redo the soaker hose.
We're taking the stepping stones along the house, to the porch.
There's that much room....

I'm hoping those dwarf hollies finally do something.


But, so far, so good.
No chomping, no shredding...semi-success.

But, it's never DONE.
There could possibly be "One more time!".
This starting over EVERY YEAR, does wear one down.

Then, of course, there's the other bed I want out here
(I'm a glutton for punishment.),
and, the path around the house, and.....


So, we'll probably 'stick' to it.

  I'm pretty sure this yucca won't get to stay here.
Hmmm....center piece for the new bed?

*******

Whew!  I seem to have made a novel out of this post.
Sorry about that.


It's misting here.  And, we have a chance of rain for the weekend.
Hope they're right this time.

Have a great weekend.

Happy Gardening...
~~Linda~~

Well....there are two of them.  

And, they've been chomped.

Remember the lovely Powis Castle Artemisia that the deer NEVER touch?

I have it all over the place.

Well...they've been chomped.

Remember this agave that we put in the new Drive Bed last year?

Well...it wasn't chomped...

...it was shredded.  This is an old picture.  It looks worse now.

The centers of the Lophanthas have been chomped out.  

Oh...they don't EAT it.  They just take it out.

Remember last March, I showed you the back view of the Front Bed?

See the nice Softleaf Yucca?

Well...they've pulled it up so many times, I don't think it'll make it.

I really want to garden.  I feel sorry for the hungry deer.

But, I get tired and a bit discouraged, when those hungry deer eat everything I plant.

I don't want all our plants to live in cages.  

I guess we'll just have to start over....again.

I love grasses...they strangely don't eat grass.  But,  but I don't want ALL grasses.

No wonder so many people in this neighborhood have just given up.

Then again, some people have the same things I do....

and the deer don't eat it!

OK....thanks for listening to me whine, yet again.

The weather is supposed to be nice for the next few days.

I have a lot of clean up to do.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Oh...by the way...I'm linking to Pam at Digging.  for
Foliage Follow-Up.

But, no!  Somebody got there first!!

I'm not sure who it was. 

 A raccoon would've taken the whole thing, and left no evidence.

A bird would've left a hole in it, where he pecked it.

I'm thinking it's probably a squirrel.  Took a big bite, and left the rest.

Could it be he meant to share?

Naw.....

I better keep an eye on the other ones.

Happy Gardening...

~~Linda~~

Happy first day of June.  How was your May?  Mine was one I don't want to repeat.

If you read my last post, you know I had pneumonia.  Still fighting it some, but things are much better.  Get a pneumonia shot....you don't want this stuff.  It really knocks you down.

We did have about an inch and a half of rain.  That gives us a little more than two inches....Since October!  But, we're grateful for whatever we can get.

It seems that power box is connected to the one on our side of the street....the one inside this once lovely stand of Primrose Jasmine.  One of the guys came to the door and told me he needed to 'trim a path' into the shrubs, to access the box.  I said fine, but speak to Elli next door...she planted them and would want to know.

Then the 'Tree Experts' showed up.  I know they were experts...it said so, on the side of their big orange truck.

This is their idea of 'trimming a path'.  Just cut down half of the shrubs.

I could be wrong.  But, I just really don't think this one is going to come back.  And, yeah...the water guys are back today.  Not sure why they've run a hose from the water hook-up across the street, to run under the power box on this side of the street.  But then, I'm not an expert.

And...while I'm whining....the Castor Bean that was growing nicely, with hopes of getting really big this year, looks like this today.  All the leaves are gone.  These are poisonous.  Somebody had a big stomach ache.  Not sure this will come back, either.

But, enough of the whining.  Good things happen, too.  Like this new swing Mr. P. gave me for Mother's Day/Get Well.

You can sit and swing, and get a whole new view of the Grove.

Or, you can hang out with your big brother, before dinner.

The veggie garden is coming along.  Lots of weeding needs to be done, but little energy for it, yet.

The squash is hanging in there, even though the squash vine borers attacked.  I sat on the ground, and slit the vine and got the ugly borer worms out...covered the wound with dirt, and so far, so good.  We've even had some squash already.

The green beans are doing really well.  We've had beans twice.  Not sure how many more harvests we'll be getting from these.

Cucumbers are blooming.

Along with the volunteer zinnia.

And, cosmos.  I like flowers in a veggie garden.  They bring pollinators, and just look pretty.