Yard Update

 Flowers are coming and going around the yard.

We believe this one is called the "carousel" rose of sharon.

She commands attention with her amazing leaves, cool buds and stunning, huge flowers.

 These orange Asiatic lilies bloomed like crazy but have since passed.

The butterfly milkweed is looking pretty.

Another beloved of the butterfly is the lantana. We have both yellow and white ones.

The butterfly bushes are blooming.

We have 4 different colors around. The buds are so interesting to look at as they come and go.

The canna lilies will bloom later in the season by the leaves put on an amazing show.

The leaves are so fabulous with the red edges.

The Japanese painted ferns keep getting bigger and bigger. This one had a pretty bug on her.

Our ornamental peach tree has been loving being planted in the ground!

We've noticed a lack of butterflies this year and learned there is about a 50% decline here due to the late frosts and other climate issues.

The elephant ears are growing bigger each week.

Overall the pollinating garden is growing.

Our grass looks like crap but we don't believe in watering it since that is such a waste of a precious resource.

This is a very picture heavy post but it is for our personal, future reference!

The new pineapple guavas have new growth!

Here is where we often sip cocktails and our morning coffee. We have 2 cool plants in the planters that will be growing over and down very soon!

We noticed a nest in the crepe myrtle out front. There has been a lot of purple martin activity around the tree so we think it had belonged to them. It is quite low for those birds to nest so we can't be sure. It is amazing to look at a strong crafted nest. Talented little guys!

We got a dog! Ok, Gizmo is made of concrete. This is because a cat has been pooping in our yard. This dog works as a repellent! 

It is funny since I always grew up with indoor/outdoor cats and never thought of them annoying neighbors because they were my cuties. It is unpleasant cleaning up another person's pet's poop.

Have a marvelous day/evening (wherever you are on the clock)! ~Val