Crazy over Poppies

TODAY!

August 12

June 12

July 27, 2022 - My inspiration to try to grow these came from blogger Mary. All of the following images are from Mary's blog. She lives in the hills of Arkansas.

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I ordered them last year and this year they are out of stock so far...  If you would like to view the description and more colors just click on this link:  

https://territorialseed.com/products/poppy-mother-of-pearl

Surprises

Today my daughter brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her garden. She also brought me yellow and green beans and a container of her ziti for my dinner. 

She took a walk up to the old rock garden to see how things were growing up there and came back with great news! A poppy has opened and several others will soon.....Would you believe it?? Of course I had to get up there on the buggy and get a picture. 

Have a closer look.....

This is the tomato that will provide seeds for next year's crop. My NJ daughter is going to try saving seeds too for the first time.

Not least but last....My clothespin project is almost finished. It needs a coat of shellac or clear varnish to solidify the unit more permanently. It was a very difficult project as the old clothespins were quite warped. I was going to paint it white but decided I like the wooden shades better. It has better character naturally.  One of the skirt feathers fell out and I glued it back in backwards. Toooo late to change it now! Can you spot it?

                          tap on image to view larger

Green

In between raindrops today, I rode to the old "rock garden," where the daffodils give me so much pleasure in the spring, to check on how things were growing. A friend had given me three or four of her Chinese Lanterns  as I was bemoaning the fact that I haven't seen any up there where they used to grow. I poked the gift of young plants into the old soil of the planter and have been watching them thrive. I have two of those "planters" because they were left-over pieces of plastic pipe from years ago when a drain was constructed by the Mister and a couple of neighbor men. They (the pipe planters) have no bottoms. Today, what did I see? The pictures below tell the story. Success! I intend to clip them for indoor autumn decorations. One has already turned orange. I expect them to go from that stage into a see-through bloom with a berry in the middle. 

Above photo from internet. https://gardenerspath.com

Do you possibly remember that I tossed poppy seeds in the other planter? See what happened then (June 12) and then see what today brought!

I didn't think there would be buds or flowers until next year!

Just a few zinnias are growing. Weeds took over for a while until I had my yard guy pull some of them. There should have been many more zinnias.  Oh well... I sure hope they bloom before a frost because I hope to cut a few to dry. 

I just started to work on a new project. Final pictures soon if it stays together!

Stumped!

I took a rideabout this morning and found very little to photograph.  Remember back in May I posted a stump with a tiny tree growing up from the crack? See below.

I thought it was a bit unusual but glad to know it was alive. Well....Today when I went by, someone else has been watching the little tree's growth and put a couple of guardian rocks near it. 

I then added two more. After I did this an earthworm appeared! Out of the crack it came and surrounded my rock. WOW! 

Soooo, before I buggied away I added a piece of the tree bark. Why, you ask? Because I could! 

Now "our little tree" is fully protected, at least for a while. Stacked rocks have many meanings but I believe these are tributes to a survivor.

One flower took my eye this morning.

Cardinal Flower, Scarlet Lobelia

An un-tended flower plot by a lake home at least has some glory left.

Tap images to view larger.

https://www.trees.com/gardening-and-landscaping/types-of-earthworms

Buggy Rideabout

'Tis the season for Queen Ann's Lace and Goldenrod, Thistles, wild Rose of Sharon and Trumpet Vine. As I cruised around the lake on the bumpy and dusty dirt road, I saw this bird on lookout duty!

The old tree promises not to fall on the home of a long-time resident this coming winter.

A variety of colors always grab my eye for a picture!

please tap image to see full beauty