The 'Tiger Eyes' Sumac has put on quite the show of fall color. Such a nice combination of chartreuse and pink! The Thunbergia grandiflora is fantastic in fall, as usual. Ornamental pepper 'Black Pearl' (you have to say it like Captain Jack Sparrow) looks great with ornamental grasses and fall marigolds or mums. The seed heads belong to dwarf Philippine lily and they've just now matured. These lovely seeds will be going to Cody...remind me to bring them to you!!

During the summer, at say about 9am, the dragonflies come out. A huge group of them hovers over our front garden for an hour or two each morning. They only hang out in our yard...not a one in either of the neighbor's yard. Its quite the spectacle. I tried to get a decent picture, but its almost impossible to capture the scene. I'd say there are probably a good 50-75 of them. Very cool.

Hairyette's hair is filling in nicely....

Face Pot with Mexican Feather Grass

Grow Pepper 'Holy Moly'

Indifferent to my negligence, the vegetable garden has continued to produce...as if I have time to harvest! I'm going to have to get out there soon because there is some mean salsa to be made.....

Pepper 'Holy Mole', All-American Selections winner, really has a great flavor and produces heavily.

Anyone need some Habaneros? Boy that salsa is going to burn.....

I know, I know! It's been a while since I updated. It's been a busysummer! I've barely had time to spend in the garden, but it has marchedon without me. Here are a few current bloomers. Dwarf Philippine Lilyare always a pleasant and unique surprise in the late summer garden.This dwarf variety is rare and not typically available. I've let thelast couple of seasons go by without collecting its seeds, but I'll domy best to get them this summer. Rudbeckia, Centauria and Zebra grassare a great summer combo. Moon Vine has begun creeping to the upstairsbalcony. Thunbergia is popping into bloom. This massive vine, when infull bloom, has caused strangers to stop and knock on my door. "What isthis beautiful plant????" Talk about making a gardener's day,....

April is usually peak spring bloom time in my garden, with a crazy explosion of colors. While I try to stick to a cool color scheme, bulbs are one of my obsessions. So I end up of with lots of "unapproved" colors because I just can't help but acquire new varieties! Also, I'm obsessed with peach colored roses and they too are at their peak in April.

After this somewhat gaudy spring show, and the month of May begins, my garden takes a big deep breath. May becomes a transitional time. There are usually several weeks to a month of green foliage and the promise of better things to come. By the end of May, however, many of my summer blooming perennials begin to put on their show. That is when I'm reminded that I like to plant purple! It always makes me laugh a little (how much purple there is) but the onset of cool, calming blue and purple blooms is just in time for the arrival of Texas summer heat.

The Scabiosa never really stopped blooming, then the purple asters decided to make a spring appearance. Veronica has been waiting for this moment since last summer and makes for the prettiest contrast against Artemesia. The arrival of the dwarf balloon flowers brought both sets of neighbors over to ask "what is that beautiful purple thing?!!" Salvia 'Henry Deulberg' has been blooming all spring and will continue to do so all summer. The Mexican Blue Sage (Salvia c.)has the prettiest powder blue blooms. Catmint 'Walker's Low' creates a powdery cloud of lavender flowers that will bring on the biggest bee party you'll ever see. Salvia g. 'Black and Blue' still amazes me with its "blueness". Salvia f. 'Evolution' is similar to 'Victoria', but with darker purple blooms and a more dense compact growth habit. French hollyhocks have always been a favorite of mine because they are so easy to grow. These are just a few samples of some of my favorites. Also in blooming in blue/purples are spiderwort, Baptisia a. hydrangeas, purple oxalis, light blue petunias, lobelia, althea and more. Ah.....so serene.

My yard needed a little more funk, so here is my new bottle tree I just installed. It resides behind a planter my neighbors have named "Hairyette Potter"...I love my neighbors! They are on a mission now to get me new and interesting bottles. I promised them we could do red and green at Christmas....

I'm going to do some planting around the base of the bottle tree. I haven't yet decided what exactly I'll put there. Hairyette Potter is planted with Mexican Feather grass, which is still fairly small. So I'll choose something that will provide some contrast behind the grass.

The blue bottles catch the light and are so pretty in the sunshine and brighten up the yard when its overcast. Traditionally, bottle trees were used to trap evil spirits so they wouldn't enter your home. I can't wait to see what kind of little evils I'll catch......

Cooking straight out of the garden is wonderful. There is nothing better than to be able to run out to the garden and gather up all the tomatoes and peppers you need for dinner. Or fresh basil for instant homemade pesto. I'll probably be cooking squash out of the garden tonight (to my husband's dismay...he is not yet a fan of squash...) Here are some photos of a few of my babies on their way....'Yellow Pear' squash, 'Peter Pan' squash, 'Fairy Tale' Eggplant, 'Celebrity' Tomatoes, lots of peppers, purple bush beans, heirloom corn, okra, just to show a few.