Extreme Pruning

We had two ancient camellia bushes. One on each side of the porch. They have not been pruned since the first year we lived here.Now they have.

I love those bushes. They always bloom in December for the Porch Tour. I hope we didn't go too far!

A Walk in the Garden

We've had some wild weather!! Last night we were sitting out by the pool when the radio announced we were about to have some bad weather. It didn't look bad, the sky was overcast but not dark. Within 10 minutes we were running around soaked trying to take down the umbrella, grab pillows and anything electrical, and cover the concrete pad DH had just poured around the pool filter. We lost electricity for a couple hours. And then it was over! Until this morning... Now the sun is shining again so I walked around picking up branches and checking my little garden.

The baby peaches look good!

No damage to the radish rows!


The tomato plants are knocked down, but not broken. We haven't put up the cages yet.

Summer squash is doing OK.

The okra is not doing too well. I can't blame that all on the weather. We have a healthy herd of chipmunks that are digging in the garden. I planted lots of sunflowers and only one plant survived. They dug up the seeds and those that did sprout were pulled up and the seed was chewed off!!

Several roses were bent and the stems were broken. I'll just enjoy them inside!

And these things are really growing. I rooted them this winter from some stalks a friend gave me. I don't even know what they are! She said they look tropical and she has them growing around her pool for privacy. Do they look familiar to anyone?

Thanks!

Thanks for all the hints on the mystery flowers! I Googled Surprise Lily and they fit my flowers perfectly. They have many other alias names and one of them is Bare Naked Ladies! We have some day lilies in our yard - the flower is similar but they have leaves. These flowers have nothing but stem and bloom! They grow 4-6 inches a day until they are 20-24 inches tall, then burst into bloom. They last a few days and then die. There is no sign of them until next July. I also learned that some bulbs bloom every other year. I can't remember how many we transplanted but I know there were more than the three that came up this year.

LuLu has won over the dogs. They want to play with her, but she is too small. We only let them be in the same room under close supervision. Seven has not accepted her yet. There is less hissing and more watching (stalking) but again we are not leaving them alone together yet. Here she is showing her hunting skills as she "finds Nemo"!!

I had some requests to show our beach paintings. I haven't found frames for most of them yet. First the boy's work-

And a couple of mine....

Finally to Nevis- it takes us 4 hours and 10 minutes to get to the beach. This is with DH driving and does not include our one stop on the other side of Montgomery at Priester's Pecans. This is a required stop because -1. They have clean bathrooms 2. They give free samples of candy 3. The other food is good 4. You can watch them make candy 5. The gift shop is cute, they often have pug merchandise! I know the exact time so well because we have a family travel tradition. Each person gets a surprise bag if we travel for 1 hour without any fussing. It has been worth every penny to do this for road trips over the years. I make 4 bags for each person (including DH) for a beach trip! I put silly stuff in the bags -gum, socks, puzzles, card games. I collect things whenever I see cheap stuff during the year from thrift stores, yard sales, Dollar Stores so when ever we go more than 2 hours I make up bags!

What Are These?

Does anyone know what these are? They suddenly shoot up in July every year, bloom and die all in a 2 week period. They were out in the yard and some years got mowed down before they were seen. Last year we dug them up and moved them to the patio and forgot about them! They are such a surprise every year and I love them, but I don't know what they are!

Bountiful Harvest

I only have one cherry tomato plant, but it sure is full! I've used them in salads, kabobs, and marinated them. I even fried some sliced green ones! I need some more ideas...... any suggestions? I've never had so many and they are so good! Every year the squirrels and chipmunks eat about half of them -this year they have not touched them. The pugs also love them!