in the pink

When I was a little girl, there were always morning glories growing on our front fence.  They were very obedient, producing bright blue flowers in a tidy line, but I had a terrible experience with them in our first Indianapolis house.  I made a clumsy support out of nails, thick twine, and some flimsy stakes.  Once they really got going, the vines engulfed and then overwhelmed it, collapsing in a tangled mass.  Worse, they reseeded mercilessly, and for the next 8 years I yanked every nefarious and mocking spade-shaped leaf from that desecrated ground.

I never gave up hope on my rosy childhood vision, and over Todd's worried clucking, I planted some this summer.  And victory!  It's amazing!

It's made a beautiful blue mass on our side porch corner, and blooms every day until the heat of the mid-afternoon.  I love using them in bouquets.  They stay open for a couple of days, and then fold up into their smooth spiral spikes, which is also visually interesting.

A distant cousin, Jimson Weed, is growing in the barnyard.

It has been used medicinally for centuries, both as an anesthetic and a hallucinogen, but the risk of overdose is very high.  Haitian priests have used it in their zombie-making concoctions, and in Europe, it has been used in witchcraft to help broomsticks stay aloft on night flights.  It's beautiful...

...and I like having such a powerful weapon in my arsenal, should I tire of my sci-fi business and decide to turn my eye to the supernatural realm!  :)  

If I did, this fellow would be the first thing I'd direct my zombie army toward.

He's decimating my vegetable garden.

Not content with taking single bites out of cucumbers and pumpkins, he has positively annihilated my watermelons, eating a whole one (rind and all!) every night and leaving me with a few seeds scattered in the mulch:

Todd was appropriately deferential to the surviving melon...

...and gave it 2 thumbs up, even though it didn't last very long!

I probably won't need to turn to the dark arts, though, since I've got plenty of cheerful pinks in the garden right now that distract me from my veggie debacle.

The pinks are not so...pink...when balanced with white, yellow, purple, and green.  They're so lovely in a fall garden, when everything else is turning brown.  They are always front and center in my bouquets!

We are definitely turning toward fall now.  Birds are eating...

...pups are preening...

...and cats are sleeping.

Yes, definitely feels like September to me!  :)

Have a great week!

horsin' around

It's nesting season!  This female red-winged blackbird hovered anxiously as I strolled around the front pond.

The males were preening and posturing.  I'm seeing a lot of fanned tails and flashes of red these days!

A pair of wood ducks visited the pond this morning, too.  I love how beautiful they are!

Springtime robins...

...nuthatches...

grackles...

...and my favorite, the eastern towhee...

...are congregating.  Hooray!  Trees are leafing out nicely...

...and we're all feeling good with the warmer weather.

Every time I can get away, I'm in the garden. I just completed an unplanned project.  A friend gave me a handful of sedum last year.  Sedum is amazing.  Sun, shade, dry, wet...sedum doesn't care.  It will grow and spread like crazy, and it's easy to pull it out by the handful if it's crowding another plant.  I planted patches of it all over the garden last year and love the way it looks.

I thinned it out, but hated to throw away the viable plants.  I decided to use them to line the walking path in the new garden.  Sedum is so easy that it doesn't need any special care to root.  Cover the tip in soil and it will quickly generate roots.

It looks pretty rough now, but it will be a lovely thick green carpet next year!  I also dug  up some of these mystery plants that I am nearly certain are obedient plants.  They have a wicked runner system for roots.

I replanted them in the two new side gardens.

I guess we'll see what comes up in 6 - 8 weeks!

It's been chilly, but it's finally getting warmer, and there's a lot of beauty around here to enjoy.  We've had amazing sunrises...

...happy birthdays...

...and daily horse visitors.

Throw in the occasional groundhog, and it's been a pretty good season!

Even the cats are getting into the feel-good days of spring.

Have a nice week!