Algorithmically Cute

A friend and I went to Boulder City just to kick around. We ended up at an antique shop where I saw these adorable Bambi salt and pepper shakers. I don't really have any collections, but I had to get them because for me they are like the Ambassadors of all of the totally cool salt and pepper shakers everywhere that I would just love to own. These little guys are Representin'. When contemplating collections, think of the Ambassadorship program. (Unless it's plant related! When it comes to plants, the more the better! Plants do not apply!)

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

Fish Nets, Cat Nets

With the song by Stevie Nicks, "Gypsy" playing in my head, I contemplate how to keep Symba out of the vegetable garden. Hmm, this will do for now.....

I know this is a vegetable bed, but flowers look good anywhere.

Heading out with my coffee (my morning ritual) I don't see Symba. Oh, then I spot him as he is strategically placing his paws between the net squares and walks the length of the bed entraced like a masterful ninja in slow motion. I am going to get chicken wire for the bed tomorrow and do it up right because this could be cat lethal. I am thankful I had the netting handy so the rows still look like rows and not Symba's representation of Richard Dryfus's mountain, in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The tree is standing tall today. Looking skyward, I recalled our alarm went off at 4:30 am this morning so that we could get up to see the Perseid Meteor Showers, but at 4:31 actually doing it next year seemed like an even better idea.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On, and Hurry Back!

It's a Gambling Town

Yesterday was registration for the Master Gardeners program. I signed up and then walked around the grounds. There were some interesting looking specimens that I haven't seen before but I didn't think about the camera until I saw this lovely play of colors.

There was a shade structure that was the holding place for all of this treasure. The plants were piled in waiting to be planted in their respective spots and given their latin names. Personally I like them just like this. Wouldn't it be wild to have a person stand next to you all of the time and say the latin name for each and every species you happen upon? I promise I won't become that person.

Back at Black Mountain Garden, with the water installed and the dirt dry enough to plant seeds, it was time for the plan.

The plan changed immediately due to the amount of sunlight the bed is getting next to the wall in the middle of the day now. It will be carrots instead of broccoli, which would probably get gangly needing more light and more space anyway so they might as well go in the traveling pots.

Using sticks to layout the design, I set about planting the seeds. This is a gambling town, and I am gambling that even though it might be a little early for planting some of the things that I have planted in my fall garden today, things are just going to work out okay. And with that, we will let the one that says things like "either they'll grow or they won't" take us out. "Take us out Wrangler!"

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

The Bug Vortex

Michael and I went to get sprinkler parts and came home with an impulse purchase. We sat on the back patio and I asked if just the look of the rose made him feel like we were turning into old people and he answered yes. I could tell that he was relived that I had brought it up because he made a heavy sigh. This made finding a home for the new rose a little bit harder.

Heading out this morning to decisively select the new rose home, I noticed the bug vortex. It's a little whirlwind of about a dozen knat like flies that rotate hovering chest high above the step between the two headstones. Seeing it once or twice is just a coincidence, but this is a daily thing so I think it deserves a sacred little bug vortex occurance mentioning kind of like the vortex's in Sedona.

The "have you considered your mortality lately roses" look better swallowed up by lots of green, don't you think?

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

Are You Staying or Not

The tree wants to live at the neighbors. It finds the wind tunnel uninhabitable.

A 40 ft. tall tree right there sounded like a great idea in my it'll never get that tall scheme of things. Husband thinks we should saw it in half, and I already see the dozen small branches that have been whacked off by the wind on the one side, and think "Oh great, then it'll look like a tree stake with branches coming out just the one side, and I'll have to listen to what Zen would say every time I come out the door!" " Nope, Zen won't let you do that!"

The bare root fruit trees are coming up for sale in Sept. and one of them might like it here being as though that eucalyptus has halfway moved out. Just saying....

I think the lizard likes it here. He was hanging from the curtains in the living room, so we had to go over that "here" for him meant staying outside.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!

Let Wrangler Drive

This morning I started filling in the raised bed with base material before I head out to get Tomato Lady soil to finish it off.

The cannas are looking great with very little sign that they were ever ressurected.

This is the iris planted in the black dirt on July 20th. This is remarkable in comparison to the iris that I purchased from the iris sale on June 28 that was planted in a planting mix from a garden center. With the black dirt they take off running.

The iris in the front yard are starting to take off too. These were the tiny pups.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On, and Hurry Back!

Catch the Bus

Garden tours are awesome! I enjoy The Empress' hosted garden tours with her twist of delightful perspective. I don't even know if we have garden tours around here. Let's have garden tours, by God! I would love to drive the bus so that I could share some of the unique places I have happened upon while traveling around Las Vegas. Like this place is fun, even down to the strategically placed kitten beneath the birdcage.

Do you think they would mind if me and my Townsfolk lollied around the grounds for awhile? Is napping allowed?

Gardens that have been around for awhile are the richest. It's layers and layers of green opulence, that shows years and years of watering discipline.

I like this photo, self indulgently speaking and no, it doesn't stand for Laverne. Thanks for riding Laura's Tourbus for Townsfolk.

Thanks for visiting! To all of my gardening friends, Carry On and Hurry Back!