OMG what's gettin' at my red rose bush!!??!!

Can anyone hazard a guess as to what is going on with the rose bush?? HELP! Anyone? Diagnosis and suggested treatment would be hugely appreciated.

Bird's Eye View

I have been wanting to see how things look from up high for a while. I get glimpses from the upstairs bedroom and bathroom windows, but there are these ugly, (though very useful) solar screens which prevent a very clear view. So I found a solution to the problem. And look how serene it all looks in the late afternoon sunlight after the soccer player has retired for the day.

Hey look, a little tiny farmer down there picking a tomato in his little tiny vegetable patch. How cute!
O.k. here is how it happened. (And the following photos were taken by my lovely and very concerned mother-in-law, who has suspected I was crazy and felt she was witnessing the proof of this suspicion. I am not sure which she wanted to do more, laugh, or call 911 to ask them to haul me off to the loony bin. At least she was kind enough to stay close by to help me down, which turned out to be no easy task....)

I don't recommend trying this at home kids.

Sometimes you have to look back to see that you've gone forward

I like to look back in time sometimes, because the garden grows sooo slowly, and I need to do a reality check and say, "Hey, it IS changing, wadda ya know."

The following progression only shows the changes to the back right corner. The first picture is moving day, (or shortly thereafter)
Picture number two shows the form of the garden after the beautiful 'rubber mulch' had all been raked off, bagged up, and carted away to the dump. (In this spot had been a VERY attractive pink and purple, plastic, tiny child playscape, which luckily the guy who came to turn on the gas took away for his kids)

I decided to retain the outer edge of the rectangle, (because it was easier that way), and make some inner shapes that were a bit formal gardenish… Then we made the main triangle the herb garden.

And so it developed...
(And how, you might ask, did I manage to take this last picture....? That's another story.)

Stolen Photo idea

Maybe instead of stolen I could call it a 'tribute' to the photo that I think should win this months photo contest in Gardening Gone Wild. If you go to the Gardening Gone Wild site and look at the May photo contest entries, you'll see the one I mean. I have taken so many pictures of my rock rose flowers, and yet here was one taken from the back of the flower looking through. I love it. Mine is only a poor copy but it was such a good idea, I had to copy it.

Okay, now I want all of you to go the the GGW site and look through the entries, and let me know if you agree with me that this is a top entry. (There is also one of a columbine that I think is pretty amazing too). Tell me your favourites.

What is this, please?

I have been admiring this around town, and of course I want one for my yard. Does anyone know what it is?? I don't want to seem like a complete idiot when I go to the nursery and start my pathetic description..."well, it's sort of bushy, and has lavender-coloured spears of flowers. It's pretty delicate looking, um, no, it's not that... it's like a salvia, I think, um, no not that plant either...." I can see it now, and it's not good. SO, can ya'll help me out with this. Please.

More Day Lily Delight

Well, I finished weeding and mulching all the beds, and was rewarded for my efforts with the first of the crinkly, creamsicle daylilies!

Pretty darn awesome, don't you think? I want a skirt that looks just like this. Yes, I do. Most definitely. I wish I sewed as readily as I dug in the dirt. Oh well, more garden eye candy at least. Enjoy, my blogalicious friends.

Happy Birthday Glenn!

Happy Birthday to You,

Happy Birthday to You,

I know you wanted a rain barrel...

Happy Birthday to You!!

Isn't it a beauty?

Can't wait to get it installed and then have a rain fall.

Now this really isn't related in any way, except that the birthday boy does like figs....

but... check out the figs!!! We have bumper crop on our little tiny bush. At least three on every branch. I have covered it with killer netting, so no birds or squirrels, or anything else can get to them.

(I have been checking regularly for trapped creatures, and so far have not had to rescue anything.) (Hey, I love all living creatures as much as the next person, but I also love figs, and by god, I am going to help these babies reach their fully ripened potential.)