Help! Anyone know what this is? It looks like some kind of phlox, that is the leaves do, but the flower almost looks like a goldenrod! I remember getting some Wedding Phlox from Spring Hill this spring, but they were in pathetic shape and nothing came up as far as I knew. Now, these puppies just sprouted up in the last few weeks! The pics were taken at sundown and not very good, but does anyone have any ideas?

It is so beautiful today. I really feel it....fall IS coming!!! I've been reading other blogs and feeling cheated because it's been almost 100 degrees for the past couple of days. Woke up this morning and left for church and it was distinctly cool with a wonderful breeze.. The birds were chirping and life just felt good! I found the above garden stone at Fredricksburg Herb Farm. That is the coolest place. Wish I could be there right now! But not to be...off to make a pineapple cheese ball, instead. :)

Red Geraniums
by Martha Haskell Clark

Life did not bring me silken gowns,

Nor jewels for my hair,

Nor signs of gabled foreign towns

In distant countries fair,

But I can glimpse,

beyond my pane,

a green and friendly hill,

And red geraniums aflame upon my window sill

The brambled cares of everyday,

The tiny humdrum things,

May bind my feet when they would stray,

But still my heart had wings

While red geraniums are bloomed

against my window glass,

And low above my green-sweet hill

the gypsy wind-clouds pass.

And if my dreamings n'er come true,

The brightest and the best,

But leave me lone my journey through,

I'll set my heart at rest,

And thank God for home-sweet things,

a green and friendly hill,

And red geraniums aflame

upon my window sill.

My 4 O'Clocks

I just love this plant. It's a special little gift the birds deposited in the creek behind the house. My sweet neighbor,Nancy, came and said, "Look what I found!!" Now we each have a pretty bush of 4 O'Clocks! I'm a little worried when I do redo the beds, none will come up next year. Ididn't get to the seeds fast enough, but certainly some hit the ground.

Gosh, this pretty! Not exactly my garden but I sure did like visiting! I just wanted something pretty to post today!! :) I got my backyard garden plan back this week. I thought I would be so excited, but I guess it felt like if I looked and my new home and somebody else decorated the entire thing. I'm thinking I'll let them dig all the new beds and dig out the many stumps, and I will choose what goes in it, piece by piece. It sure is a pretty plan, but it need my touch, I think, even if it's not so professional!!

Rainy Days & Mondays.....

don't get me down at all!!!! After chatting with a garden friend complaining about too much rain, I asked them to send some my way! It rained for about 10 minutes... I thanked them and later we had a gullywasher for several hours. Boy, did we need that. I hope it rains all night long!

I got a chance to visit my old garden yesterday. It was bittersweet. Everything looked lush and healthy.. maybe even a little wild. Here are grandma's irises. I do hope the few I took along to the new house will survive. That garden took almost 15 years...I need to be patient; we've only been here 5 months!

I'm mourning my old potting shed today. I didn't realize how attached I was to it! I just liked it being in the backyard, even if it was too hot to go in... My new yard just isn't situated for this kind of shed. Since the yard is shallow, I'm afraid it would look out of proportion. I'm toying with the idea of a "gardening arbor". It would be breezy and open. The landscape planner doesn't think it's a good idea, but it's my yard and I happen to LIKE my idea! Maybe I could put a potting table across the back with shelves underneath cover by a curtain of all weather fabric. I would like to see one of these in action and see how they work!

This is the garden path I wish to achieve! But my path is much more narrow :( Yesterday it rained on and off a light soaking rain. It was glorious. I sat on the back porch (aka almost screened porch!) and soaked it in! The birds were chirping and I swear I could see my flowers doing the happy dance...or maybe it was "I get to live" dance!".