Happy Halloween!!!

The weather is gorg-ee-ous!

Another cool front came through,yesterday.

Bringing with it a nice,drizzly rain.

Today,finds lower humidity,a brilliant blue,cloudless sky,and beautiful breezes.

Time to get out and take a stroll around TheGreatWall.And see what scary things we might find.

….Avoiding the middle section of the garden….

….which is a scary sight in itself….

This week it shall be removed.Can I have an amen?

 

Let’s just keep walking past that mess,shall we?

 

O!

M!!

G!!!

It’s a Bat-faced Cuphea!

If that hasn’t scared the daylights outta ya,

how ‘bout ‘Black Magic’ Colocasia?

All nice and scary,

but me,

I want to see something more fall like….

Like  Butterfly Weed…

or Melampodium divaricatum

Hey!

How did you get in here?

Wait your turn,will ya?

Your turn is coming quick enough!

 

Now,this is more like it….

 

happy halloween!

 

 

Moving On…..

In anticipation of the old,cracked and damaged pool …

being ripped out.

---hopefully next week---

it was time to get off our collective duffs and remove the rest of the plants,that needed to be saved.

 

I have found that back hoes tend to make a mess of things…

 

Erich,the Younger,was kind enough to come help his Momma out.

…I carried you for 9 months,dammit it,it’s the least you can do…

 

To grant access for the back hoe,to demo the pool, and reinstall a new one, a palm had to be moved.

 

After being told,”Mom,that’s a breeze.20 minutes tops.” ……

 

W—e—l—l,

over an hour later,numerous water breaks,lots of complaining,and offers to buy me a new one,it found it’s new home.

 

So,what used to look like this….

Now,looks like this…

Still much work to be done.

Grass to be removed,new pathways,etc…

 

Emma’s Garden has been relocated to a lower level.

Besides the original plantings,it now includes YardBoy’s pink and red Knock-Out roses.It took him two days to get them ready to be moved.

…he’s still on crutches,and I can’t be trusted with roses,obviously…

It will take time for it to grow and fill in.

 

Like me?

Yep,Emma,just like you.But you can take plenty of time to grow up.

 

 

The original succulent garden has been spread around to other areas.

 

…I have plenty of sun these days…

Bulbine has been dug up and moved to the front garden.

I still have plenty left,so if anyone wants some,come and get it.

 

Thankfully,we have had cooler days,and cold nights,so everything has had an easy period of adjustment.

 

Now…

where’s that back hoe?

What’s This?

You know how you find something growing in the garden,and you wonder what it is?

 

Did I plant something and forget?

 

Is it a weed?

 

I don’t remember planting something there,so should I pull it up?

…I didn’t…

 

Soooo….

 

what’s this?

 

the leaves….

So…….

 

should I be embarrassed I let a weed grow?

 

Could it be pickerel weed?

 

 

Is it special?

 

What is it ?

 

No prizes given,if you identify it.

‘cuz I don’t know what it is….

Reconstruction…

It is time to move on.

The old GreatWall is no more.

Time for a new

– and better –

 

…can I have an Amen ?…

 

GreatWall.

 

First things first.

A new shade tree was bought and installed.

Let me introduce you to our new Sweet Gum tree….

Ain’t she purty?

After much research,and chit-chatting with the nursery people,it was decided to go with the Sweet Gum.

It is a rapid grower.

Up than out.

At 12 feet tall,it is already producing some much needed shade.

Not much,

but the few plants left in its’ shadow are saying thank-you,

and welcome to TheGreatWall.

It is a deciduous tree,and in the fall,the leaves look like this…

 

Where there once was a shade garden….

has become a new butterfly garden…

What was let of the Tree Fern that lived here,after TheOak smashed it to smithereens,is long dead,from the sun.

 

The succulents and large rocks were moved here.

And Pentas and Lantana were added.

   I’m thinkin’ they like it….

 

 

 

This weekend,

to get ready for the new pool,

 

…can I have an hallalujah for the new pool?…

 

all the plantings that resided by the old pool,

will be dug up,

and either potted up temporarily,

or replanted somewhere else.

 

…Weather permitting,of course…

There’s always the weather to contend with,isn’t there?