Gulf Oil Spill - Live Video of The Top Kill

Check out live video of BP applying the top kill to the oil well. http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/spill_cam/

Bloomin' Tuesday

It's Tuesday everybody and that means it's Bloomin Tuesday over at Jeans. After you check out my goodies then head over the Jean's at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ and see who else some goodies to share today.




It's that time of year when we all have a lot going on in the gardens. I am very pleased with what I have going on. I have been waiting for a few days for this to open. Seems like the bud has been there a week. It isn't even finished opening up yet. This is one of the few I know the name of and this is Dahlia Lucky Number. Purchased at Walmart for $5.

Poppies look nice next to the Johnsons Blue Geranium.

Yellow violas. I have a lot of yellows this year. Yellow blends and compliments the shades of reds, purples and pinks.

Vincas. Very easy to grow and spreads beautifully.

Trusty begonias. They are very forgiving during the dry times of the summer.

Dianthus is also a great performer.

Portulaca is very colorful. I love the many petals in each flower kinda rose like.

Zinnias - zinnias everywhere. They hardly ever wimper about the heat or the dry conditions we sometime experience.

The snapdragons are making another statement. They are now dwarfed by these huge cannas. Too late to move anything. Can you tell me when is the best time to transplant cannas. They are crowding this bed now.

Purple hydrangea is trying to bloom. This also has been in bud stage for at least a week.

More zinnias. This little plant is really showing itself to be so small. Sometime the little ones do the best.

This is the flower I look forward to the most. My little helper Buddy. He just got a hair cut so he is sporting now.

Eyes are still focused on the Gulf as the problem seems to grow each day we turn on the news. BP has been ordered to stop using the disperants due to health hazards. These disperants have been banned by other countries so why were they using it here. The hair booms have been used and they failed sinking after absorbing water and oil. Booms are helping but didn't keep it away from the LA shorelines. Check out this site from our local news station. There is a counter counting the number of gallons constantly going into the gulf. Also view the slideshow and any other news concerning the oil spill.
http://www.wkrg.com/gulf_oil_spill/

I'm having car issues. All tires need to be replaced but also the power steering is leaking fluid every day and I have to put fluids in every 6 days now so something has to be done soon. This will interfere with my plans to see my granddaughter in her first recital. Luci is five and I so wanted to be there. I'm hoping. Hope you all have a great week and holiday.

Happy Memorial Day. The official start of summer.

Fertilizer Friday

Yea! Finally it's Friday the day I look forward to every week. That means it Fertilizer Friday. Come join the party or just check out what other gardeners are sporting today. Check out Fertilizer Friday here at http://www.tootsietime.com/ .

Don't have much to share today. As I was dashing out the door look what I found. These babies opened up overnight and look at them. I did the happy dance as I grabbed my camera from my purse, where else would the camera be. Anyhow I took two photos and the memory card is full. Well at least I got these two beauties. Thank you Catherine.

Hope you all have the best weekend.

Bloomin' Tuesday

Hope you all are having a good Tuesday. It is Tuesday isn't it. Anyhow the sun is shining here after an early morning rain and more is expected. We had the best kind of rain over the weekend - a nice long slow rain. This is getting everything going good including the grass. Have to run the mower this weekend. On to business now. Ya'll head on over to Jeans at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com to check out the other bloomers this week.

I absolutely love potulaca. They are such good growers and adds some nice foliage with other plants. And I love that it blooms different colors.

The zinnias are taking off. The plants are loaded and I have a good many this year. Love the soft shade of pink. They are small blooms.

This one is more fushia or dark pink.

Another daffodil! Can't believe it. But I'm gonna show them till they die off.

Breadseed poppies are loaded with buds. This is my first experience with poppies and can't wait to see them bloom.

This is new plantings in this small garden. This is the bed I had broccoli and lettuce. I pulled up all the lettuce and broccoli because I didn't like the taste of the lettuce and the broccoli didn't produce anything so... I did what I needed to do. In this bed I have Johnny Jump Ups, Yellow Columbine, Daisy's, Pansy's, Purple Balloon Flowers.

And I created this small bed this weekend. Here I have Columbine Clementine Rose, Yellow Columbine, milkweed, petunia's, Cone Flower, Purple Balloon Flower and larkspur.

That's all I have for today. Have a nice day everybody.

Fertilizer Friday

Hey Ya'll - It's time for our weekly get together to flaunt our bloomers if we have any that is. I actually fertilized this bunch this week and they said thank you. Ya'll I'm so glad today is Friday. I have not had a good week especially the last 2 days. I woke yesterday to a coffee pot that wouldn't work. Bad start to a day if you're a coffee drinker. The days end wasn't any better when I dropped the oatmeal container on the floor. Work is stressful this morning - the phone is ringing off the hook - for ME. I will be out of here at noon (part of the cut in hours) but noon is fine with me on Fridays.

This is my bloomers I have for this week. Snapdragon still at it.

Love Dianthus.

A new one I purchased last week. Purple Salvia.

I love Vinca too.

Cosmos is doing well. It should be blooming soon.

Portulaca is blooming but not many there yet. I picked this one up last week.

Love the color of this verbena. This one I purchased last week.

Absolutely love me some Gerber Daisy's. I like the color - like a dreamsicle. I picked this one up last week too.

Another new one from last week. Love yellows this year. As you can see from the flowers I have that I have a lot of yellows this year.

Another favorite is Dusty Miller. Very hardy plant.

This is my clearanced Zinnia. It seems to like its new home.

The Johnsons Blue Geranium is still putting on a show.

Can't believe that here it is nearly the middle of May and I have another daffodil blooming - in fact I have two blooming.

We are still keeping our eyes on the Gulf as the oil moves around in the Gulf. So far we have been mostly spared. Over the past couple of weeks folks on Dauphin Island have come across tar balls. These are believed to have come from the oil rig when it burned initially as it was falling into the Gulf. The very real problem still exists. So many people are losing a ton of money not being able to fish certain areas and people are cancelling vacations concerned that oil would be on the shores. Anyway we will continue to watch these developments.

TGIF ya'll. Have a good weekend.

Bloomin' Tuesday

Good morning. It's Tuesday and ya'll know what that means - it's Bloomin' Tuesday over at Jeans. Head on over to Jeans at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ and see who else has something bloomin.

Thought I'd share my begonia's today. I love begonia's and they perform beautifully for me. Most of the time they come back even after a harsh winter like we had this year. All of mine from last year didn't come back but this little baby did. When I trim them to encourage new blossoms or the shape it, I place them into the ground and most of the time they will make root. I place this one in its new home this weekend.

I told ya'll I was going to purchase me some color this weekend and I did. I'll share the others on Friday but this is one of my new begonias. The container called this one Olympia White. This is the first time I've seen them identified on the container.

I spent most of Sunday cleaning the yard and ya'll need I remind you that my yard is huge 3-4 acres. And I also mowed the lawn. It always looks so good and I love the fresh grass smell. I also took a creative side so I grabbed it and went with it. I filled two pots with begonias. The little yellow pot is one that I painted this weekend. It took 5 coats of paint to cover. The can said it was good on clay but it still took a lot of coats. The chair looks nice and is comfortable to enjoy a cup of coffee. (Oops I should have moved the ashtray. Now ya know.)

Earlier this year I pulled the big iron chair from the shed of surprises and painted it yellow. I love it now. I want different cushions but hey this works fine till then. The rusty small chair I pulled from the shed last year. It is different and am not sure what this chair might have been used for but it reminds me of a babies high chair but it has no front or side. Perhaps a belt but no sign a belt was attached. Should I paint the chair?

We are having some nice weather here and I hope you are too. Nothing really going on here. Have a great day everybody.

Fertilizer Friday

Good Friday Morning. It's Friday and that means it's time for Fertilizer Friday hosted by Tootsie. Ya'll go head on over and check out who else is flaunting their beauties this week.

There isn't much to flaunt at my place so I'm kinda winging it. The daffodils have died off and so has anything else at my place. I say it is time for some color - so what's a gardener to do - head over the local nursery or Home Depot and purchase color. That is what I intend to do this weekend. It'll be a while before the seeds put on a show if at all this year.

Imagine my delight when I found this little baby from last year. It survived this harsh winter we had. Most of the time begonia's are treated as annuals. Actually I have always had such good luck with begonia's. They are resilient and they surviving the harsh winters and the unyielding heat in the summer. With a little trimming they grow fuller with flowers that just keep on giving. When you trim the begonias if you take the trimming and just stick the ends into the ground they usually will take root.

I am about over the seeds now. This is all I have left and they are going into the ground or pots this weekend. Some have made it and some just didn't do anything at all. I have discovered that seeds are peculiar. This is what I did. My first batch of seeds I sowed some of them did very well and some nothing. When I did the second batch of seeds I sowed some seeds that I did the first time that I had good success with and they didn't do anything and some that did nothing in the beginning did the second time. Oh well I have plenty to deal with and some have not made to the gardens yet. I am planning to get started on the newly tilled area that I showed on Tuesday's post. Many of the seeds that have yet to be started will go into the new garden space.

The dahlia's just can't stand not having a daily dose of water. We had rain last week so they should not be so greedy but they are. The empty areas you see here will be filled up this weekend with some newly purchased blooming plants. I can't stand not having color in any of the beds.

The lupines are such strange plants. They have interesting leaves and the leaves are always face up. Even when they flop over like this one has. They just simply lay on the ground. I can't wait to see some blooms on this.

The yellow hibuscus with a red eye from Darla is doing very well. Hope they put out some flowers this year.

Darla's milkweed is also doing well. Hope they mature and the butterflies are able to use the plants this year.

That's it for the gardens this week. I hope everyone has a super good weekend. I'm ready for the weekend now. Just a few more hours to go. We get off at noon on Fridays.

PS Has fuel prices jumped where you are? Gas has gone up 8-10 cents a gallon overnight this week. There isn't even a shortage of gas. I bet we see prices of at least $3. a gallon before Memorial Day.