Turn on your PHONE!!

Yes, that's right. I want to send you cryptic text messages that won't make sense to anyone else. When Dan and I watch a movie and I think it would be funny to send you a quote I know you would know, I realize it would be silly because 7 days later it would be sent back to me with a message with the general gist of, "Hey doofus, don't you know that she doesn't check her messages? Stop sending them!"

Anyway.


The dianthus is going crazy! I just love it. I bought one for Granny for her birthday, but it isn't this color. I'm thinking I might have to buy one like hers. But I do have seeds I need to sow -- two packets of pinks. :)

Look at my Outbacks! It's a good plant. I'll have to get another one next year. Do annuals in pots last more than a year?

This white petunia pooped out for a little while, but it's back with a vengeance.

Dahlias from tubers coming up very prettily, wisteria going cray-zay, and basil.

Dahlias making a comeback, especially the pink. The highlighter dahlias don't seem to be too excited about an encore.

Fusion Glow exotic impatien. Aren't they pretty? The plant had absolutely zero flowers on it when I bought it. Yay for blooming!

The coleus are both going crazy with their flower stalks.

Look at the buds elongating on the oriental lilies! Hopefully they'll open soon.

My newest iris, Before the Storm, opened up on Monday, the day after the incredible psycho storm. So I told Dan I was going to dub it "Before/After the Storm." We'll see. Anyway, it's so dark purple it's almost black. I got it because I thought it was so unusual. :)

Here's its close-up.

I'm pretty sure those are my glads coming up. Please please please!

This little guy is all alone out in the middle of the yard! I almost stepped on him today and I'm surprised I didn't decapitate him with the hose.

The peaches are getting big!

Elph decided the strap on this handbag looked like a yummy treat.

Much to Ginger's chagrin, Elphie does still seem to have the urge to nurse. Which kind of freaks Ginger out.

So I gave them both a bowl of milk.

Elph also explored the sink in the bathroom.

And the mail cubby as Dan took it apart and shrunk it. (Notice her new collar?)

Hiding. Encouraged by dad.

Ginge was still ticked that I was outside watering plants without her.

And last but not least, Dan decided that the pre-cut, easy-to-assemble picnic table kit at Home Depot was just not a good design, so he made one himself. From scratch. Well, obviously he didn't grow the trees to harvest their wood, but you get the idea. The finished product will be posted tomorrow. :)

Dusty Miller and Salvia

Annual flats are on sale right now at my local nursery for $10 each, which is pretty good considering the size. So I went and CONTROLLED MYSELF and only got two. And a hibiscus. And yes, Mom, I planted them all in the same day. ;)

This "hibiscuit" is called Cool Wind. Isn't it pretty? A woman working at the nursery saw it in my basket and commented on how pretty it was.

The whole thing. It was just a 6" pot, so it's a good container one. Especially since I learned my lesson and I'm not planting it in the ground like I did with my pretty one last year -- they're only hardy to 55 degrees!

The clearest picture yet of my nemesia.

The portulaca has multiple flowers now! So pretty. Margarita Peppermint. :)

The Outback Paper Flower. Its buds kind of look like little beetles with all the overlapping shiny stuff, don't they?

The Indestructible Wisteria is growing like crazy since it's started getting watered regularly.

Look at the shoots my coleus are sending up! I think they're going to flower. Interestingly, the Red Velvet coleus (like the one in front) that I kept inside is not doing this.

The far patch of Las Vegas irises is still going strong.

The petunias seem to have appreciated the torrential rain we've had for the past day-and-a-half or so. Yay!

Here are the Dusty Miller and the Red Vista salvia put in on one side of the porch steps. The bad news is, Dan and I finally caved and admitted that what we thought was Jim's moss rose was, in fact, a weed. *tear* So I tore it all out, and I had all this empty space. The annual sale just happened to coincide perfectly.

The other side isn't as uniform, and I can't decide which side I like better.

I just love these violas. They're so happy.

Dan's peach tree had 38 baby peaches on it at last count. That was before Dan took all but 18 off to make sure the poor little tree doesn't die under its own weight. Here are the biggest ones. As usual, sorry about the focus.

In completely unrelated news, I went upstairs when I was finished planting, and found Ginger and Elphie lounging in Elphie's room in the sun. I went downstairs to get my camera, and when I came back up, Ginger was giving Elphie a bath!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!

It was so sweet! Elph was purring like crazy. I'm so glad they're getting along so well now.

And then Elph had her photo shoot.

She's just so darn tiny!

Eden?

I'm having such a blast with this gardening. Mom, thanks for humoring me by looking at this blog. :)

I bought this African violet on clearance at the grocery store the other day. Isn't it pretty? It's very different from my pink one.

There is another plant that I've deemed indestructible -- this wisteria. I procrastinated all last year about planting it, and finally I gave it up as a loss. It's been sitting in the corner of the yard by the garage, and yesterday while I was watering I was dumbfounded to see that it was leafing out. Unbelievable!

A lone bloom on our magnolia tree, which is looking beautiful with all its leaves. :)

My columbine is blooming!

This is Partytime, an alternanthera?, that I bought yesterday. I just love the stripes!

I also got this little Figaro dahlia.

This is called an Outback Paper Flower. I think it's so cool!

This coleus is called Twist and Twirl. Very different from my other coleus.

A New Guinea Impatien called Grape Crush.

Dan tore all the siding off the front of the garage. He plans to put up the new siding tomorrow.

A little plywood.

Cutting the plywood.

I put about a coat and a half of paint on the doorframe the other day. It definitely needed it. It makes such a difference!