The Octopus Stinkhorn

I love this life............I love learning something new everyday. Yesterday I was weeding the front flowerbed when I found this strange looking thing. It is a member of the fungus family called the octopus stinkhorn. The stink is like decayed flesh. Apparently the eggs are edible but not recommended. Thanks but I'll pass on adding to my diet.

Have a wonderful day !

Laraine

Beautiful Images of Spring

Sweet "Tuffy's" grave..a little overgrown with wildflowers. I buried his little body with his head towards the back door of the house. I still think of him and tears come to my eyes.


Lush wandering Jew growing in the shade.




Gorgeous blood red center Hibiscus. I used to have a white one with the blood red center but it didn't make it through the winter.

Have a great day !

Laraine

Getting Things Cleaned Up For Spring

Spent the major portion of last week getting the yard cleaned up and ready for spring planting. Thank God I had the help of my neighbors because I really don't have the strength to dig up dead trees etc. etc. The only mistake made was that someone thought a crepe Myrtle tree was a bush and cut it down to about 12 inches. It should come back slowly but a 5 years of growth was removed.

I am looking forward to going to Lowes and purchasing some new trees. My vegetable garden this year will be planted in containers.

I was wondering why my arms were hurting, and looking at the yard, I think I have figured out why.

Have a great day !

Laraine

Sometimes I Feel So Special

Drinking nectar from my hummingbird feeders was the most colorful little bird I have ever seen. My daughter says it's a Baltimore Oriole and sure enough my little bird in the photo looks like an oriole. I saw both a male and a female. The male was driving off the hummers so he and his mate could drink from the feeder.

I think they are on their way to Mexico for the winter. As soon as the weather turns cooler...all my hummers and the little orioles will depart for the warmer desert of Mexico.

God speed.....My little friends.

Laraine

A Sweet Spider Lily Suprise

I am blessed with dear neighbors all around me. My next door neighbor is Kathy. Kathy's mom live just up the block.....I can see her house from here. One day several years ago, I drove past the back of Kathy's mom's house and saw a " Free To A Good Home " box lying by the street. My daughter screamed "STOP" and we quickly stopped and scooped up the box and brought it home.

The box was filled with bulbs. The plants had long slim leaves like a sword with a bulb sprouting roots out the bottom. We planted them and generally just left them alone.

This year I took special notice of the flowers and wondered what the were. Thanks to google, I found that they are spider lilly's. They come in different colors but all mine are white.

I think I'll take some to Dara's house, since I am going up to San Antonio this month for a few days.

Have a wonderful day !

Laraine

The Heady Fragrance of the Passion Flower

The heady fragrance of the passion flower is almost overpowering. It grows wild in my back yard coming back every year in a new place.

This summer two large plants have taken root under one of my living room windows. It has crawled up the house, across the window screen and up to the roof overhang.

I have clustered other plants under the window and have placed a simple lawn chair in the center to create a shady, quiet, perfumed spot to read a book or enjoy a cool glass of iced tea.

Hayley would not sit on the chair because the plants were too close. She doesn't like bugs.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Laraine

The Ixora are in Bloom

Early this spring, I decides to replant an area in front of the house that had been hard hit by the freeze. I chose Ixora in yellow and orange to accent the buff color brick. Ixora is a tropical evergreen shrub that blooms most of the year.

The orange plants have started to bloom. and I am very happy with the result.

Have a great day !

Laraine

Easter Fun with Picnik.com

Before and after editing a photo in Easter colors on Picnik.com.

I coulden't decide which one I liked the best...so I posted them both for your pleasure.

Have a wonderful day.

Laraine

For The Love Of Angel Face Roses

A few years back, I bought two Rose trees. I planted them in the front yard as part of a hummingbird garden. Today I took some cuttings and will try to root some more lovely angel face roses. I really wish you could see them in person. The color is truly magnificent.

Have a great day.

Laraine

In Loving Memory of Jim

MY late husband "Jim" always wanted to plant these little flowers. I always gave him a hard time because my color taste leans more to the Pinks and purples. However I always let him plant the little yellow flowers and they became a running joke between us. I miss his twinkling blue eyes as we teased each other over the flowers that simply screwed up my beautiful color scheme.

Jim has been gone since 2002, but each year I plant these little yellow flowers in memory of him.

Be kind to those you love and have a beautiful day.

Laraine

A Fine five Spotted Hawk Moth in the Making

I went out to pick the last of the peppers today and found they gone......eaten by the biggest fattest greenest Caterpillar I have ever seen. He is a tomato horn worm and is approx 3 1/2 to 4 inches long. Fat as a human finger with a funny hook on his back end. He will turn into a five spotted hawk moth which will be the size of a hummingbird. I don't have the heart to kill him and since my garden is gone now, I will just keep an eye on him and see where he plans to make his transformation. Things like this make life interesting and having a computer that you can just type "fat green caterpillar" in the search box and find what you are looking for makes every day a learning experience.........now........go make something beautiful!
Laraine

The Spinybacked Orbweaver....Not for Love of

God knows, I hate having to kill any living thing.....but this very large ugly spider ( The Spinybacked Orbweaver )had to go. She has built a very large web between two trees in my back yard. I mean really big...like the kind you walk into...big. I have sprayed her and her body is still hanging in the web. I must muster my courage to go out and pull her and the web down so I can cut the grass. So sorry for such a gross post.....but my life is not all sunshine and lollypops. Have a great weekend....now....go make something beautiful.
Laraine

For the Love of Beautiful Summer Color

The beautiful colors of summer. I don't remember where I snagged these photo's but to me they represent the color of summer. I would love a white painted porch that I could decorate. My patio is open to the elements so it's just the basics. Have a wonderful day. Now go make something beautiful.
Laraine

For the Love of Summer

What can I say......I love summer. I love going bare foot in the backyard. I love sipping iced tea on the patio. I love seeing my plants grow lush and green. I love eating tomatoes and peppers from my own garden. There is no taste like a fresh, sill warm from the sun, tomato. I worked very long and hard in the yard over the weekend. The sense of pride when I survey my property and knowing that I planted everything with my own hands.......feels good!!
Now go make something beautiful.
Laraine

For the Love of the Canna

I am blessed with hundreds of canna that grow along my back fence. Here is some interesting information about the canna.

The canna rhizome is rich in starch, and it has many uses in agriculture. All of the plant has commercial value, rhizomes for starch (consumption by humans and livestock), stems and foliage for animal fodder, young shoots as a vegetable and young seeds as an addition to tortillas.
The seeds are used as beads in jewelry.[12]
The seeds are used as the mobile elements of the kayamb, a musical instrument from Réunion, as well as the hosho, a gourd rattle from Zimbabwe, where the seeds are known as "hota" seeds.
In more remote regions of India, cannas are fermented to produce alcohol.[13]
The plant yields a fibre - from the stem - it is used as a jute substitute.[14]
A fibre obtained from the leaves is used for making paper. The leaves are harvested in late summer after the plant has flowered, they are scraped to remove the outer skin and are then soaked in water for 2 hours prior to cooking. The fibres are cooked for 24 hours with lye and then beaten in a blender. They make a light tan brown paper.[14]
A purple dye is obtained from the seed.[14]
Smoke from the burning leaves is said to be insecticidal.[14]
Cannas are used to extract many undesirable pollutants in a wetland environment as they have a high tolerance to contaminants.[15][16]

For the Love of the Morning Glory

I brought some cutting of a purple morning glory back from Lousiana many years ago. My darling Jim said "It's just a weed." I guess I have a green thumb with weeds because the purple morning glory is doing well in the front yard. The blue and fucia morning glory's were planted from seed by me this spring and are doing very well in my back yard.

For the love of Passion Flower Vine

Much to my surprise....my passion flower vine has come back with a vengeance. The aroma from the flower is intoxicating and much loved by both the bee's and hummingbirds. Today is a good day.....now go make something beautiful.
Laraine

Morning Glory

I planted this morning glory from seed several weeks ago. It is crawling up my potting table and looks better every day. I made the potting table out of old closet doors my neighbor threw out. I draged them home and kept them in the garage untill a light bulb went off in my head and I put them togther with an old window. Some soft green paint completed the project.
Now...go make something pretty
Laraine

One Bright Spot in a Sad Landscape

After two years of drought and a winter with two hard freezes, I have lost most all of my hibiscus, elephant ears, my front yard grass and both of my young palm trees. In the midst of all this destruction this amaryllis bloomed for the very first time this Easter. I think God is sending me a message. All Will Be Well.