Garden Update #72

It's not really #72.  I'm too lazy to see what number it is, so we'll start with 72 from here on out.

This is the little plant I got from the Treasure Island Flea Market.  I asked the vendor what its name is and I remember it started like rhododendron and had a hydro-something in there.  But isn't it pretty?  It is small now - about three inches across - but will spread.  And it just started flowering.

Speaking of flowering, the blackberry scabiosa is still glorious.  Go ahead, click on the pic.  It's so beautiful.  And its little heads bob in the wind.  I keep thinking this flower is moving, but it's more like what I refer to as an "optical illusion."

I never usually include photos of the hebe.  These four plants were salvaged from the waist-high crab grass that was in the front of Wellington when we moved in.  The Hub dug up these plants and methodically plucked all the crabgrass out between their toes before replanting them in the backyard.  They're so happy!

Once upon a time I had a hydrangea inside my house in a little yellow pot.  He wasn't happy.  So I dug up a hole next to Figgy and plopped him in there and look what happened! This year he's blooming and enjoying his dappled sunlight!

Many loyal readers will recall this cute little bird bath I got at Romancing the Home when we first moved to Benicia.  We just had the darndest time keeping it from getting rust sludge constantly.  Which wouldn't have been too bad, but the cat kept trying to drink the rust sludge and I'm pretty sure that's not good for her.  So I shoved this little succulent in there.  I got him at the Treasure Island Flea Market, too.  Don't worry about the cat.  Not only does she have a constant supply of fresh water in multiple kitty bowls, she also drinks out of puddles, turtle water and even the very high bird bath The Hub just put in the back yard.  I will try to snag a pic of that.  It's funny how she climbs onto a ledge and stretches her little body up with her front toenails gripping the rim of the bird bath and her little tongue reaching out for a few drops of bird water.  She wants you to think she's a wild cat, fending for herself.  She isn't.

You may remember that when we first moved into Wellington, The Dot unearthed a redwood tree seed she had received as a present from her sweet friend we like to refer to as "Head".  This seed was years old but apparently only dormant.  We planted it in the teeny pot it came with and I watered it loyally for weeks and weeks.  And it finally paid off because look!  Two years later it is three inches tall!  It's cute though.

Speaking of paying off.  This may not look like much NOW but the day before it was a gorgeous magnolia blossom!  Off of the $6 magnolia tree that's in the Arbor Walk.  I would have taken a picture the day before but I didn't.   So this is the one you get and I kind of like it.

Here is a guara flower which I am including because of this:  these little flowers are at the very ends of long stems, and so whip around in the breeze.  You would think they would be hard to capture on film.  But this camera that I've been using for over 10 years - closer to 15 - is really good!  The Little Boy keeps telling me I should get a new one because of the "pixels" or something.  But I love this one.  I have to keep a rubber band around it so the little door on the side won't keep opening up, but it takes great pictures.  I'm not kidding.  You can even see the little hairy bits on his staimeny thingy.  Go ahead, click.

Some of you have seen the pictures of these plums on my schizophrenic tree, since I put them on my Blip Photo blog.  But they need to be included in this garden update because how cute are they?  The other parts of this tree - apricot and peach - didn't do too much this year.  But that's ok.  He was severely compromised when we put him in and he's still recovering.  I was surprised we got these plums!  Which we have not yet eaten.  And besides, this is the little tree that the Lowes lady gave us free.  You can't beat free.

This cat was free, too.  Plus she was hot because it was in the 90s when I took this picture.  She's a desert animal, so it's ok.