tz_garden

 We did receive some much needed rain, just under 1".  Less than what was predicted, but thrilling nonetheless.  I woke up to some crazy orange skies on the 22nd, rain started about 10 a.m. Most importantly, it was my sweet son's birthday 😀.  Happy Birthday Vincent! He requested vanilla cupcakes, I couldn't resist making chocolate as well.  Ivan and Sophia joined us to celebrate, Ivan bringing some fun plants over.  *I never know what he's got up his sleeve, but it's usually always a plant! A little weedy Yucca rostrata, replacement phylica pubescens -1 of the 3 I planted in spring kicked the bucket. Helichrysum retortum, a South African strawflower -I have one of these and it handled the hot dry summer like a champ. Fine silvery foliage and stayed tight & tidy. Blooms are small and daisy like. Artemisia versicolor 'Sea Foam' -Soft & frothy.   And a dry greenhouse group, we left them out for one day of rain.  His planting mix is incr...

I've never really suffered jet lag much, maybe one day.  I always force myself to fight through the day and one night of sleep fixes everything. Not the case this time, maybe because it was such a time difference - Cambodia is 15 hours ahead.  Or maybe just because I'm getting older.  I was up at 3:30 am, hungry and wide awake.  I tried to stay busy today and hopefully tomorrow is better 😅. It is looking like fall around here, complete with some pretty leaves and cold nights 34° last night!  Brrr.  We should be getting rain this weekend. I figured cleaning up leaves would keep me busy and stop me from taking a nap.  The task is so much easier before they get wet. Close-up of the Hakea laurina above, I know I keep sharing pics but this tree is just killing me.  💞 The foliage, and those crazy Dr. Seuss blooms.  My taller tree is popping too, but this one is easier to snap pics of. The front street tree still has a LOT of leaves on it, but aft...

I've been away on a 2 week trip to Siem Reap, Cambodia and Koh Samui, Thailand.  We arrived back home last night. I slept about 4.5 hours and am waiting for the sun to come up so I can have a walk around the garden.  I'll be a general mess today with adjusting to the flip flop of day/night.  I'm looking forward to catching up on blogs I've missed while I've been gone.  In the meantime, I'll share a few photos. Hotel Khmer, Siem Reap.  Just seeing this photo brings back the glorious scent of the lobby.  The bowl on the lower right was filled with fresh ginger root and lemongrass.  The fragrance of the lemon grass permeated the lobby, and is said to repel mosquitos.  *We both got a few dozen mosquito bites along the way. The employees would rush to great us on our return throughout the visit with cold water and a chilled towel.  They were beyond wonderful! First day, we wanted to take it on the easy side, so off to Angkor Botanical Garden....