The last blooms

 

 

My California poppies are starting to bloom - They will bloom for a short while before they stop blooming and put all their energy into their root system so they can spread out. 

This is their foliage. 

They are always the first to bloom come late winter/early spring. 

Here's a Mexican fan palm that was free; a gift from the birds. I planted it in this pot and have no idea where to plant it. We've got these little palms sprouting up all over. I'm kinda sensitive to this - I figure here from a little seed, spread by the birds - struggled to live and now it's a little plant. I can't kill it. It deserves a chance. Maybe I'll sell them for cheap in the spring. 

You can't tell how big this is, but it is BIG. Another type of palm that has outgrown its already BIG post I bought at Costco. You can see how the roots are lifting it practically out of the pot. It's big and heavy. Might have to sell it. 

I guess palms grow good around here. 

Probably the last flower from the dusty miller.

As well as the rosemary. 

The Margarite daisy is blooming for a while...and then it will abruptly stop and start back in late winter/early spring. 

And just a few more little flowers left on these pansies. They'll be back. 

Autumn in the front yard

 

We got some rain this morning - and then the rest of the afternoon has been partly sunny. It's not that cold - pleasant actually. Around 65 for a high. 

The air smells so sweet. 

The sweet gum tree is starting to change colors and leaves are falling. We have a lot of finches this year. We feed our birds year-round. We have 2 different types of woodpeckers, a lot of rock doves, blue jays, big ravens, and hummingbirds. Those are the main ones that visit us daily. And then we have some just passing through. 

Years ago, when I lived in San Mateo - We had a lot of trees from my yard as well as my neighbors, that would blow into my yard. I'd get my 3 sons to go out and bag them up - to save them for Halloween night. The trick-or-treaters loved to stomp over those huge piles of crispy autumn leaves. It was a fun tradition I used to do with my boys - gathering the leaves. 

My mini roses always do better in the Fall and Winter. 

The summer is just too HOT for them to thrive. So they are blooming now and are so pretty. These belonged to my Mom. My dad planted them for her. That's what is nice about living in my parent's home. I have these little memory landmarks.

My potted Mums are blooming - a couple of weeks ago I only had 2 blooms. 

I don't remember what these are called. They are a vining plant that is drought resistant and they seem to bloom year-round. They look like morning glory but they are teeny tiny. A very hardy plant. 

Outside Fall Decor

My iPhone takes such pretty photos. This is my favorite. 

A small pot of mums in my wheelbarrow planter out front. 

I bought a bad of these tiger pumpkins at the 99 cent store. 

The Mother of all Mums - 

I bought these at Hobby Lobby a couple of years ago - They are metal. 

Still needs something - maybe some straw.,.

This bench belonged to my parents - they bought their redwood furniture off a truck in our San Francisco neighborhood - 1960. They gave them to me when they moved to Tennessee and that was around 1988. I've had them ever since. 

Every few years I had to pound some new nails and wood screws into them. The picnic table has been gone for a long time. 

The fake pumpkin and the dolls I have had since my boys were little. Once I threw out those dolls and placed them in a donation box and then changed my mind. 

I really can't decide if I like them or not. I think I'm just sentimental. 

My outside table display. 

Gorgeous! 

 

The ground is so hard the stands won't go into the ground so I had to improvise. 

Maybe some stray or hay in the pots...For the triple pumpkin sign, I had to dig in the hardened dirt and bury the ends of the stand in it, and placed some big rocks behind it. 

My Sweet Gum trees are starting to change color - 

I'll get some photos of them soon. 

We're having 85-degree weather for the next couple of days but it will soon change. We have some winter rains forecasted and some low temperatures. 

The air smells so sweet - no smoke makes a huge difference. 

THE GARDENERS

The husband wanted to hire gardeners with his own money. I was not a part of the whole deal. So he tells me he is paying them, $180 a month. I find that to be outrageous. So I asked 2 friends who live outside of my county. Mary lives in San Carlos and she pays 120. Cindy lives near Sacramento and she pays $80. Monday I am going to get some estimates. It's not like we have this huge property. We have very little lawn area. They mainly just Mow, Blow and Go. 

If you have gardeners, how much do you pay? 

Frankly, I can't see it - that's why we have not had them before. He needed help and I am not much help anymore. I was okay with it plus it's coming out of his part-time paycheck but even so, he didn't check around. 

With prices going up with everything - and the gardeners have done the bulk of the work we needed anyway with the trees and scrubs, I really think we can get rid of them. Like I said before, I am the cheap one and he spends money like we have it. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The last of the sunflowers for 2021

Just a few more before I cut them all down. Only a handful remain. 

They had a hard summer. 

Smoke and extreme heat - 

Drought.

They did well enough but many of the different varieties that I planted did not come up. 

There's always next year 

 9-11 on My Morning Cup Of Coffee

Free Weeds

 

I want this! 

Bees and Sunflowers

 

What can I say that I haven't already said - I LOVE SUNFLOWERS and every summer, they just get more beautiful and bring me so much pleasure. 

Do you see the bee and the lower right? 

This particular sunflower grows in bunches - not as tall as the mammoth but doesn't fail to please when it blooms. 

These orange lilies are so bright and festive in the sun. 

Unfortunately, our 110+ temps are starting to dry out the flowers. 

Another bee on the upper right-hand side of the sunflower. 

It's just too hot to be out in the yard. Supposed to hit the 120's next week. 

I hope they are wrong. 

From the backyard: Fruit and some nuts

 

The Agapanthus - around town are blooming. I have white ones that haven't bloomed yet. Just the little bulbs are showing. Supposed to get real hot, the next week - up to 111. Things will start popping then! 

We have almonds - they look really big from this photo

And the figs are coming in. 

I don't believe we will get any grapes this year - we had an insect infestation last summer and my husband drastically cut them down. They are slow to vine out this year. Usually, by this time we have little baby grapes. 

Backyard flowers 2021

 

The very first of my sunflowers. I didn't even have to plant this one. A good bunch of them came up on their own. 

This is a dusty miller that has gone to seed/flower. Beautiful. 

Grows wild in my yard because I don't cut them back too often. 

I want to see their beautiful flowers. 

Orange Iris, comes up every year. 

This is a Pomegranate blossom. I don't know how I did this but the photo looks almost fake. I assure you it was the angle on the sun. Beautiful peach color. Soon they will turn into fruit. 

My nasturtiums are not doing well this year. 

The hot pink oleanders 

These are actually red oleanders. 

My sisters favorite flower - Gerbera Daisies

Even the fish are waiting for their water lily to bloom. 

We've had one bloom already. 

A dusty miller without flower. I love to place them around the garden for a different color. They are beautiful year-round. 

My spent lavender - I didn't get out there soon enough to harvest them. 

They'll bloom at least once more. 

My Oleanders

 

June is the best month for oleander blooms. 

They love the heat. They are native to the Mediterranean and California is perfect for oleanders since we have a Mediterranean climate. They practically grow wild here. I have a neighbor who has oleanders that are 20 ft + all in white blossoms. 

I wasn't aware that they grow in other parts of the country as well - they are drought resistant and are very hardy. People even pot them and grow them inside, provided you have no children or pets because they are toxic. 

They can be messy - they do some shedding of their seed pods and it's like brownish fur. 

With our 109 heat this past week, they are flourishing. 

REFI - UPDATE

We close on Monday the 14th. We got out a little extra money to add to our savings to buy a new vehicle so that hopefully we will not have to finance it. We really need a vehicle that is reliable. We'll keep the old van, for hauling and camping. 

Blooming

 

Dogwood Trees are blooming - Ahhhhh Chooooooooooo

Our first water lily bloom for 2021

Front Yard flowers

 

My mini roses are in full bloom. 

My aloe vera plant is starting to bloom...

I love these purple flowers - they are perennials and come up every spring. 

I do nothing to them and they are drought tolerant. 

Nastruisums 

And these little flowers are wild - they are a ground cover that I won't pull up because they are so pretty.