Showing posts with label Passion Vine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Passion Vine. Show all posts

Monday, June 27, 2011

Ten Good Things on a Monday...Plants



I've wanted to do this one for a while, so this evening I'm joining in with Nina at Brush Up On Your Reading with her 10 Good Things on a Monday.  It's for all us list lovers out there, and I just love a good list!  It doesn't matter that I might not finish them, but I am a compulsive list maker.  I'm going to do ten of my favorite things for my first time here.  Here goes...

Ten of My Favorite Things Plants

1.  Succulent Collection. 
This is a small grouping in what I refer to as my tub.  It includes three of my absolute favorites...'Mother of Millions' Kalanchoe, 'Lilypad' Aeonium and one that I've never been able to identify, but she's in the corner and her leaves are trimmed in purple...beautiful!!

2.  Pineapple Lily
This has to be my absolute favorite right now, or rather a tie for first place.  I picked up a white one too this past week for my mother.  I'm going to take some of mine and share with my mother, and take some of hers to share with me!  This is made easier by the fact that I have them both here!!

3.  Passion Vine Bloom
This is the most whimsical bloom I've come across yet, and she is the other "most favorite" contender.  As though her beauty isn't enough, her fragrance is intoxicating!

4.  Balloon Plant
I have had this little gem for a number of years.  She pops back up in the spring and then dies back when the summer months get too hot for her.  The blooms start out like very small balloons and keep growing and growing until they burst open.  What makes this year especially exciting is that I remembered to collect her seeds, hoping to have a row of these next spring!

5.  'Lady Slipper'
The real name is around here somewhere, but I'm being a little lazy tonight.  This is my first year with this succulent, and am I glad a bought her!  Her blooms darken to a deep pink as they mature and are supposed to look like an old fashioned lady's slipper.  You have to turn them around though to get that, my personal opinion is that they look more like elf shoes!

6.  Pitcher Plant
I lost my original Pitcher Plants in my greenhouse mishap this past winter, but I found replacements in February.  They stayed in the house until it warmed up, lost all their pitchers, but are getting new ones.  This is a first for me, so I check on them daily and am extremely excited that they keep growing!!

7.  Bolivian Jew
Also known as 'Mouse Earred' Jew, this is hands down my favorite non-flowering, non-succulent plant.  With her purple undertones on the bottom side of the leaves, she's extremely dainty, but at the same time extremely hardy...perfect fit!

8.  Red Hibiscus Bloom
Of all my hibiscus plants, and there are a number of them, this one's bloom is my favorite!  She's frilly, she's fluffy and she's solid red...enough said!

9.  Bachelor Buttons
If you would have ever asked me if I liked these, much less wanted them, the answer would have been a flat "no".  I was desperate this year for something that the deer wouldn't eat, and these are not supposed to be attractive to them.  Well, let's just say that the hungry deer in our neighbor hood missed the memo and snipped the ones I put out right up.  I didn't know what to do with the rest, so I stuck them in a pot in the backyard.  I'm really glad the deer ate the one in the front yard, these little guys have grown on me.  They keep getting bigger and bigger and are just as bright as the day I brought them home.

10.  More Succulents!
These are in my mailbox pot, and are still relatively new.  After the verbena died, what else do you put in when it's already 100 degrees outside and it's not even officially summer!

This has been fun, hopefully I'll remember to do it again!

Happy Monday!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Simple Woman's Daybook...Week of July 19th














For Today...from Mandy's Daybook

Outside my window...a nice organized porch...finally!

I am thinking...that I'm ready for bed already.

I am thankful for...parents who loved me unconditionally growing up and the relationship that we have.

I am wearing...black yoga pants and purple t-shirt.

I am remembering...my girls when they were little, read several blogs tonight about little ones and it brought back memories.

I am going...to finish my daughter's room this weekend no matter what! I only have one weekend left.

I am reading...my Bible and going to start a Karen Kingsbury book.


I am hearing...my husband yawning and the guinea girls doing their nightly spinout.

I am hoping...that my eyes do not itch like they did today when I wake up in the morning.

I need...to start planning menus again, without them, dinner is hopeless!

On my mind...not a lot today, pretty relaxed.

From the learning rooms...having a pool isn't as simple as setting it up and being done; it's work!

Noticing that...I've been quite peaceful lately, could get used to this.

Pondering these words..."It is not enough to tell them you love them.  You have to show them.  Words mean nothing if they are not backed up with action." exerpt from The French Gardner by Santa Monteriore.


From the kitchen...omelets for dinner and a clean kitchen thanks to my husband.

I am creating...I have succulent cuttings waiting to be arranged and a bedroom wall that needs painting.

Around the house...not a lot to do, we've both done a good job picking up after ourselves.

One of my favorite things...a nice evening spent with friends and good food!

A few plans for the rest of the week...not very much, just the usual work and home routine.  Spending our last weekend without the girls at home enjoying the quiet and probably get in some pool time.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

A flower from my Passon Vine, 'Incense'...the smell is as intoxicating and whimsical as the bloom itself!

You can participate in the Simple Woman's Daybook by going to the link below.

http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Have a wonderfully delightful week!
Mandy

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Back Porch Visitors

I have lots of new plants to talk about, but I don't think I have the energy tonight.  I did have two cute and not so cute vistors today on my back porch.  I went out this morning to show my spoiled princess that it wasn't raining so she could go outside.  A cute little gecko was perched on one of the sanseverias.  I've never seen one on my plants before, so of course I had to run in and grab my camera.
Tonight, I decided to put my newly acquired Passion Vine in the ground and when I went to grab my little shovel from the extra dirt I keep in a pot, I was greeted by this not so attactive toad. He was hiding under the shovel of course, so I jumped first and then hurried to get the camera!
This little guy sat right there and watched while I potted two succulent strawberry pots and some other things.  It wasn't until I was finished because it was getting too dark that I heard him moving around and finally hopped off somewhere in the yard. 

One thing that I did get today and will post it's final home tomorrow is a Passion Vine plant.  I thought the bloom was too whimsical not to have, and while I was at it, picked one up for my mother.  I put it in a corner on a trellis behind a Mexican Petunia that my mother brought me.  It was too dark to get decent pictures of that though tonight.

Have a wonderful 4th of July!
Mandy