from the porches

wild phlox

 

cherokee roses

 
Our Cherokee Roses are blooming.

 

 
Have a nice weekend.

i knew the time would come

 
I knew the time would come when the frost would kill the bleeding heart.  Night before last that's just what happened.

 
I will miss the bleeding heart.

 
I knew the time would come when the frost would kill the mandevilla.  That's just what happened two nights ago.

 
I will miss my lovely mandevilla.

I knew the time would come when summer flowers would give way to winter ones. 

Now it's time to enjoy the red flowers: the camellias and the turks cap.

I knew the time would come.

roses

 
The roses are still blooming and I'm thankful for that.

 
Tomorrow night the temperature is predicted to drop down to 31 degrees.

 
When I read that, a sense of urgency in me took over, so I hurried outside and photographed the roses before any cold weather damage is done. 

i am a patient person

 
Fall is officially here and I am one happy person even though our North Florida temperatures will reach into the 90's for the next few days.

 
I guage Fall by the flowers that are blooming.

 
I guage Fall by the amber light that falls on our trees, especially in the late afternoon.

 
Football season . . .

 
Sweater weather . . .

 
Festivals and pumpkins.

I am a patient person.  I can wait until the heat wave is gone.

reach for the sun

rose garden

My flower garden is in and the roses are blooming. 

I've waited for months for the color to reappear in my flower garden.

 
 
 
  This is my new Teacup rose tree.  It's beautiful already.  I still find it hard to cut the roses to bring in for vases.  But I will . . . just not yet.  I love looking at them from the front porch.
 

saying good-bye

I'm saying good-bye to all my roses this afternoon.  Jenny, our gardener from Sunshine True Value is here cutting the roses way back, preparing them for winter.

Then she will heap mulch around them for protection from the freezes we get.

I'll be bringing a basket full of cut roses in the house in a little while to place around my house for one last bit of love I have for them.

I feel sad about it, but Jenny knows more about flowers than I do; so I'm trusting her.

Having roses certainly put joy in my heart and a smile on my face for about nine months as I looked at them daily .

So good-bye roses.  I'll miss you . . .but only for four months, give or take a few weeks.

my hunger

Today is one of the few times that Truett and I didn't go to Gainesville.  After all, it is Saturday, and we do have chores to do in Gainesville. 

But this morning the weather was gray and gloomy with a fine mist or a light rain lingering over Fort White.

So we took the easy way out and did our chores in High Springs; and by the time the mist and rains lifted, we were home.

 

I had a taste for pictures, so to satisfy my hunger, I walked around the yard. 

 First, I took photographs of the Turks Cap. . .

and then I moved on to the Mexican Petunias.

An annoying yard cat kept wrapping its body between my legs, which could have caused me to stumble, so I headed back to the house by way of the garage.

Continuing on around to the back door, I spotted a banana spider's web and got a good luck at the underside of her abdomen.

Finally, I looked up at the clear blue sky and smiled. 

My hunger was satisfied.

a green surprise

The other afternoon I decided to water my flowers.  This particular bed of impatients and lantana needed no water.  They're very tall and very lush.

As I strolled along the edge of the flower bed I paused and greeted a tiny grasshopper sitting on a hibiscus.

The little green thing just watched my every move, anticipating a flick of my finger, I'm sure.

"Get off of there!"  I said.

But he didn't get off.  He just turned his tiny body toward me, ready to pounce.  "You win,"  I said and walked away.