Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Giving Thanks

Here's a little photo journal of what's blooming here at CG this Thanksgiving holiday!

Yum...and so pretty!
Greg's greens garden is coming along. He decided to try 'no till' method of planting and it seems to be a slow go.
Nasturtium are coming up all over the place and the Rosemary is in bloom and covered with bees!
Mums from Julie's yard.
The flower on the Silverado Sage is so lovely and often overlooked because when it blooms the entire shrub is purple!
Cone Flower looking a bit pale...this is the last one left!
The delicate veins of the Arugula flower...so simple and elegant.
Thyrallis in her new location!
The Fall Aster is looking a bit haggard after being cooked and ignored this summer...but she's still shining like snowflakes!
The sage is also a big bee magnet!
We've had quite a few butterflies this fall, but nothing like we have in the past.
All of the roses are blooming, but none smell so sweet as Cecille Bruenner!
Hopefully we won't get a hard freeze before the Loquats arrive...we didn't get any last year.
Mexican Honeysuckle
Shrimp Plant
Butterfly weed still covered in blooms
And there are two favorites for Thanksgiving in my yard, Mexican Tarragon and Copper Canyon Daisy...I've always made a big yellow bouquet for the table of them...but alas the daisy didn't make it this summer...neither did the kids so things just didn't seem quite right.
Nevertheless, we woke to find screech in his box and he made a very fine guest! I hope your holiday is fantastic! I for one, and thankful for tiny flowers that brighten my day....yearlong in Tejas!
Happy Gardening!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

CBC Update

Even in a horrible drought year...somethings are improving in spite of neglect...Mother Nature prevails!

This is one of the before shots, taken in 2008...horrible ugly square building. My goal was to improve our street by making it tree-lined and help the awful heat island effect caused by the massive concrete parking lots of the two churches across the street from one another.
It was two projects over the course of a year...one, a 17 tree planting session and two, the rose garden with pergola. The largest tree an evergreen oak for the corner, that was designed to be the most efficient by shading the building and hanging out over most of the street was butchered in April and is permanently stunted. The cypress, that was to be decorated for Christmas...is growing by bounds due to the sprinkler system...and the roses are amazing.
Only one tree actually died and has been replanted, all the oaks, butchered I suppose will become shrubbery.

This Saturday is the fall workday for Brentwood Park where over 100 trees were planted last year. Over the summer we added mulch and we will be adding more, as well as pruning. It is such a joy to care for the environment, I hope everyone who reads this participates in their own community in some beautiful way!
Happy Gardening!