Secret Garden...End of Season One

In the worst summer of the worst drought in 40 years I held tight to one spot of beauty here on South Pork Ranch...my little secret garden. Thanks to the hard work of our friend Jay who took a pile of very old bricks and turned them into my own winding Yellow (red) brick road, my garden started out rather plain...

 

But evolved into something relaxing. Within a few short weeks, a few perennials and a few more annuals, this spot bloomed beyond my hopes and screams. (The screams occurred each time a nosy Peacock was found inside the perimeter ripping apart defenseless gladiola bulbs..) By Early July I had this to feast mu yese upon...

 

 

And then it all came together last week when the nights began to cool off, the rains began to fall and the garden blossomed out of control!!

 

 

The out of control part is purely may fault as weeding took a back seat to everything else in the back seat. But If you look at a   few areas up close...the weeds don't look so bad.

 

Red Hyacinth Bean Vine

 

Are these not cool? Red Hyacinth Bean which have stunning petite purple flowers and reddish purple bean pods. The vine has dark green leaves and it grows over 10 feet tall. The only downside...it is poisonous so as tempting as it might be to use as landscaping in your mother-in-laws yard DON"T DO IT!  If my memory serves me correctly they don't allow secret gardens in prison.

 



White Cosmos and painted ladder



The Cosmos are annuals that grow very easily in the Midwest, direct from seeds, and as planned, on a full moon night they show up nicely. Not too far away are Moon flowers, a cousins of Morning Glories. This variety also grows from seed that germinates even more quickly if left in a bowl of water overnight before planting.

 

While the Moon Flowers open up fully at night, it's cousin the blue Morning Glory struts its stuff in the am and even was so brave as to climb up and over not only the 6 foot high livestock panel but also the Evergreen Tree out behind the Secret Garden. 

 

 

 

 

The only problem with a garden full of flowers...you end of sharing your space with a few bees.

Que Sera Sera, whatever will bee will bee...