Saturday, August 18, 2012

It's all about the green, baby!

Today we're talking about green. Green plants, green grass, green leaves on trees. I started out the early morning adventure by updating photos of my garden.


Once again, I have tons of tomato plants with cute little yellow flowers, but still no fruit. I later learned, after a casual conversation at the nursery, that it is too hot for tomatoes, and they need cooler weather if they are going to develop fruit. However, my eggplant and cantaloupe are doing quite well, both still producing lovely flowers and growing out of control.


The pots of herbs in my garden are not doing well, though.


They are either getting too much sun, or not enough. Not sure which.


The herbs outside the garden are doing quite well, though. I think it's time to harvest. Of course, that means I'll need a day cooler than the one we had on Wednesday to deal with my herb crops.


I walked to my neighbor Sally's house and took a photo of her tree. No, her tree is NOT the one that belongs to my neighbor to my north. Her tree is still growing, but


her tree guy (Sally has a "guy" for everything, including one who deals with her yard, one who cleans her gutters, and one who takes care of her trees) said it was dying. He said it was because of the new driveway she got a few years ago (from the concrete "guys"), where the construction crew had to remove a ton of roots in order to lay down the new concrete. Her yard "guy" had just been there, in fact, I waited until he left to walk down. You can see the leaves that drifted to the ground while he was mowing her back yard. BTW, I had to take this photo from across the street, since the tree was so tall. If you look closely, you can see my purse and her newspaper I picked up, sitting on her car trunk (boot to my British friends).

But it was now time to head for the nursery she chose to visit.


We got lost and drove out of our way.


However, there was at least one opportunity for a photo op. Can you tell I'm wearing a purple and white striped dress? I love my loose fitting dresses!


Sally didn't see the sign, but I did. It didn't take long to park, either.


This place is HUGE. I couldn't believe how large it was until I snagged this overhead shot from the Brady Nursery website.


Everywhere I looked there were plants, shrubs, and trees growing as if we were NOT in a drought.


This garden looks a bit like my front garden, but they used bark mulch, and I am using dead leaves I saved from last year. Still, the colors are about the same.


Sally was taking it all in, while I was busy checking out the chimineas.


I don't like heat or sun in any form (have I mentioned I think I was a vampire in a previous life?), so I stayed in the shade and watched as Sally walked toward the birdbaths and the gazebo. In fact, she purchased a birdbath while we were there, but it was one I found inside that was lightweight metal and copper. I fell in love with it, and showed it to her. The concrete one she bought just two weeks before, had tipped over and broke the night before (Tuesday).


Lots of displays and ways to plant trees.


Apparently, they are the only nursery in town that grows their own trees, while other nurseries buy theirs.


I had to laugh that the fountain was next to the restrooms. OK, it may not have been that funny, but I get my humor wherever I find it.

Sally took off in a cart with one of the ladies from the nursery. I decided to go inside because it was still early in the morning and I was already quite warm.


If you've ever seen photos of my front porch, you know I have a love affair with wind chimes. This one with an Asian flare caught my eye right away.


When I saw this, I was reminded of a post my friend Patty of Magpie's Nest had created. Sometime back she showed how she planted a tiny garden in her birdbath, so this one reminded me of her.


More wind chimes caught my eye and I couldn't help grabbing a photo of this one.


Here are more random photos as I waited for my friend Sally to return from looking at trees.








I got caught up taking photos of light and shadows, as well as


this humorous flag and these


cute magnets. I really liked "Never eat more than you can lift." Not sure what it meant, but I thought it was quite funny. Again, I find humor in so many little things!





Right before Sally paid for her new copper birdbath, I took this final photo of yet another set of wind chimes, this one with old world charm. Don't ask why I failed to get a photo of her new birdbath, but I'll have to take a picture of it after she puts it in her back yard.


Next it was off to lunch.


This restaurant was new to me, but Sally remembered coming here with another friend.


Although I failed to get a photo of our meals (Sally had catfish, I had eggs and some type of potatoes and onions), we both enjoyed what we ordered. Although Sally didn't buy a tree, she is confident she now knows what she wants. She also assured me her tree "guy's" estimate of $1100 also included removal of the stump. Much better than the three stumps that are within viewing distance of both our houses, one of which I'm sure you recall is next door to me. So, with her tree removal estimate in mind, I have to admit this post really IS all about the green!

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15 thoughtful remarks:

Anonymous said...

Great post! Love the fountain next to the restrooms, LOL, that cracked me up too! Nice place, but I don't like the sun either and would have sat with you in the shade. Glass wind chimes were quite nice. xox

Dianne said...

Looks like a wonderful day! Love all the windchimes! All the dish gardens were very cool... That was the first time I've ever seen another Cylindrical Saseveria (sp?) other than the one I've had for 30 years! I remember Patty's birdbath garden! Anyway... Great adventure! Thanks for sharing!

Carol said...

Looks like a place I would love to spend hours in :0)

MadBirdDesignsUK said...

Glad you had a great day out. I spent money just looking!!! Thanks for all the tutorials. I am working my way through them :-)Joan

SandeeNC said...

I look forward to seeing Sally's new birdbath and am wondering what she is doing with the broken concrete one, there are so many ways to repurpose them ( like the fairy garden )...if I was nearby I'd snag it if she let me ;) I love visiting garden centers, I miss having a yard to buy stuff for, but don't miss the maintance! Hope you have a great day and get a cooler one soon so you can harvest your herbs! waving home from the last day in Florida :)

Halle said...

That nursery looked wonderful! I love wandering through those places. A vampire in your former life! HA! Someone must have gotten you with a wooden stake then because I think they don't die. :) Leave it to me to be a smarty pants.
Hope you are having a good weekend! Getting ready for a like R&R ourselves...I hope to share photos next week.

Judys Lace Creations said...

Oh I'm sorry about the tree looking poorly now, and probable removal.Tree are such an amenity for our suburbs. We have 2 trees near our driveway, and the pavers are buckling. Oh dear..

voodoo vixen said...

What a lovely nursery! I fell in love with the glass balls that look like hot air balloons... not sure they would survive in the wind of a Scottish garden, all my wind chimes that hang in the trees have to be steel.
It's sad that Sally's tree is dying and ouch to the cost of sorting it!! :( I hope she isn't completely abandoning her broken bird bath... I had a broken garden ornament that shipped from South Africa and found some fabulous cement glue and then did some distress paint techniques on it... it has survived numerous winters without any problem!!

Dandelion and Daisy said...

I use to love, love, love nurseries. I say "use to" because I've bought about all the plants I have room for on this piece of property. Then they grow and have to be divided, then you have more plants. It is sad to have to removed an established tree but sick trees can be very dangerous, too. I hope she finds something she really likes. It was fun to see such a large and lovely nursery across the country from me.

~*~Patty S said...

Your first 'sunray' photo really set the scene for your gloriously green post dear E

I so enjoy visiting nurseries where everything looks so healthy and fresh almost screaming take me home ;)

enjoyed your sense of humor along the way too and squealed when I saw the fairy garden ... what a fun surprise to see your kind mention of me and my Magpie's Nest ...
I do enjoy our little fairy garden just off our back porch ... maybe it's time for an update photo as it changes constantly...I added a little wire arch about a month ago

have to mention we have not been as hot as you all altho it was a stinker of a hot July here in N VA...I notice leaves falling from various trees and even our grapevine is losing leaves early because of the heat and a bit of a drought

your post made me want to visit some of our local nurseries AND you made me hungry for eggs and melons and more ... never knew that about tomatoes ;)

Stay cool jewel!
oxo

~*~Patty S said...

oh and that is an extra nice photo of Sally and her pretty smile with the flower painting in the background

ok
enough out of me!
;)

Craftymoose Crafts said...

I really liked the first photo with the sun rays on your garden! Well, at least you had some neat things to look at while Sally shopped for her tree. I especially liked the gazing balls which reminded me of hot air balloons for some reason.
Thanks for sharing your fun day!

Dianne said...

a delightful outing with such fun photos...those magnets are a hoot! the no trespassing sign was funny too...loved all the plants and wind chimes!

Dianne said...

a delightful outing with such fun photos...those magnets are a hoot! the no trespassing sign was funny too...loved all the plants and wind chimes!

Rita said...

I think I must have been a vampire in a past life, too--LOL! Or I have a recessive vampire gene or something. Hate the hot sun and love the shade. ;)

There was lots of green in this post. I can't imagine that the tree guys will be able to get that tree and the root out without messing up her new driveway??

Looks like a wonderful day. Please take pictures of her bird bath. You may have already posted them I am so far behind reading blogs. ;)