Crape Myrtles in bloom!

I wish these crape myrtles were in bloom longer. They are so pretty! I have 3 purple crape myrtle trees in my back yard, and my neighbor has a pink one, which I can also see from our backyard. I love when they bloom they are so pretty.

They seem to bloom mid-July, last year I remember them blooming in August. I'll have to keep track of how long they stay, after the purple falls off, it's just a green tree the rest of the year.

Garden Update

Summer is here, and my sweet potato plants have really taken off! They are starting to overgrow my other plants, so I need to get out there and trim them back, but it has been so hot!

My aloe plans are really doing well, they are getting so big!

Also, excuse the long grass, planning on cutting it this afternoon after the heat dies off a tad.

Side Garden Update

The side garden is doing well. We've gotten a ton of rain lately, so I haven't had to worry about watering the new plants.

The sweet potato plant has really taken off! I need to watch it, because I've heard they can take over the garden. It's trippled in size since I've planted it.

Front Yard Border

BEFORE

I decided to add the same wood log border to the front yard garden area that I used in the back yard side garden, to make the space more defined. These are before and after pictures, as you can see I also did a lot of trimming, and up-rooted a few plants that I didn't want in this area any longer. The bougainveillia is no longer blooming, and the hibiscus doesn't have as many flowers, because I gave it quite a good trim, but hopefully in the long run this will look better.

I still want to remove the ferns on the right near the house, and replace them with something else. I will update when I do.

Now I just need the grass to grow!
AFTER

Front Yard Refresh

BEFORE

I added 4 new crotons and some new mulch to the garden area in front of our front porch. I think it makes a big difference, and looks much better! I like the tropical look, so I picked the tropical croton to go along with the existing birds of paradise.

AFTER!

Side Garden Almost Done!

The garden in the back yard on the side of the porch is almost complete! I am almost finished planting the new plants. I just have a few more left to go. We added edging, landscape lighting, and mulch. Now I'm just waiting for the grass to grow in the back yard and it will look much better!

I planted the 2 trinettes, 3 bright green sweet potato plants & 2 purple queens for ground cover, and I'm still deciding on the 2 calladiums in the picture (still in the containers). The trinettes should get tall enough to cover the air conditioning unit., which will look much better.

One of the hawaiin ti's I transplanted didn't quite make it, so I replaced it with a croton, which goes nicely with the other 2 croton plans I had recently planted.

I think I want some smaller plants in front of the 3 crotons, but I'm not quite sure what I want yet, I think I have enough to start with.

Now I'll have to wait and see how well these plants do under my care! ;). I hope they survive!!

Flowers Flowers Everywhere!

The Jasmine are in full bloom! They are so pretty, and smell great too. These Jasmine are growing over the trellis which covers part of the porch.


My hibiscus plants are also blooming big red flowers. I have one in the front yard and one in the back yard. The flowers are slightly different, so they must be slightly different species of hibiscus. They are both doing really well. The one in the front yard (1st pic) was really damaged, so I'm glad to see it's making a great recovery.