'Tis the Season for Orchids!

Just a note to wish you all a very happy new year!  May 2014 be our best new year yet!  There will be lots of big changes in our lives here at the Daylily Soup garden in 2014, so I hope you'll stop by often to see what's going on.  I've certainly enjoyed your visits, comments and friendship in 2013.

For now, I'd like to leave you with these beautiful buds and blossoms from two of the resident orchids.  'Tis the season for orchid blooms around our home!  By the way, I found a great tried and true mail order source should you need a fix. ;-) You may have to wait a bit for a shipment now as it's too cold to ship currently.  Here's the link:  http://www.orchidsbyhausermann.com

Until next time, let's keep on shining!  

See you in 2014. :-)

Water Witches, Devil's Needles and Hobgoblin Flies, Oh My!

 Since we've either walked willingly, tumbled or been shoved through the doors of October with Halloween now upon us, I was inspired to write a post about some of my favorite garden visitors.  Known in different parts of the world as "Water Witches," "Devil's Needles" and "Hobgoblin Flies," dragonflies never cease to amaze with their stellar aviation skills, tissue paper wings and jeweled, colorful bodies.  Although some see them as a bit spooky, they are considered holy creatures in many parts of the world as well. 

Lately, I was lucky enough to get a striking green "Water Witch," and a lovely azure "Hobgoblin Fly" to pose for a photo shoot.  Here are the local spooks:

Water Witch

Hobgoblin Fly

I do hope all of the "Water Witches," "Hobgoblin Flies" and "Devil's Needles" will stay around to decorate my garden for Halloween!  Should  they cause any mischief, I still have my blue glass bottles out in the garden turned upside down on garden stakes to catch any misbehaving spirits (according to old garden lore). 

"We're all only fragile threads, but what a tapestry we make."

-Jerry Ellis

Daylily Soup Goes on Safari!

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to share a little Alabama safari I went on today with you. 

I donned my leopard Crocs!  

What?  A girl has to be stylish!  

Have you had time to compose yourself (I just know you were amused by my fashion statement)?  Okay, here we go ...

I had already spotted my "object of interest," so I flew like the wind (as leopards do) along a path on this lovely bank.

Aha!  There he is!

He (I just think it is) tried to hide from me, but he underestimated the zoom on my lens!  He looks like a "Brutus."

Brutus was hovering to the left of this area.  I was out on a little peninsula.

Peaceful "looking" water.  Probably something much bigger than Brutus lurks beneath!

These ridges are wild pig paths.  There were no sightings on this safari, which is all for the best since they are aggressive!

On the way home, I was hoping to get a good shot of my favorite heron.  There he is up on top of the covered dock (he does not appreciate my visits).  This was a little too far away for me to get a good shot (a very clever fish sighting spot though).

Until next time, all the best!

:-)

Lake Tahoe Cottage

IMG_0946, a photo by LaLens on Flickr.

Hey Friends,

I recently took a trip to the Lake Tahoe area where I snapped this photo of an enchanting cottage and garden (this was in South Lake Tahoe just across the California border from Nevada). This fabulous garden seemed well established with many glorious perennials in purples and reds. I've decided garden fairies are certainly living here. Do you see them? I think mine have migrated for the summer to get away from the heat, and this is probably where they can be found. :-)

Until next time, let's keep on shining!

Good Hair Days!

Yep, you guessed it!  Some daylilies have good and bad hair days.  The endearing 'Sebastian the Crab' who is still settling in here at The Daylily Soup Garden, is almost unrecognizable on bad hair days. On those days, I stare in disbelief and wonder how Sebastian ever ended up here.  He looks like he's been living the fast life for sure!  Then there are good hair days like today when I am entranced once again. :-)

'Sebastian the Crab'

Until next time, keep on shining! :-)

P.S. This is another one of my phone posts, so please excuse any "unusual" formatting.

A Day in the Garden!

Hey Friends,

Just wanted to chitchat a bit about the lovely gardening day I had.  Being a morning person, I woke up bright and early.  This habit annoys the "night owls" in the house. :-)  During daylily season, I always take a quick look at the main daylily garden right away.  Surprises await me!  We've had very cool nights lately.  Just for the record, Southern daylilies do not like cool nights.  There they stood this morning!  The daylilies were huddled together in the main bed with petals folded tightly.  I hoped they wouldn't pout the day away!  While I was waiting on the lilies to quit huddling, I cooked a batch of hummingbird nectar, and "escorted" the crazy neighborhood cat out of the garden three times (he hasn't figured out this garden is for the birds).  I guess you're wondering what I mean by "escort."  Well, with this stubborn feline, it means chase to the back of the garden and through the thicket, and/or sprinkle/blast with the hose (yes, I said it).  He can't be reasoned with any other way.  Anyway, back to the daylilies, the sun did shine upon them, and the main daylily bed was one big, beautiful blast of color by 10:00 a.m. with daylilies dancing and waving in the breeze.  Here are a few photos from my day in the garden if you have a moment:

'Spacecoast Ojo Rojo'

'Octopus Hugs'

'Springfield Clan'

'Spacecoast Mulberry Motif''

Inherited ... I call it 'Lemon Spider'

Inherited ...

Inherited ...

Pineapple Sage

I pruned the pineapple sage that's planted in the herb garden, 

and was wearing a fab pineapple perfume with mid notes of sage after that. :-)

This is along the path to the back deck.  

I've had lots of fun with this little gardening space.  

That's lavender in the big pot (one of my impulse buys at Publix). 

 I'm delighted it's doing so well because I don't have a good history with lavender.

Me ... gardening like a rock star!  lol

Until next time, let's keep on shining! :-)

They're Back!

Hey Friends,

I know this blog has been terribly neglected lately.  It's a wonder it isn't just totally grown over with weeds!  I've turned into a traveling gypsy, and have been to Illinois, Nevada, California and Virginia since March, so life has been a bit of a whirlwind.  Hmmmm, maybe I should temporarily rename the blog to Daylily Whirlwind.  Sometimes, I just click my heels together and repeat "There's no place like home."  Anyway, I'm home for a while and what a time to be here!  Showtime has begun for the dayliles, and it's been lots of fun so far.  I'm trying to stick to my resolve to quit moving them around just for the sake of "rearranging," and that's turning out to be a good thing (I did move a few to sunnier spots though).  It's amazing how much taller they are once they've been left alone to settle in for a couple of years.  Here are a few blooms of late I'd like to share with you:

'Cameroon Night'

 This one resides near the back of the main daylily garden (referred to as The Daylily Soup Garden around here).

It shines like a beacon back there!

'All American Chief''

 Brilliant!

Super tall, re-blooming, large spider that seems to glow.  

I never can quite catch the elusive beauty of this one in a photo.

'Texas Big Bend'

This has been one of my favorites for the past two years with its beautiful color, substance and ruffled edges.  

This bloom is huge and some have compared it to a fancy squash bloom.  

What a fancy squash bloom!

'Rip City'

This tall bearded iris is a keeper.  I bought it after reading reviews that it will bloom in hot climates when others don't.  

Well, I have not been disappointed, so if you're looking for a rugged, heat tolerant bearded iris, this is the one for you!  

'Rip City' has bloomed consistently since landing in my garden even when it wasn't particularly babied.  

We all know which flowers get babied in this garden, don't we? ;-)

Clematis

'Firefly Frenzy'

This is 'Firefly Frenzy's first year anniversary in the garden, and look at all of the buds!

It doesn't quite look like it did when I bought it but it's still settling in.

 

Crazy Garden Getup

 Sometimes, one just has to get out to the garden with coffee in hand right away!  

Hence, more crazy garden getups!

Yes, that is a gown with the gardening bogs!  LOL

What's your favorite bloom of this group?  I'd love to hear.

So glad you stopped by!

All the best! :-)

Gonna Garden Like a Rock Star!

Yep, gonna garden like a rock star in the Daylily Soup garden today! LOL. An update will be along soon unless I'm locked up in "the big house" for my rock star behavior! I'm on my way out the door in my gardening getup of gray safari cargo pants (protection from fire ants), blue flowered gardening boots, white flowered gardening hat and red gardening gloves ( I'm not hard to spot in the garden). What's your favorite gardening getup? Hope you have a lovely day, friends! :-)

Daylily Soup goes to Illinois!

Hi Friends,

I must warn you, this post is being created totally from my phone, so I'm not quite sure how the final post will look. I just got a new phone since the old one decided it didn't want to perform as a phone anymore, and am unable to upload photos for use on my blog as I used to. The former phone just didn't want to ring when someone called (now, that's a problem). Anyway, I recently took a trip to Illinois where I braved the snow and ice complete with a winter storm. It was quite pretty but I am so glad to be back in Alabama (yes, I've become a sissy when it comes to cold weather). The beach is the place for me! Hope you enjoy some of my photos from my little adventure. All the best, friends! :-)

View from the rental car line ...

At the hotel ...

This view wasn't my cup of tea ... homesickness was setting in but I would persevere ... :-)

Winter storm on the way ... supposed to fly out the next morning at 6:00 a.m.

My view before the de-icing!

Back home again ... southern sunset. :-)

Travel Chit Chat

I'm leavin' on a jet plane ...  Stay tuned for some travel photos soon, friends. I've never been very good at packing, and used to try to take the actual "kitchen sink" with me. I've since changed my ways, and have decided Ziplock bags are the supreme packing essential as you can tell from my photo. What about you? Are you good at packing? Have any funny travel moments?

Until next time, keep on shining! :-)

Good Morning, Sunshine!

Lately, I've been snapping photos of the beautiful sunrises from our deck overlooking the garden (had to mention the garden).  I'd like to share some of Mother Nature's masterpieces with you along with some favorite sunrise quotes and rhymes.  Please join me on a February sunrise tour if you have a moment.  Here we go:

"Red sky at night, 

Sailor's delight;

Red sky at morning, 

Sailor's warning."

- Ancient Mariner's Rhyme

"What is the good of your stars and trees,

your sunrise and the wind, 

if they do not enter into our daily lives?"  - E. M. Foster

"Climb up on some hill at sunrise.  

Everybody needs perspective once in a while,

and you'll find it there."  - Robb Sagendorph

Until next time, let's keep on shining. :-)

Out in the trees, there arose such a chatter ...

Out in the trees, there arose such a chatter, I flew from my bed before windows shattered.  I threw on my bogs and made a mad dash, when what to my wondering eyes did appear, but hundreds of Robins signaling spring might be near ... (yep, just had to do it). :-)  Don't forget your sound before viewing "Robins Gone Wild."

Sounded like a rain forest full of Robins might sound, didn't it?

 I know Robins being one of the first signs of spring is considered an old wives tale by some but I choose to BELIEVE.

Are you a BELIEVER?

What's one of the first signs of spring for you?

C'mon Spring!