Our Girl Nettie is out watering the flowers again.  I have tried to tell her that they don’t need it tonight because there was rain during the night, but it is all part of keeping her stable, so I don’t object too much.  I am going to post pictures of some of the flowers that she has kept alive this year by her faithful watering. 

This barrel is on our back patio.  I love portulaca (moss rose) but wish that it would bloom all day instead of just when the sun is shining on it.  The portulaca took over almost everything else in there.  I had snap dragons in the middle, but they never grew very much.  They do bloom some, but not like they would under less crowded conditions.

This barrel is in the front, between our garage doors.  It started with some vinca, two ivy geraniums,  some silvery drooping ivy stuff and some —- (can’t remember the name) in back.  When the flowering vinca took off, it nearly crowded everything else out.  This barrel’s color theme is pink, and it has been eye-catching.  It has too much of the flowering vinca, and fertilizing it made things worse.  I still love it, and the ivy geraniums were especially delightful to me.

I had a side bed that I called my “orange” bed.  It had different kinds of orange flowers in it.  The back row was zinnias, then there were New Guiniea Impatiens, then a funny petunia kind of ground cover thing.  I don’t know the name of it, either.  Beside the colors of the other flowers, it is a peachy colored thing.  I like it, but don’t know if I would put it in again.    I actually pulled out some plants with white trumpet shaped flowers that were in front and were not supposed to be higher that 4-6″ but were over powering everything and causing my impatiens to not thrive.  

I call this my “Peaceful Garden.”  Certain Man planted the climbing Hydrangeas, and we put in this “el cheapo” fountain ($15.00 at Ollie’s Bargain Mart).  The flowers there grow with very little care, and the water trickles and it sounds so nice.  I like to go out to my patio, dead head flowers, pull some weeds and just relax.

I had a hard time finding somewhere to put this double headed shepherd’s crook this year.  Certain Man “planted” it right in front of my weeping cherry tree, and it has prospered there. Nettie’s daily watering has made the difference between life and death for these flowers, especially, and I am so grateful for her help!

In other news, The Women of Faith Conference was wonderful.  I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go, and to be with the people I was with.  We had such a good time.  I didn’t get to do some of the things I would have if my foot hadn’t been in a cast, but my daughter and my friends looked out well for me, and helped me at every turn, so that I could enjoy the conference even without all my faculties.  (That was probably more true than anyone would admit, because I did use pretty strong pain medicine and it made me feel like I was “out of it” for some of the time.)  All told, I think the foot is in as good a shape as can be expected, and I wouldn’t have wanted to miss this wonderful weekend.