I have no doubt our neighbors are enjoying my flowers. They are spilling out of our fence and into their territory.They can see the blooms right from their elevated porch. The scent of the Wedgewood rose hangs in the air. They do let me know they appreciate the beautiful flowers and I am happy about that.


When we're away in the summer, our neighbor water my plants. I tell him that he is welcome to pick any herbs or edibles available in the garden that he might fancy. He did pick a lot of chilis one time but gave them to me when we arrived from  vacation. So I whipped up a spicy spread of dinner and invited him and his family over.

I took  this picture from our neighbor's side

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Here's my Picasso painting an artwork for his Daddy.
Today is Father's Day.

One picture is just not enough 

Ahhh...but I love my hydrangea which I planted as a cutting  from my sister Jenny's plant which she planted from a cutting from a friends plant...

Hydrangea and roses mingling

a new bloom

It looks like I take a picture of the nasturtiums every day.
I cannot help myself, they are so beautiful!

Hollyhock will not be ignored. The flowers are breath-taking!

Now I'll go for walk on the beach with my Steve and Zachary. Perhaps, we'll catch the sunset...

The first fig ripens. We had to share it among the three of us.

In fact it is fun to share such a sweet jewel as  small as a golf ball. It makes us anticipate the other ones that are coming. 

Once again, I read D.H. Lawrence's poem about the fig. 

He had some interesting things to say about it. ;-0

Violette de Bordeaux

Looks soooo luscious...and yes, it's sweet!

My Garden is Abloom: Cut-flower Heaven

all these coming out of one stem

the other bunch

the wedgewood. the rain a few days ago managed to ruin some of the roses

I've never smelled a sweeter scent than  this wedgewood

these English roses are so packed and heavy with petals they cannot hold themselves up

and I mistook this for a squash when it was growing...this overwintered. I planted the seeds two springs ago and only one survived

hollyhock....and now I want the purple-black hollyhock too!

milflores--ever trusty hydrangea

the sweetest English roses on my table

Save the bottom part of your lemon grass and pi\ut it in a glass with water. It will root in no time. Stick it in a pot of soil and with lots of sunshine, watch it grow more stalks for you.You may not have to go back to the store for more. I had some leftover stalks that I did not get to use and gave them another chance in life.

I planted a few pots of stevia plants. The weird weather stunted  their growth for  a while. I've lost some of it  to bugs that find the leaves sweet. I don't know how much sugar I can make out of this.

I harvested the big Stevia leaves to let the upcoming ones to grow

dried stevia leaves ready to grind in my coffee grinder 

David Austin's Generous Climber

David Austin's Wedgewood

I like that it's cupped, just like an English Rose

Nasturtiums will make my...

butter with a hint of pepper and looking good

My joy when I come home from work is to sit out on the porch with a cold drink and just feast my eyes on my plants (that are growing slowly but surely).

my cold drink is hidden among the nasturtiums ;-)

David Austin's Wedgewood

Costco's Pinata

I wanted this hydrangea to be all blue, but I guess I did not feed it enough acid now it's having an identity crisis...it's blue and pink

Homegrown Salad and Foraged Smoothie

No salad is tastier than the one that's homegrown. It is comforting to know that I can eat something fresh and free of  chemicals right from my own pot garden. We've  been enjoying our sugar snap peas as well as their shoots and nasturtium flowers and leaves. The  spinach and mesclun did not do well, but it's not too late to start a new  batch.  The weird winter we had really affected the plants and perhaps I started gardening too early. 

nasturtium leaves and flowers, mesclun, baby spinach, sugar snap peas and shoots, basil, tarragon leaves and flowers and a little but of chives

Zach's favorite snack

nasturtiums are so pretty in the salad they make eating  fresh greens more fun

And for the drink, I made a smoothie of this bowl of juneberries I picked during my lunchtime at work. There were two medium-sized trees heavy with these berries right on the curb where I parked my car. I was a bit self-conscious picking these berries as the residents in the area (I am sure) think these berries are not edible for humans but are for the birds. And there I was competing with the birds.

I just picked a small  bowlful.

As I walked to one of my schools I work in, I saw two more trees right in front of the school that are laden with juneberries, also planted in the squares alloted on the curb. I thought to myself, "Nah, I can't pick these berries and risk my students seeing me doing so. I'd be embarrased."   But why shoould I be embarrased?


Zach loves eating half-frozen juneberries, so I might just have to take more courage and bring a ziploc bag back to the spot where I parked. Just ignore the missus with a head full of curlers watching me through her window.The juneberries are actually falling off the trees and getting the curb dirty. Besides, the birds seem to be ignoring the berries, I swear! 

As if the juneberry tree sighting was not enough, on my way home that afternoon, as I stopped for the red light right on Rockaway Blvd., the island that divided the road for both directions had a lush, oh so lush (!) mulberry bush heavy with ripe, long and at the same time fat mulberries and again, they are all going to the birds. (Bless them tweeters!) I was so tempted to move my car  a little closer to the curb so I could reach for a bunch...but as everyone was at a stop for this long red light...I felt self-conscious again and dared not take the attention of the long line of drivers behind me . Sigh!

Juneberries, banana and soymilk smoothie

My little corner on my wee porch made charming by these delicious nasturtiums

My pinata (pinyata) rose starting to bloom

I love the sunset color of this rose

Our little jungle porch

Hardy Chicago Figs

He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit...Prov 27:18

What are these red bumps on my potted-cherry tree?

Don't cherries start fro flowers....hmmm...curious...

My succulents

Tea for one and lots of quiet moments