Just put a low brick border around this V at the joining of brick paths in my garden and planted succulents and cacti. Installed the tiny lava rocks during a downpour from Hurricane John’s inland effect. More pictures of garden improvements to follow.
For Cee’s FOTD
And, just for the fun of it, a different sort of succulent pig, a poem I wrote seven years ago:
Last Little Piggy Goes To Market
I am the littlest piggy, and when I commenced to roam,
why did I cry “Wee wee wee” all the long way home?
My sibling went to market and I followed along.
The path was rough and winding–as steep as it was long.
My little legs were tired, yet I followed close behind––
I wondered if he knew that I was following if he’d mind.
My family never let me go hardly anywhere,
so market piqued my interest. I wondered what was there.
I asked my other siblings if they wouldn’t like to try it,
but one was into his roast beef, the other on a diet.
She said she would be tempted by the pastries and the candy.
This was enough to convince me this market was a dandy.
When we crested the final hill and rounded the last bend,
the market spread out for so far, I couldn’t see its end.
Booth after booth was set up to sell its chosen fare.
My head swung fast from side to side to see all that was there.
Buttons, bolsters, bumbershoots and books with songs or riddles.
Little dainty donuts with whipped cream in their middles.
Tinkertoys and rubber balls and cricket bats and kites.
My eyes could not keep up with all these delicious sights.
I lost sight of my brother, but I didn’t care.
I was too busy ogling all this varied fare.
My tummy started rumbling. Ice cream, cakes and pies.
I wished that I could put my mouth where I had put my eyes.
But then I stopped to look at a very curious rig
and a big sign that said “Barbecue—what? Barbecue pig????
Folks stood around with sandwiches filled with dripping meat,
and then I saw another sign that said “Pickled Pig’s Feet!!!”
My pigs’ feet took me out of there as fast as I could joggle.
I didn’t stop for donuts. I didn’t stop to ogle.
I scurried for my own safe yard, squealing “Wee, wee, wee!”
Now when I seek adventure, home is enough for me!!!
For Cee’s FOTD
My neighbors just sent me this photo of the roof of my kitchen. Their house is up much higher than mine so I can’t really see this roof garden except a bit of it from my hammocks down below. I love the looks of it. A few ferns there, as well. Does anyone know if this could undermine my roof? If I need to remove them, I’d love to plant them below in the garden. The two tall ones are gorgeous!!! (Photo by David Bershad.)
Click on photos to enlarge.
I saw this small tree at a local outside restaurant and had to look it up. It is a balloon plant, asclepias physocarpa. It is a relative of milkweed, which explains the monarch butterflies we saw floating over the pool in front of these trees. Yves, the owner of the restaurant, who always likes to stop and sit and chat a bit, called in the man who stands in front of the restaurant, offering to wash cars, and he picked two of the pods off the trees, saying we could dry them and plant the seeds and also gave me two small trees in coffee cans, which I of course paid him for. When I got home, I looked the plant up, thinking it might be a relative of Chinese lanterns, which are orange, but in a similar inflated shape. I can’t find any evidence that they are but did find out the sticky white sap they exude is mildly poisonous. It reminds me of the caustic sap of crown of thorns, so I was not surprised to hear this. Now I have to decide where to plant it. Perhaps outside the window in front of my desk so I can see if it does attract monarchs.
During further research, I discovered that other names for this plant are hairy balls plant and bishop’s balls!
For Cee’s FOTD
Click on photos to enlarge.
For Cee’s FOTD
Each petal of a jade plant has the capacity to grow an entirely new plant. I love finding these infants!
This little Echeveria is growing out of a hole in the side of a large flowerpot that sits on the terrace beside my pool. I must admit that I stuck it into that hole when it first opened up, but it has survived and grown larger over the past year.
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 