Fall Gardening

There is gardening, and then there is gardening in Texas which is a whole other ball of wax.  When gardening in Texas, you are going to get a short sliver of time in the spring when the weather is nice and your plants will flourish.  Then it gets H-O-T!  Hot as you know where.  So hot that when kids vandalize your house, the eggs will start to bake on your driveway when you don't get a second to clean it off until 10 a.m. when you get done at the courthouse. 

When it is that darn hot, your plants start to look like you are trying to grow them in the oven.  And really, you can't blame them.  Then in September and October, the temperatures go down a bit and it is in the upper 70's on a cool day and can reach lower 90's on warmer days, and your plants start to show some semblance of life again.

Remember those Perilla Magillas that I planted back toward the end of July when my butterfly impatients gave up all will to live?  They've gone CRAZY!

I planted some mums a few weeks ago (I'm down on mums by the way...they don't last long enough for my liking).  When I planted the mums, I dug up some impatients that were still kind of hanging on and I decided to transplant them to a pot in the backyard where some petunias had given it up and died.  These babies are lovin' the weather and have a new lease on life!

Yesterday, I ventured up to my neigborhood nursery and purchased some Violas. 

Violas are one of my favorite flowers. 

They are so delicate looking, but are actually easy to grow.  I'm not sure whether I have places to plant them where they will get enough sun, but I've taken a chance in a couple of planters out back.

My gardening chores were even more enjoyable because I got to use this new Liberty of London watering can that I got for my birthday!