A Little Luck Is All You Need!

Without even meaning to, and certainly by surprise, I found a four leaf clover today!  I've wanted to find one my whole life, and there it was just staring me in the face as I just happened to look down!  How lucky is that?!

What makes it even crazier is I had just congratulated a friend of mine yesterday on finding one herself.  I told her I was so jealous!  And what-a-ya-know, not even a day later, I find one of my own!  I've been so excited all day!

A Bit O' History From Wikipedia:

The four-leaf clover is an uncommon variation of the common, three-leaved clover. According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally.  According to legend, each leaf represents something: the first is for hope, the second is for faith, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck.  

It has been estimated that there are approximately 10,000 three-leaf clovers for every four-leaf clover.

...Maybe I should go play the lottery tonight!  I'm feelin' lucky!  

This plant made my day!  How 'bout yours?

2009: A Year in Blooms

If you read my blog on any sort of regular basis, you know I have a flower of the day section where I post a flower that has brought me joy that day.  I may not post everyday, but not a day goes by that I don't pick a flower in my head.  It brings me joy on a bad day, brightens an already sunny day and gives my soul a moment with God as I say thanks for creating such a wonderful piece of art for me to enjoy.  The following are my favorite moments with Him as He walked me in the garden.

January: Snapdragon

February: Saucer Magnolia Tree

March: Columbine

April: Butterfly Bush

May: Peonies

June: Crazy Daisy

July: Celosia

August: Porterweed

September: 'Grandpa Otts' Morning Glory

October: Confederate Rose

November: Fall Color

December: 'Belinda's Dream' Rose

Happy New Year, everyone!  

May 2010 bring you great joy and many blessings!

~Sarah

Jack Frost Nipping at Your Rose!

It snowed in Houston yesterday, and while my yard didn't look anything like Janie's, who is a bit further south than me, we did get flakes coming down almost all day.  It was beautiful to see, but I was far from excited about the weather like most others were.  First of all, my day started out in the freezing cold weather covering plants at the nursery I work at.  I am a heat lover, so I really wasn't very happy about working in the snow, sleet, rain or whatever it was falling from the sky!  Second, all I could think about was how long I have to wait until Spring arrives when everything looks pretty again.  I really don't know how people in the north survive!

The snow coming down.

Snow accumulating on the Cabbage

And a little bit on the planter box fence at work.

I don't think the Ginger is going to be very happy!

The snow melted right away which left us with icy conditions as the temps continued to drop into the low 20's.  This is what I woke up to this morning...Jack Frost blanketing everything.

Red Crane Cabbage

Begonias

Butterfly Weed

Belinda's Dream Rose:  She looks so sad!

Double Knockout Rose

Blue Porterweed

Sweet Potato Vine

'Anne Marie' Lantana

I've heard it's going to be a hard winter here. Seeing how we normally don't get a hard freeze like this until January, I think they might be right!  I can't wait until Spring when everything returns to its full glory, and the butterflies come back to play!

Spring Propagating Has Begun!

Its been a very slow day at the nursery today.  The weather brought a cold front with rain in two nights ago which scared away the landscapers.  I do enjoy days like this every once in awhile though because it gives me a chance to re-group, catch up on paperwork, and since it's nearing the end of the season, look forward to Spring growing.  We've been researching new plants for the Spring season and the propagators in the back have been cutting stock plants all day for our Spring crop.

We've increased inventory items like this awesome Cuphea:

The bees have LOVED this plant all Summer!

And this AWESOME 'Mona Lavender' Plectranthus. We couldn't keep these in stock this season!

Beautiful Neon Purple blooms with purple foliage!

Golden Thryalis is a no-brainer for bright summer color!

LOVE this shrub!

Creeping Jenny is a top seller ground cover for us: Lysimachia aurea

I Love this one in between stepping stones!

This is another great groundcover we'll have in the Spring- Pink Buttons - Polygonum capitatum

The little buttons are too cute!

Euryops is a great showstopper constantly blooming since Spring!

Bush Daisy: Euryops

This one just started blooming a couple weeks ago, and will bloom all winter for us: Panama Rose

The scent at night is heavenly!

Salvia greggii loves our heat in the summer.

This is one of my favorite Salvias

Of course we are propagating many more plants, but these are just a few of my favorites.  I've been flipping through seed catalogs and books looking for more Spring ideas.  I'm focusing on warmer days ahead since our first freeze is coming this Friday night.  Have I mentioned I hate cold weather? Because I really do!

Inside Outside of Houston, Texas

I mentioned in my first post today that I visited a nursery earlier in the week in search of pottery for two fountains.  I came across Inside Outside in the Heights which is a really neat place that specializes in pottery fountains outside and antiques inside.  I was franticly looking for the perfect pots while trying to enjoy the really cool selection of plants they had there.  I did get to snap a few photos of some plants but didn't catch a few names, so if anyone knows them, feel free to share!  I missed my plant of the day posts this week because my schedule was so crazy, so these pictures are taking its place.  Hope you enjoy!

Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips'

Ginkgo biloba

Otacanhus

Abutilon

This is a no namer...really cute pink blooms about an inch across.

Aechmea gamosepala- 'Baby's Room' Bromeliad

Salvia van houttei

Ptilotus 'Joey'

Hope you enjoyed them as much as I did!  These plants made my day/week! How 'bout yours?

This is why I love my job! (Part 1)

I fell off the blogosphere this week from utter exhaustion.  I spent the entire week installing two landscapes that I have been preparing for about a month.  Monday and Tuesday were dedicated to finding two fountains for my clients.  I found the cutest little nursery in the Heights of Houston.  They specialize in fountains and I'm going to post some awesome photos I took there in my next post.  Wednesday I started the first install which was a blank slate backyard except for one small bed the homeowner had just put in.  This was a fun install because the homeowner wanted a butterfly sanctuary.  (If you know me even a little, I'm slightly in love with butterflies, so this was right up my ally!)  We installed a small fountain off their patio, and installed three beds along the fence line.  I can't wait to go back and take pictures six months from now when everything has filled in.

This is looking across her yard with the house directly to my left.

The sun glared this photo, but this is the pottery fountain we installed.  I planted Dwarf Mondo grass around the base.

This is the electrical box we covered.  There is a Confederate Rose in the very back that will grow above the fence and flower beautifully next Fall.  Other plants in this bed: Plumbago, Knockout Rose, Butterfly Iris, Foxtail Fern, and 'Purple Lady' Iresine.

This is the middle bed.  I put Mexican Flame Vine on the arbor with a Savannah Holly next to that for balance.  Other plants are: Milkweed, Euryops, Dwarf Bottlebrush, Candy Corn Cuphea, and Porterweed.  The homeowner is going to put a small bench or birdbath under the arbor.

This is the third bed which has a Bottlebrush tree in the center, along with a Sweet Almond Verbena for scent.  I repeated some of the plants from the other beds in this bed for balance and color.

We wanted to cover her fence line, so we planted Confederate Jasmine between the three beds.  This will give her green space without the beds to weed and mulch.  Like I said, I can't wait to go back in six months and take pictures again after everything has filled in and grown up.  Also, I really want the owners to put a rock border along the bed lines.  I think they will after they put in the rock border in their front yard.  For now though, this job is done!  I'm very pleased with the results.

The second Job I installed will be posted in Part 2, so keep reading...

To a Better Day!

I mentioned yesterday in my Ft. Hood blog that I took some photos of butterflies to clear my head.  Here they are!

I found these American Painted Lady butterflies covering the 'Anne Marie' Lantana.  I think they have beautiful markings!

Usually these tiny butterflies are so fast I can't ever seem to get a picture of them, but this male Fiery Skipper below was posing nicely for me.

This is my catch of the day!  A Hummingbird Moth!  I've been hoping to get a picture of one of these for awhile now, and I just happened to walk by and see his wings going a mile a minute.  I tried looking up the Hummingbird Moth online, and I'm only finding the Clearwing species with the little yellow lines across his back.  This moth doesn't appear to have clear wings, but then again he was beating them so fast, I could be wrong!  I'm still not sure if it really is a Clearwing or not, but he sure is a nice add to my photo collection anyway!

Ahhh, there's nothing like a few winged friends to put a smile on your face!