Two New Projects

Here's the view from my front yard, through the incredibly ugly chain link fence, into the back yard:

Now, in all fairness, this is not quite a "before" shot. It's a "transformation begun" shot. I had just finished working--I mean, working--tilling up that strip of lawn (roughly 6x50 ft strip), putting in the three limelight hydrangeas on the left end--two are on the outside of the fence and one on the inside, to form a big triangle--setting out three cleyera, and barely in view on the right, a couple more limelights to anchor the opposite end. Barely noticeable in the photo are my sweet potato and pole bean vines beginning to creep up the bottom of the fence.

I'm trying to make do with my chain link until I can replace with a beautiful stone/picket combination one day. So for now, taking the eye "through" the fence is my plan until the plants are actually big enough to hide it.

Here's the finished product (so far). You can see I also made a new bed on the other side of the fence to create a nice finished corner, connecting to the garden fence, further serving to pull the eye past the fence itself. (Next year, perhaps we can get our springer spaniels a plastic pool in a less obtrusive color!)

Here's a wider view.

From this next angle, you can see how the new bed also serves to balance the front yard nicely. The left side of the photo is a mature bed of azalea (at least 30-40 years old), cleyera, huge elephant ears, crepe myrtle, and even a loquat tree, bordering our street. The far end borders a dead end street and another residence.

I plan to continue the black mondo grass border (at least I think that's what it is.) on around the new bed, so that I think when the new side matures (including the soon addition of a new azalea or two.) everything will balance out nicely.

Here's another eyesore I'm trying to hide:

I love the shed. Built completely by my husband and me, it replaced a hurricane-stricken metal type a few years ago. I also am pleased with the new bed of knock-out roses and more elephant ears. But the hodge-podge of  mowers, firewood, etc kind of ruins the overall look. My cheap solution was to string wire, secured with eye-hooks, in horizontal rows, following the angle of the lean-to's roofline. Planted at the base of each end are new passionflower vines, which I've heard are fast growing but not particular evasive in terms of spreading underground.  I love that the vine is totally edible--flower, leaves and stem---and medicinal. Here are a couple of shots of my first bloom--love the flowers!

The Garden This Morning

Things are awfully "big" in the garden this time of year. Two heavy rains this week sped things up (literally) even more.

We'll mow and clean out around the blueberry bushes after church this afternoon.

The okra is taller than the fence on the east end of the rows.

The perennial hibiscus are beautiful in the morning sun.

The roses were so pretty, glistening with dew. Notice the little bee inside the top edge of the second picture.

After the Rain

We've needed rain so badly for two weeks. It seems every day this week the dark clouds would form, the heat thunder would rumble and every area surrounding us would get rain--but not here, not until today.  I wish I had grabbed the camera and taken some shots of the wonderful hard rain that gave us two inches of moisture in about 40 minutes. All the plants and flowers looked so grateful. I did get these pictures after the storm.

A raised pot in a front yard planter.

Another front yard bed.

Beautiful hydrangea. Can you see how it's barely tinged with pink?

Moving to the garden you get a truer picture of the light at the time.

The marigolds set throughout the garden have really thrived this year.

Another dark shot--but you can still see the abundance of cayenne peppers this year!

I'll pick this eggplant in another 4-5 days.

Plenty of okra--and from my own seed!  It's about four feet tall now and will add another two before summer's end.

Here's the view I have of the okra while on hands and knees with bucket and wire cutters to gather the day's harvest.

Raindrops hang on the cherry tomatoes. The plants are looking skimpy now, but the tomatoes have been good--bug and disease free.

Fig Love

Photo credit: Eat Boutique

I am so fortunate to have two large fig trees in my backyard that have been producing copious amounts of fruit for the last two weeks. You can see pictures of the trees from a post I did on the same topic last year. The crop is on its last few days now, but we've already harvested five-plus gallons of fruit.

Figs in every container I can find!

I'm trying to find some something yummy and different to do with the surplus. I found several good recipes for variations of tarts. I think I'll try a savory version. Here's my plan:

Chop 1 small or 1/2 medium onion.

Fry till nice and crisp 1/2 to 1 pound bacon.

Saute onion in a bit of the bacon drippings.

Press one clove of garlic into the saute.

Snip or chop 4-5 cups of figs, a pinch of salt,  and molasses and or maple syrup to taste.

Continue cooking until figs are broken down and mixture is the consistency of jam. Add crumbled bacon.

Spread mixture into baked pie shells. Dot with small pieces of brie. Top with thin slices of fresh, ripe figs. Add toasted walnuts and snips of fresh rosemary, if desired. Bake 30 min at 350.