Happy first day of Fall...

We were all set for Fall and Summer returned. I think it was warmer today than it has been in a week or so. In fact it's 7:40 PM and it's 85 degrees! Here we thought Fall was just around the corner and lo and behold we're getting a sunburn at recess.

My roses were starting to come out and now they are getting sunburned too. I used to have the most beautiful roses and then two years of drought really hurt them. I may cut them all down to the ground and let them start over. We did that to one and it came back with long stem roses! But I'll leave this rose bush, it's the one the school bought for me as a memorial when my mom passed away. It's always so pretty. It looks like something out of Alice In Wonderland. That's not really weeds down there growing in the rocks. It's just your imagination....




I'll have to take another picture of this little lovely in a few days. This rose is called "Dolly Parton" because when in full bloom it can measure up to 7 inches across! Again, the heat hurt it the last two years, I hope it will come back this Fall.



The daises have been going nuts all Summer. They usually don't do well in the heat. But this year I've had daises for cutting all Summer long.











Oh and this rose bush... I don't think anything could kill it. It's growing on the hottest corner of the house. Sometimes it gets a little sunburned, but the minute the nights cool just a little bit, off it goes putting on the nicest blooms, and talk about fragrant!!!





As for this beast... maybe it's the reason the daisys are blooming, it's blocking all the harsh sunlight from them. This is a Lady Banks Rose bush.... don't ever plant one. It will try to eat your house. We can trim the 'canes' and in 24 hours it will have grown a foot. Everywhere you cut it, another new shoot will start growing at an alarming rate.

This view is from the yard looking up to the deck.




This view is from out in the yard looking back toward the house. You can see that it looks a little top heavy. I was hoping Hurricane Ike would come up and make it fall over. It's the most needy plant we've ever had in the yard. We could trim on it every day and still have work to do.

And here's what it looks like from the deck side, not too bad because in order to sit on the deck we have to go out and trim the branches out of the way.

Anyone out there have a machete? Oh, better yet a chain saw. I know, it serves it's purpose... it makes a really nice privacy screen, and a wind block. When I open this umbrella I have a garden room... And it does have really pretty little yellow flowers in the spring, but if you trim the darn thing then you don't get blooms! Go figure! Oh well, we'll just have a giant green tangle in the yard. Google Lady Banks Rose, I wish I knew how to add a website, I'd do it for you. But anyway, look up Lady Banks Rose and you will learn that the largest one is the roof of a restaurant in Tuscon, Arizona. Part of ours is about to go over the roof of our house.

If you are not watching Dancing with the Stars you are missing Cloris Leachman... she's stealing the show. I'm shutting down now to finish watching. She is so funny, reminds me of my late Aunt Shorty, only Cloris is about 3 foot taller than Aunt Shorty. She was calling the judges nasty names when they gave out her scores. They had to cut her mic off! I'm voting for her.

I'll post pictures of the Fall color... as soon as it shows up. (shhhhh, you locals don't tell them we have no fall color in Texas!)