Beautiful Rose of Sharon

 I love my Rose of Sharon - and so do the bees!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So I'll let these pictures speak for themselves. We've had these in our yard for many years and they look more like trees than bushes. 

I hope you enjoy the pics.

Do you have Rose of Sharon in your yard?

PS The hummers also love them!

Around the House

It has been a while  since I posted on my blog.  During that time, we have had a family reunion.

Our garden is growing and growing. We have tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, squash, potatoes, strawberries (which are doing very good for their first year) and even a couple of Brussels sprouts and eggplants.

I have had to pull up and throw away hundreds of baby Rose of Sharon plants. My advice to you -  don't ever surround a Rose of Sharon plant with mulch. Plant it out in the open, so the thousands of seeds won't sprout into plants. I wish I had a nickle for every baby plant I have pulled from the ground.

And we have built a deck. I love it! My son Andrew is a wonderful carpenter (among other things) and we were his helpers.

And, it has been very hot and rainy.

What has been happening around your house this summer?

Posted by Janet Smart  on Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

Beautiful Rose of Sharon

I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.

Song of Solomon 2:1

The Biblical reference almost certainly does not refer to what is commonly known today as a Rose of Sharon and what I have in my yard. . . but isn’t it a beautiful bush! When the blooms fall, it creates a halo of blossoms on the ground beneath.

 I walked outside this morning and counted. I have six bushes. They have purple and pink flowers. One of my bushes at the corner of my house is a combination of purple and white. Not on the same bush, but two bushes that grew side by side.

 
These plants are so easy to grow. I read somewhere where a person just stuck a branch into the dirt until it took root. The seed pods can be a blessing and a curse. If left to nature, these pods drop and reseed the bush. This is great if you are looking to plant new bushes and/or trees in different places.
But they can take over. The only place in my yard where they 'take over' is at the corner of my house where I have a large one. It is planted inside of  landscape timbers. Their seeds fall and grow. This does not happen to the ones out in my yard because the grass is always mowed around them.
You could take the pods off in early spring before they have a chance to drop and repopulate. But if you have a large plant, there will be many,  many seed pods to remove.


I walked in the back yard of my neighbors house yesterday, hunting down my walking partner. I found her at her flower garden. I didn't realize she had so many Rose of Sharon plants . . . all started by my over abundance of plants. One is a gorgeous white!

They are very easy to grow. They love the sun and a well drained soil. They are a late bloomer, so you can enjoy them when other plants and flowers have lost their early blooms.

The bees and butterflies love them! Who couldn't love them? They are so beautiful!

Do you have a Rose of Sharon plant? What colors? If you are ever by my way in the summer, I could give you a little sprout and you could watch it grow into a gorgeous plant.

Posted by Janet F. Smart at Writing in the Blackberry Patch.

©Janet F. Smart

 

Birds, Flowers and Ghost Peppers

I looked outside my kitchen window this morning to see a neighborhood dog playing with something in our yard. He kept capturing it in his mouth and tossing it about. Banging on the window didn't make him leave, so I ran out the door to scare him off.

I found this little baby bird. I was afraid he was dead or his wing may have been broke. But upon close observation, I noticed his eyes were open and he was breathing rapidly. I saw a sibling and parent nearby, so I left. When I returned, he was gone. I was glad to find the baby bird missing, hopefully this means his wing wasn't damaged.

 

 

I don't know if you have a Rose of Sharon bush or not. But, I highly recommend them. They are so beautiful. When the flowers drop, they form a colorful ring on the ground around the bush.

Their blossoms are beautiful. The bees love them and so do the butterflies. One word of caution, though, don't plant them near the house in a bed filled with mulch. The seeds fall to the ground and hundreds of baby bushes grow all around. We have one at the corner of our house and if I had a nickle for every little bush I have pulled from the ground, I would be rich. Put them out in the middle of your yard and this will not happen.

My sunflowers were supposed to be mammoth ones. They didn't quite turn out to be mammoth, but they are still pretty.

 

 

My son grew ghost peppers this year. Why? That is a good question, but I have no good answer. Ghost peppers are the hottest peppers in the world. You can go here to read about the 'ghost pepper' and some amazing health benefits of the pepper. We have an entire row of these plants. Got milk?

Look What I Found

I've been so busy around here. We are doing a deep clean of the garage. It would be nice just to be able to walk through it without stubbing your toe on something. We have taken 3 loads to the thrift store.

For those of you who don't know, I also write. It is very time consuming, too, just ask my husband.

I finally took a break and went outside. In addition to the weeds that have taken control in a few places, I also found a few other things that seem to have popped up over night.

This is in my blackberry patch:


Filled with these beautiful blue eggs:


My pear tree has little pears, hope a frost doesn't kill them this year:


The ferns are pushing their way up among the rocks and weeds: I love ferns!


These little plants are popping up everywhere. I have to go and pull these up before they get any bigger or they will take over. Their very long roots makes them hard to pull up when they grow larger. They grow fast! Know what they are? Answer at bottom of page.



These purple and pink flowers are everywhere! They spread like crazy! Their name escapes me at the moment.


These peonies will be gorgeous in a few weeks. . . or sooner!


Plants seem to be blooming earlier this year. If we blink an eye, we will miss its beauty.

Answer from question above: Rose of Sharon

What's coming up around your house?