Rain!

Yesterday we got over 2 inches of rain and my plants look so good!

This is Crocosmia 'Lucifer' and this is its first flower of the year.

Another plant that is blooming now is my Milkweed. Its producing lots of flowers which make lots of seed pods. I've been spreading the Milkweed seeds in my neighbor's empty garden patch in hopes that they will reseed.

Here is Ginger, she loves to walk around the garden with me!

Finally, here is Max. He loves to chase Ginger around the yard, but I think he secretly likes her.

Red Gailardia

Gailarida-also called Blanket Flower-is one of my top perennials for Louisiana. This plant can endure our hot summers and it blooms continually all summer. What more could you ask for? In my opinion, Gailarida's best quality is its drought tolerance. The last thing I want to do is haul the hose out amid 90 degree temps and water plants. Gailarida only gets water when it rains and its fine with that.

Gailardia doesn't grow very tall (about 1 foot) but is does grow wide (about 2 feet across). Its growth habit is "floppy" meaning it likes to lay across neighboring plants. I don't mind, it gives the garden a casual cottage feel.

All you need to grow Gailardia is full sun and a moderate amount of space. I'd say a 2 foot circle for each plant should be adequate. Gailarida is available in a few different colors-- my favorite is 'Red and Yellow' and there is a yellow variety called 'Oranges and Lemons'.

I will end with a picture of my outside cat Ginger. She loves laying beside the catnip (on the left side of the picture). Sometimes I pinch off a few catnip leaves for my inside cats and they love it!

Tomato Hornworm

I was looking at the tomato plants when I noticed a leaf moving....so I looked closer and saw this!

So far, I've counted 3 hornworms but there are probably lots more that I didn't see. They are very well camoflagued! They are the same color as a tomoto stem and are very fat. One of them was at least the size of my thumb!

I'm not going to remove the hornworms because they are not harming the tomatoes and they will grow into the Sphinx Moth. I didn't take the moth picture, got it from Google. Hopefully I will some Sphinx Moths soon!

His little feet are cute!

Black eyed Susans

Black eyed Susans are one of my favorite perennials to grow. Mine have just now started blooming; they brighten up the garden with their yellow flowers. Lately we haven't gotten much rain, but that doesn't bother Black eyed Susans! They grow well in drought conditions.

I have two types of Susans, one that has a dark center and one that is plain yellow. Both kinds grow equally well, but I like the plain yellow type best.

Black eyed Susans come back every year without fail and also grow bigger every year. Mine need to be divided because they are pushing my other plants out the way. They are a great choice for our hot Louisiana summers!