Sunday, August 17, 2014

Late Summer Garden Tour

I thought I'd take y'all with me on a little backyard garden tour today.

I think I went through three other spots in the garden before I found one this plumbago liked. Actually, this is two plants close together. I love the blue flowers. 


My shamrock plant is doing surprisingly well. I wasn't sure if this little 4 inch plant from the grocery store back in March would be able to withstand our summer heat, but it persevered. It keeps getting bigger and bigger and graces us with these sweet little white blooms. 


Oh, how I love my gomphrena! This is going to be my go-to plant for my patio pots next year. I can just picture my whole patio covered with these. :) They can take the Texas heat like no other. They actually like to dry out a little too, so it's a wonderful match for our climate.


Here's another one that loves the heat. Esperanza. I have several yellow ones and an orange one. These blooms are so pretty to cut and bring indoors. 


Here's a close up of a cluster of Esperanza blooms...



And here's what the orange ones look like...



Those always remind me of green beans. :) 

The bottle brush is gearing up for another round of blooms. 


Here's a close up of the bottle brush blooms. They attract A LOT of bees though. :)


Now, although my gomphrena is doing great, the other patio plants are starting to show some wear and tear from the heat. I have to admit though, the zinnias lasted a lot longer than I anticipated. I was impressed with how much heat they could take. I probably need to do some dead heading here.


The vitex and bottle brush trees seem to be on the same bloom schedule this year. In a week or so, these will be bursting with purple blooms.


I can't wait until it gets a little cooler so we can enjoy some time out on the patio. And by "cooler" I mean below 90 degrees. Lol!

walmart patio set

If you missed how we transformed our patio, you can see it HERE. You won't believe the "before" pics. Yikes!

patio decor

We've been in a drought for years, but luckily this year, we received a good amount of rain. I think we've only had to run the sprinklers once. It's amazing how quickly the grass greens up after a good rain.






The bald cypress provides a nice canopy of shade in the hot summer.


I still can't believe this is what the above area used to look like when the boys were little...

My how times have changed. :) You can see the whole post about our backyard transformation HERE.










Here are a few more pics from my phone...


backyard landscaping

If you're new here, you may not know that the bench and adirondack chairs below were crafted by my hubby. When the boys outgrew the playset, we tore it down, but kept the wood. My hubby used the wood to make the chairs for this little sitting area under the tree. So, in a sense, we do still have part of the playset out here. :)



My youngest son put together that arbor for me when he was just 10 years old.


backyard arbor

The knock out roses are strutting their stuff. :)


knockout roses texas

This pic below is one of my favorite spots. It's taken from underneath the bald cypress tree. The perfect spot to sit and read a book with a big glass of sweet iced tea. :) 


backyard secret garden

It's funny to see how much the bald cypress has grown. Here's a pic right after we planted it, about 13 years ago...


Can you spot it in the upper right hand corner behind the park bench? And here it is today...


texas bald cypress tree

It would be even taller if hurricane Ike hadn't chopped about 10 feet off the top. Oh, and that fence is about 6 ft. tall just to give you some perspective on its size. 

Below is my butterfly bush. It's still pretty, but always starts looking a little leggy this time of year. 




Well, that's it for the garden tour. Thanks for coming along with me. :) Hope you all have a wonderful day!

~Lisa

I'm joining these parties:Savvy Southern StyleImparting GraceMaria Elena's DecorFrom My Front Porch To YoursThe Dedicated HouseJoy In Our HomeFishtail CottageTuesday Garden Party



23 comments:

  1. Beautiful!! I just love your yard. It says Texas to me. :)

    I might do a yard post today too. Not much going on inside the house. We are getting ready to leave for Port Aransas in the morning.

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  2. Your backyard looks amazing, Lisa! I think we may have one of those Esperanza bushes. We didn't plant it, so it's a guessing game, but the the pretty yellow, tulip-shaped flowers look very similar. I think y'all probably get a lot more humidity than we do. It's pretty record-breaking when we hit 50-60%, and I'm glad we don't get that too often. Plants on the other hand, seem to flourish in the humidity. We have quite a few things that will survive the heat, but it isn't a pretty sight -- you would swear they are dead. Lots of cleanup and dead-heading, but not until it cools off -- yes, at least below 100!

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  3. Your yard looks so manicured and pretty! Looks like despite the heat, your flowers are doing well.

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  4. I love all the colors of your blooms!!! They all look so vibrant!! And you know I love the pictures of your backyard years ago...I love seeing before and afters!!

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  5. What a beautiful garden - and that arbor is amazing - what can he build now if he could do that 10 !!!
    And I can't believe the size of that tree in just 13 years - that's absolutely amazing !
    xoxo

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  6. Thanks for stopping in! Yes we just build our new house. I had to stop blogging for a year or more. Your yard is to die for. Just beautiful !

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    1. Thank you, JoAnn! It's good to have you back in the blogging world! Thanks for stopping by!

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  7. The back yard looks awesome. Would love to know about the covering on the pergola. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. You have a beautiful back yard!! It is hard to believe that it once was a fun playground with very little plantings and shade. Now it is lush green, mature trees and beautiful flowers. You have done a wonderful job nurturing it into a gorgeous space.

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    1. Thank you, Ann! Sometimes I can't believe how much our backyard has transformed through the years. :) I love all the shade we get from the bald cypress now. It sure is a fast growing tree! We used to take annual family pictures in front of it to track its growth. Those pics are fun to look at too. :)

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  9. Your yard is so pretty, Lisa. It's fun to see how it has changed over the years. So sweet that your husband made the chairs from the wood of the playset!

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    1. Thanks, JoAnne! I really love that there are still parts of the old playset out there. It's a nice spot to relax and enjoy the shade. :) Hope you're having a great week!

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  10. So pretty Lisa, your garden is truly worth sharing!

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  11. Your yard looks great. I too have a bottle brush bush but very little blooms this year for some reason,

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  12. Your garden is really pretty. I like your patio also. It looks so relaxing and everything is decorated so nicely. Your son did a great job on the arbor he made you and at 10 years old! The chairs and bench your husband made look so nice in your backyard. It really is such a great outdoor area.

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    1. Thanks, Kim! I love that little arbor. :) I should try growing a vine up and across it. We're all looking forward to October...that's usually the month we can all be outside and the temps are actually pleasant. :) Enjoy your evening!

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  13. Such a beautiful back yard!! It will be nice when it "cools down" and you can spend more time out there! I can't wait to get some plants in my back yard. You have given me some great ideas!

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  14. Beautiful! I'm just curious, how big is your yard? Just wondering! Thanks < 3

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    1. I'm not sure of the size. I just know when we bought it, it was classified as an "over sized lot." I sure am glad we have all that extra room though. :) Thanks for stopping by!

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  15. Lisa, your plants look amazing! Everything looks so full and lush! You've learned the secret to Texas gardening...plant those Texas Superstars; and your gardens will be beautiful! I love Esperanzas, too. They give me my pops of yellow every year. And you can't miss with the Knockout Roses! Your yard is awesome!

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  16. Your yard is amazing, Lisa. Seriously so beautiful. I bet your family really enjoys spending time out there. Looks like such a gorgeous area for entertaining.

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  17. so fun to see the before and now photo's of the gardens... love that we get to make our landscape whatever works for us at the time we need it to. thanks for linking up to this weeks garden party over here at Fishtail Cottage! xoox, tracie

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  18. Thanks for taking us on a tour - your garden has grown so beautiful.
    Have a great day
    Greetings from South Africa

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