Ninety-Freakin'-Seven!

Yes, it's 97° here today, with a "feels like" temp of 102°. Lovely, eh?

This is quite unusual, even for Texas, actually. May and June are routinely our most comfortable and enjoyable months until Fall comes.

Yeah, tell that to my poor plants. I rushed out yesterday morning to put mulch on all the flower beds and got about 80% done before I had to come inside. Just too darn hot.

On the plus side, I had my first swim in our "new" pool today. First one I've had since we moved in, anyways. Still a bit on the chilly side (surprisingly), but it felt mighty good.

In flower news, I've been taking advantage of some of the online nurseries' end of season sales. Wayside Gardens, in particular, had some great prices on summer flowering bulbs like Cannas, gladiolas, and callas. I even got a large (and I mean LARGE) arisaema bulb for only $3.95.

Gardeners, be sure to sign up for various newsletters and other alerts from these online retailers in order to take advantage of what rock bottom prices they may be offering this time of year.

Greener Choices

I just ran across a great new website put together by Consumer Reports - it's called Greener Choices, and it's a fantastic, free resource for shoppers to find more environmentally-friendly products.

Just recently launched on Earth Day of this year, the Greener Choices site also has a lot of information about how to recycle phones & appliances, economical automobile choices and what the auto industry is doing (or not doing) about fuel alternatives, and more.

Where No Iris Has Gone Before...

I've written and posted a new Organic Gardening article over at Suite101.com...click here to check it out.

After a 1.5" downpour last night, things are looking lovely around my garden.

Behold, the 'Starship Enterprise' iris which just bloomed. The loveliest iris I've ever seen in person, I must say.




Also, my chives are beginning to flower with their pretty pink/purple blooms:



And, last but not least, the first of probably very many Round French zucchinis to emerge:

More Photos from My Garden

A Wild Yellow Ladyslipper Orchid I recently bought from www.wildorchidcompany.com



Iris 'Stellar Lights'



Iris 'Earl of Essex'



Daylily (bought bareroot from Wal-Mart!)



Tiarella 'Crowfeather'



Mom (bottom left) and baby (top center) ladybugs doing cleanup duty of some aphids



Clematis (Jackmanii...? Not sure, as this was here before we moved in. Beautiful, yes?)