Diary of a little white cottage

Long... long time ago, before I even knew our little white cottage existed, I made a promise to myself to surround my life with flowers.  That was going be my life.  And thus, last year when we moved to our little white cottage and I went crazy planting flowers and seeds a million, the neighbors started noticing.  They noticed the change and some started coming by to say nice things.  Some commented on the lovely transformation they were starting to see and planned daily walks around our street just to see what was going on here.  

When we, ourselves, started walking round our neighborhood in the evenings and stopped to meet people, they would tell us that.  One lady across from where the Cat Lady lives told us that she and her husband would drive by sometimes just to see if they could take a peek round the fence and see what was growing in our gardens.  She gave me some root cuttings from some of her flowers, but I planted them in our raised beds up front, and didn't survive the heat.  Then, one day right after we moved in along came Jane.        

Our neighbor Jane down the hill on the farthest road of our neighborhood came by full handed with gifts for my garden--a bunch of fragile looking things-like cuttings from her garden as a welcome gift that I promptly and happily planted, without even asking what they were...  

I'm so glad I did!

I've been delightfully surprised by Jane's cuttings this year... 

I don't know what the name of this plant here is, but I find it incredibly lovely and even mysterious if you ask me... with flowers in such unique shape against the dark wood behind... 

And there are also the Mexican Petunias that Jane gave me, which by now are growing like crazy against the wall in one of the flowerbeds..  I have divided these precious treasures and spread them around the garden in several places.  They're late bloomers, so they'll be putting out a show of their own right on time when the garden starts looking rather tired.  I am waiting for such delightfulness with a joyful heart.

Birds know my heart.  They rally round daily sowing their own seeds... seeds that later get to bloom in delightful yellow flowers.   

And what especially lovely surprise this was.     

Early this spring I planted nasturtiums seeds around the pond along with the big Elephant Ear bulbs, and what joy they represent in these hot days of summer with huge lushness and dainty orange blossoms mingling happily....

The little mermaid who lives in our pond had found a house of her own among the vegetation...  her cozy little house is perfect for her.  She looks happily planted there as if part of her surroundings.

The Crepe Myrtles don't cease to amaze me.  Their bright bouquets of deep reds, pink and lavender are like promises to me... of good days, and sunshiny mornings, and rainy days and butterflies and everything that's good.

The gardenia bush that I'm so devotedly and fondly caring for is putting another exquisite brood of blooms soon to be opened.  I cannot love these flowers with such lovely scents any more, and I worry about what to do with them in the winter time, as I understand these are tropical breeds and must probably would not survive our short, but chilly winters.   I supposed that's why I planted them in a pot from the beginning rather than on the ground.  I will have to bring it in and figure out where to place it, along with all my collections of potted ferns and geraniums.  My little sunroom-dining room will be my winter jungle. 

Every day, a little hummingbird, or maybe two... or three, come by to sip nectar from the amalgamation of tube-like flowers in the garden.  They like to take early morning baths in the pond's fountain too.  Yesterday morning, a teensy little one stood by the window right where we were having our breakfast--wings beating frantically in mid air, just to say hello.  I could almost hear him saying "good morning, Cielo... how are you doing!

What an amazing world this is.  I am humbled and amazed by God's creative powers.  

And to all of you my dear lovely hummingbird friends who always come by to say hello:  

Cielo