Lazy Sunday Mornin'

We're moving a little slow on this Sunday morning... we even decided (OK, Laurie did) that we're going to second service at church today. We hardly ever do that, but Laurie had a lot she wanted to do this morning. And, of course... I didn't argue. I've thoroughly enjoyed taking it slow, walking with my cup of coffee around our house looking at my plants, gardens, tomatoes, bananas, elephant ears, pond/waterfall, spitting pond, palms... HA!!! I make it sound like I have an estate!!

A few thoughts on gardening in 2008:

• Hostas - They look absolutely GORGEOUS this year!! I don't usually let hostas flower for too long (if at all), because they put so much energy to the flowers the leaves start to look drab. But, because of the amount of moisture we've had this year hostas look GREAT. Very few slugs this year, too :)


• Bananas & upright elephants ears - REALLY slow year getting them to grow. You'd think with the amount of moisture we've had they'd be growing by leaps and bounds. But, the cool streaks we had early really set them back. My "mega upright elephant ears" only have two leaves each; this time last year they probably had 5-6. It didn't help that I was spoiled last year by starting my bananas and upright elephant ears in a greenhouse early.


• Daylilies - I have two gigantic designer (light purple) daylilies in my front bed that are FULL of blooms every year (I LOVE THEM). This year is no exception, but they were about a week late blooming. I can depend on them to always start by June 21st. But, this year it was the end of June.


• Pond - It's been a difficult year for ponds (at least the ones I'm aware of). There was a lot of algae growth early (some actually started during the winter during a spike in the temps). I had more than the usual amount of "muck" or "sludge" on the bottom of my pond and I couldn't get rid of it through the usual methods. Sad to say... it's still there because I haven't taken the time to get rid of it. Also, it took forever to get our water clear this year. Just over the last 10-days or so has it cleared. The plants are coming along nicely, and we actually have a water lily that is blooming this year :)


• Tomatoes - We're growing Big Boy, Roma & Cherry tomatoes this year. I'm growing them in large containers rather than in the ground. I'm getting concerned, though, that there isn't enough room for the roots. Hopefully we'll get a decent amount to use. Also, the kids want to sell some to make some extra money (quite the little entrepreneurs).


• Irises - WOW... they were BEAUTIFUL this year. Too bad I don't have any :( (Well, any that bloomed yet... next year, hopefully.) At three of my customer's houses they were UNBELIEVABLE this year. I posted a few pictures when they were blooming back in May. Take a look when you get a chance if you didn't see them. Sad thing is, I'm not a fan of irises, but I couldn't get enough of them this year.


• Japanese Beetles - I thought we were maybe in the clear of them this year at the end of June. But... when we got back from Texas, I think they followed us. Last Thursday I had to spray at a customer's house that gets maliciously attacked by them every year; this year was no different. Thank God for Bayer garden products!! I've only had a few here at our house. I sprayed right before we left for Texas on a few things I was concerned about, but haven't had to spray again since coming home.

Well, I need to head inside to get ready for church... SO much more to blog about, but SO little time to do it.

To finish out, here's a picture of Andrew receiving his orange belt yesterday at Victory Academy. He's doing an AWESOME job at taekwondo... he has such a passion for it and is very committed to his goals. We're very proud of him.

Here is a picture of Andrew with Grand Master Sosa... the owner of Victory Academy and his taekwondo instructor. He was just recently awarded his 7th degree black belt. We feel very honored that Andrew is a part of his taekwondo program at Victory Academy.