Cottage Flora Thursday and FF

These memes that I participate in are making it challenging to find something different blooming every week. It's also making me look at my gardens with a more critical eye. Linking up to http://fishtailcottage.blogspot.com/ and http://tootsietime.blogspot.com/

The next three photos are part of my full sun flower garden. The little porch to the right goes into the side of the house. Directly behind where I stood to take this photo and to the right is the front porch. The driveway in the background goes to the apartment attached to our home.

I took a few steps forward along our front driveway just past the wheelbarrow planter in the above photo.

I continued up the driveway a few more steps, turned to the right and zoomed in a little. See the lattice in the back to the left? Across the apartment drive is the new woody meadow area we are slowly working on. It started out as my 'scrap garden'. You know, where you toss all the left over seeds and plants that were growing where they weren't supposed to.

Of course these photos are not uploaded in the order I wanted them to be. Not blogger's fault, mine. In the garden strip by the roadside I have planted this newly acquired Ruellia tweediana--Desert Petunia or Mexican Petunia. I do have the popular purple ones, when I saw this pink one in the ICU at Lowe's for a $1.50 I had to save it. Yes, they spread around a bit, I find it easy to pull up and pass a long. They require little, if any care once established.

At the other end of our half circle drive is my mostly shade garden where I have this Rudbeckia beginning to bloom, thanks Ms. Doris. She is nearly 5 ft. tall. Do you know her first name?

Okay, back to the full sun garden. It is quite chaotic, if you look closely you can find some real treasures in there. Malvaviscus penduliflorus--Turk's Cap, Cardinal's Hat or Sleeping Hibicus as it never fully opens. It can grow up to 10 ft tall, tolerates just about any soil, hardy in zones 9-11

In my zone 8 it dies back in the winter but recovers quickly, drought resistant. Can be grown in more shade although it will become leggy and more vine like.

I had one Cleome return this year and have watched it like a hawk, waiting on those seeds!

The next two photos are of some little starts that I was blessed to receive from http://flowerladymusings.blogspot.com/ I wanted to show her their progress.

Keep your comments to yourself about the beautiful containers they are housed in right now, :)

I need a refresher on their names, Mom of Millions? Moses in a Basket? A Bromeliad? The leafier plant to the right is a Chinese Lantern I started from seed. It's struggling.

I am not normally this chatty in my posts. Hope I didn't lose your attention.

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Today I am Thankful for the 60% chance of rain we have today and tomorrow.