Poppies and other blooms in the Garden of the Wittys

Now, y'all know I'm a terrible gardener...my plants grow because I let them not because I plan them. Our soil is sandy and a lot of things die because of the sun or drown because of the floods. Few things have lasted these past few years.

I was befuddled one day when I encountered some poppies. I thought these things were carrots! I couldn't believe it when someone told me they were poppies. I guess the seed bombs from the previous year had germinated and finally sprouted in the Spring. It was a lovely patch of orange spots each day. And they lasted several weeks. Absolutely wonderful flower. 

Their vibrancy faded as the summer days kept coming. A smaller bunch would blossom but wouldn't last as long. Their bright orange sunset hue faded into a bright yellow. 

My sweet lavender, my poor lavender, tries to bloom so hard but poor thing manages to put out 3 or 4 little blooms. It has survived the hot and cold without much fuss, I'm interested to see if it grows back this year after the hard rains and frost we've had. 

I bought these at Easter and so far, I've not managed to kill them. The pencil cactus right now is freaking crazy, the purslane is hanging in there, the cactus and the lantana are thriving. Really fast, actually, and it's very annoying. 

At the beginning of summer: 

At the end of summer: 

Half of these plants didn't manage to survive the floods we had in September. I might have to go back to that nursery and get some more for this summer (and I will not adopt a cat, promise). 

My Rubber Tree was soooo long and tall that I researched a bit on how to trim it back. I attempted one of the larger stalks and waited weeks and weeks to see what would happen. 

When I saw it had growth, I decided to cut the second stalk. Only this time, winter was approaching and he spent weeks inside my home. He didn't like that and lost quite a few leaves. Maybe it'll 'perk' up this Summer again. 

So both long stalks, are now new trees with significant growth. Not sure if I'm brave enough to report this beast.

The varying lilies in our front yard were sweet surprises. You know I don't remember what I plant and one day, a bloom will catch me off guard.

Elena decided she was going to grow Morning Glories. We put some cedar stakes so they could climb up. By the end of the summer, we had a gigantic tangled mess with blooms that ranged from white to deep 'purple', according to her. She loved counting the blooms. 

Our lovely bird feeder decided that it would drop all of its seeds onto the ground, and by mid-summer, we were blessed with some beautiful sunflowers. Thanks birds!! 

It's so funny to look at the pictures of all the plants growing so well, because by winter they were all long, dry, and sparse. Half of them died on me! 

We also spotted awesome wildlife in our own backyard including this hawk and some wood peckers. Lovely cardinals, hummingbirds, blue jays, and raccoons. 

You wanna see my Elephant Ears? 

My Night Blooming Orchid Cactus has not stopped growing since I purchased it at Walmart 3 or 4 years ago. This thing is nuts! And talking about always being surprised by random blooms in my yard, I am most often disappointed I miss these gallant blooms because they happen while I sleep. 

They only last about 5 - 6 hours...I did manage to catch only one of the blooms this year. This plant is insane! 

Anyway, there's the Garden of the Wittys tour from 2019. I'm excited about this upcoming year. So far, I have planted some flowers (gave up on vegetables since my family apparently doesn't eat them) and am hopeful of the beauty they'll bring every day into our lives! 

I actually splurged and bought a black Calla Lily....OOOOH I CAN'T WAIT!