Monday, August 16, 2010

Invitation to a Garden Called Paradise

Damn.....I seem to have overestimated my endurance and have used up all my energy and passion ranting and raving in comments on other folks' blogs.......said ranting and raving being all of the positive sort, by the way....mostly raving about their prodigious talents and the incredible beauty of their ideas and the way they have expressed them......you don't think I would utter an unkindly word to my fellow bloggers, now do you??

But, I certainly don't want you to think that I have abandoned or forgotten you (I speak to those of you to whom I have NOT ranted and raved) so I am going to treat you to another glimpse or two into my secret paradise....my blessed gardens and the incredible plants that make them a bloomin' heaven on earth.  (oh, hell, how could I resist that one?)

My bougainvilla and jasmine continue to delight me.......I can only believe that they recognize my neediness or, more probably, simply thrive on neglect.

Whatever, I am grateful and am taking advantage of their generosity.

What a delight to look out of one of my many windows and see such heavenly sights.



This batch is in my front mini-courtyard by the front gate and is what I see as I sit in crochet corner and do my afghan thing or just read and/or contemplate nature. 






Just to shift from flora to fauna for a moment, here is that good-for-nothin' ingrate of a cat, Baskin, lounging in the sun by the pool.  Six years, if it is day, and I still cannot approach within 3 feet of him without him relocating to the next county.  I have given up the idea of ever civilizing him and am resigned to simply letting him use me  mercilessly without ever being rewarded with the opportunity to scratch his chin.  Wretch!

Here is more glorious  bougainvilla overhanging the azure waters of the pool.  I seem to have more damned vines than might be considered healthy for an unarmed female.....especially now that I am not as nimble on my feet as I used to be.  Between the several bougainvilla, the wisteria, the red trumpet vines, the star jasmine, the pink jasmine, the honeysuckle, the bower vine, the multiple morning glories and the Scarlet Something-or-other whose name happens to elude me at the moment, I fear I may be the first person to appear in the headlines as "Elderly Victim  Appears to Have Been Strangled in Garden by Unknown Assailant. (Clever attempt to pin blame on garden foliage hints at very ingenious Killer).

Even MORE bougainvilla with just a hint of  Baskin on his rounds of doing pool patrol and looking for the pot that contains the catnip.


And one more of the indigenous fauna....it is easy to deduce who really gets to enjoy this garden of Eden the most.







And to finish off with a flourish....yet another spray of bougainvilla hanging over the pool.  My only comment at this point is, "Yum".

20 comments:

  1. To me, the combination of bougainvillea and water is quite frankly, heaven.
    Thanks for sharing your bit of heaven with us. Lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're right, Lo. These plants thrive on neglect. Hope you were able to use the radio link I provided on an earlier post. The music would be great with this setting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Gorgeous pictures! Make me want to come over for a swim in your pool surrounded by such beauty! ox

    ReplyDelete
  4. I covet your back yard. Mine stubbornly refuses to grow anything but grass and weeds on a regular basis.

    Lovely pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful!! I'll be right down for a visit!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. wow. I love your bougainvilla....miss them so much from when I used to live in California...can't grow them here in Canada :(
    Keep writing! Love your blog! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Does look heavenly, Lo! Just perfectly wonderful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Zone 5b gardener here, looking at those bougainvilla in awe. We can, however, grow cats up here at the edge of the Canadian Shield and they drape in our gardens equally well.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful pictures, thank you for posting them! I think it's almost miraculous that I can sit here at my desk and see glimpses of gorgeous flowers, blue pools and lazy kitty-cats. :) Your blog is lovely and I'm delighted to have found it.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gorgeous pictures Lo, I'm very jealous!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What gorgeous colors! Bougainvilla always seems so decadent!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey! We have the same garden. Where are your herbs?

    ReplyDelete
  13. Makes me want to leap high in the air and cannonball splash in the pool - maybe even splashing a certain cat....

    :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Oh you Cali gals and your heaven on earth blooms..I am very jealous..as they are stunning! Perhaps you need to smear some tuna on your feet and lay around in front of the pool to get Baskins attention:)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Bouganvilla is my absolute favourite and yes, they do thrive on neglect, which is probably why I love them. The deep pink is absolutely beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your pictures are so lovely. Do you enjoy the fragrance of the jasmine?

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm a sucker for Baskin,(like in Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream?). But I'm swooning over the flowers...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Another peek at your garden and I love it. Everything is smiling at you out there. Benign neglect is good for flower evolution, by the way. =)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I think I need some of those B flowers. Maybe not since I can't spell it. I do know our Marines didn't like the island whence they came during WWII.

    ReplyDelete