And the Winners of my Undying Respect and Admiration are . . .

Congrats to Garden Lily and Susan for correctly identifying the mystery plant as an Amaryllis! I'd tell you the variety, but since it looks nothing like what was on the package, there is no telling.
Whatever. I'm just happy to have something blooming in the garden!

Mystery Plant

Alright - Here is a little fun for you guys today. What is the name of the plant above? The winner gets my undying respect and admiration.

What has Lived

That seems to be the big question in my garden right now: What has lived? It was a weedy mess before, but after a week of hard freezes, and SNOW, everything pretty much loooks like this:

It is all enough to make you want to give up and start blogging about home decorating. In addition to being a mother with a full time job, computer issues, squrriels (bastards!), I'm going to throw the newest member of our family under the bus.

Kitty, (AKA Free-loader) was a neighborhood cat that hung out our house for a while. About six months ago we noticed that she was getting very skinny and we started feeding her. That was pretty much the end of it - we were adopted. She is incredibly sweet and tame and charmed her way into our decidedly "not-pet-people" family. While she is an angel in the house, she is all cat in the garden. She's made several exits holes in our fence and regularly poos in the sand box. Good thing she's cute.

I'm trying to focus on the positive and figure out what has lived. The amarylis from last year is coming back, along with many of the very sturdy crinum lilies.

I didn't get my winter annuals in the ground on time (October is ideal) but I did plant a few straggelers, and they are steadily pumping out some flowers. Good thing: I ALWAYS need this color in my life.

Seeds and Weeds

I figured that I start off with a pretty flower, because the rest of this post ain't so pretty. This weekend, the story of my garden was seeds and weeds. Note self: While it might seem blatantly obvious what you planted in that pot, you will invariably forget. Below could be either salvia or cloeme. Will have to wait a few more weeks before I'll know for sure.

These I did manage to label - they're 4 o'clocks.

Note to self: Take care of small problems before they become big ones. The pool garden has gotten out of control. The worst are big nasty dandelions that have sharp serrated leaves that poke like thorns.

Fortunately I have some help, but she doesn't look too excited. She said that bucket smelled funny.

Notes to my Husband, Regarding Staying Married.

Dear Darling Husband,

I love you very much. You are a wonderful father, and usually a pretty great husband. But there are some serious garden related issues that we need to discuss. First of all, contrary to how it may seem, digging in the dirt, pulling weeds, and raking leaves are not my favorite things in the world to do. If someone came up to me and said let me do that, I'd happily pass the rake and go get a pedicure. They are chores, like folding clothes and washing dishes. I do laundry because I want clean clothes, wash dishes because I want a clean kitchen and garden because I want a pretty garden. So when you see me out there, don't act like I'm goofing off. Just because I'd rather be outside on a nearly perfect, just-like-summer-but-without-the-bugs day than stuck inside, doesn't mean I'm a slacker. At least I'm doing something productive, instead of playing video games or running RC cars, like someone else I know.

Now for the really pressing issue. DON'T SPIT IN MY GARDENS! Don't act like you don't do it, I've caught you! It is gross! So when I'm weeding this afternoon and pull some weeds and STICK MY HAND IN A BIG LOOGIE, I think I'm understandably upset. Even more so when I start to gag so hard I throw-up right in the front yard. Oh, and tip for the future: When I come inside to tell you what happened and can't because I'm still gagging and throwing up, try not to laugh your ass off, okay? Seriously, if it happens again, we are seeking counseling.

Love, your wife.

(Here's a pick of the amaryllis, looking very little like the Garden Pinks I planted. )