The first daylily pictured is H. Fulva, the species daylily that is found growing in ditches in the north. The second is one of my favorites, Julia's Choice.
 
I love this late blooming spider daylily named Red Ribbons. Autumn Daffodil is the name of the yellow that is just now beginning to bloom.
 
These double perennial sunflowers really do well in hot weather. Annie's Rose is last. That is not it's real name, but we call it that because it is growing next to Annie's grave. It is the sweetest smelling rose ever. Annie, you may remember, is the little poodle we had before Rosie Joy.

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Find of the Day: A Very Neat Website
Trivial Information: How to Tie Your Shoe Laces

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This is an image from yesterday's trip to the Cowboy Hall of Fame. I enhanced it, of course, using the tools and plugins in Photoshop.
The original photograph is below.

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Find of the Day: Jeff Nadler Photography

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Gill, Chris and I went to the Cowboy Hall of Fame today. We ate lunch there first. They serve the most wonderful bread pudding.

After lunch we toured some of the galleries with a friend who is a docent there. They have a fantastic collection of western paintings and sculptures, as well as temporary shows. Photographs are not allowed in the galleries, but we took a few outside on the beautiful grounds before we left. The last picture is from a local cemetery we visited on our way home. It has the most unusual brick and stone work and we've wanted to stop there for quite a while.

It was quite hot today, but thankfully, most of what we did was inside. We had a nice time.

The Daylilies are waning, but there is still plenty of color in the garden.

The daylily above is named Red Ribbon. The Rose is Sally Holmes.

I've cut back some of the Gaura so they will come out again, but this one is still blooming so I'll wait a while on it. The Knockout Roses are still blooming.

Heirloom Heaven is the red daylily and Butterfly Bush is the purple shrub above.

White double Rose of Sharon  and Morning Glory vine

Crepe Myrtle and Gloriosa Daisies

Hardy Hibiscus and a few Purple Coneflowers

The Tall Garden Phlox blooms last a long time.
 
 
The gold daylily is named Spellbound. Yellow Cosmos are next.

A lavender Crepe Myrtle in the front yard

Rudbeckia, commonly known as Black-Eyed Susans.

A Bougainvillea on the patio table

Fan flower, a heat loving annual in a patio pot.

I've had lots of Purple Coneflowers this year.

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Find of the Day: 10 words to avoid when writing.

Now that the daylilies are slowing down, and there is not so much deadheading to do, I've been tidying up the garden in the mornings. It starts to get pretty hot by 10, though, so it will take me a while to get it all done. I worked in this front bed today.

The purple cone flowers have been really nice this year. They are adding a lot of color as the daylilies wane.

Normally, I'm not one for yard art, but I have these plastic dragonflies around the garden to mark where my soaker hoses are. The end of the hoses get covered with plants and very hard to find sometimes, so I had to find a way to not lose them.

As sad as it is when the daylily peak season is past and there are fewer every day, there is one nice thing: bringing in lilies that are the last bloom on the stem. I try not to ever bring in buds when I bring cut flowers in the house, but if it is the last bloom on a stem, no future flowers will be ruined.

One more day of Steroids and antihistamines and I'm finished with the course of meds the doctor put me on last week. Now I'll see if the allergy comes back. I hope it doesn't. It would be nice to know what I am allergic to -- so I can try to avoid it or deal with it, but I'd prefer to have it a one time mystery allergy.

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Find of the Day: Something Fun to Play with

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I continue to recover from my allergy reaction, but then, I'm on some powerful drugs. My hope is that when I finish the course of meds this weekend that the rash and swelling will not come back. I am very hopeful. Below are random blooms from the last couple days.

Ida's Magic is the first bloom, and Hush Little Baby is the second -- both daylilies, of course.

Gold Embroidery is the gold one and the wonderful daylily next is named Malaysian Monarch.
 
Kansas Kitten is the purple/red one and the next is named Isle of Dreams.

Both of the daylilies above were sold to me at Spacecoast Starburst, and neither look like the description of the registered Spacecoast Starburst. I love them both, though, and I'm not unhappy that I have them.

Always Afternoon is the pink with the red eye zone, and the last one is a great double named Condilla

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Find of the Day: Hide and Seek Creatures

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One problem we have with Stargazers and other Oriental Lilies here in
central Oklahoma is that their bloom season comes just as brutal heat
arrives, so the blooms often suffer and get burned spots on them.
Last year I planted these Stargazer lilies in two pots. My plan was to let them have a sunny spot as they started to grow in Spring and matured in early summer, and when  the real hot weather comes to move them to a place away from the harsh sun. It worked out well last year, and this year they returned and are just as beautiful.

I am so much better than I was Monday when I went to the doctor and got on the right medications to treat the severe allergic reaction that I have been suffering with the last week. I'm on a course of meds that will last a full week, but even after only three days I am almost back to normal -- at least the way I feel. The rash is drying up and still looks rather red, but the itching that had been unbearable is just a little itchy now, and sometimes not at all.

I even worked in the garden this morning for four hours. The doctor told me the sunlight was exacerbating the rash, which I had pretty much figured out since it stopped at the neckline of the tank top I usually wear in hot weather to garden. So now I am wearing sunscreen, a loose white blouse, and a hat when I'm working in garden.

We had a little bit of rain today, but not nearly as much as the northern part of the state. We have a chance for more tonight and tomorrow, so I hope we get at least an inch before the front moves on. The garden needs it, and although I can water, there is nothing like real rain. But even without a significant rain, the clouds made my time in the garden a lot more comfortable this morning.

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Find of the Day: Mother duck's 'bird brain' saves
ducklings
Some Sillyness: Deep Thoughts (by Jack Handey)
For Cooks: Table of Condiments That Periodically Go Bad

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 I went to my doctor this morning. She gave me a steroid shot, and prescribed another steroid Prednisone to be taken orally.  She also prescribed Hydroxyx HCL for itching and told me to take two over the counters, Zyrtec and Pepcid. Odd, since my stomach is fine, but she assured me that Pepcid has something that can help with the allergic reaction.
Of course, she didn't have a clue as to what I am allergic to, but said that stress can play a big part in allergic reactions. It has been a very stressful month or so. If I am not better in a week she wants to see me again. She said, predictably, that I'd have to see an allergist if I wanted to test to see what I might be allergic to. I may have to do that, but right now the priority is knocking down these terrible symptoms.
 
Anyway, I'm hopeful and grateful that there is help available. I'm sleepy now from the antihistamine, so I'm off to take a nap.

I'm not a happy camper. My rash is much worse and has spread from my face to my entire neck. My face and neck are red and swollen and I look horrible. Not only do I look horrible, but the itching is intolerable. Waiting for the long holiday weekend to see the doctor is difficult at best. But worst of all if not knowing what I'm allergic to and what it might mean when and if I do find out. I cannot live indefinitely feeling this miserable. I'm not doing, eating or using anything that I haven't been for a long time. I know one can develop allergies to things that have been no problem before, so it could be anything. I don't have a lot of hope that the doctor will be able to find out what I'm allergic too, even... and I'm worried about that to.

End of whining. I will try to regain my usual cheerful attitude before I post again.

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Find of the Day: To Help My Attitude

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Mother loved holidays. When we were kids there were big family picnics for every holiday, or family outings on the river or to one of the parks in the area. On the fourth of July we often ended the day by watching fireworks over the Mississippi or at the Old Soldiers Home. That's the first thing I thought of when her tropical hibiscus put on a big show. It has done well since I brought it home to my patio after her death. She would have been so excited -- six blooms in one day. Below the hibiscus picture are random shots from the garden today.

Yellow Cosmos are in the shot below, an annual that I depend on to provide color between blooming time for my perennials. It will reseed itself twice during a growing season here, making three generations from June until frost. The tall purple flower next is Verbena Bonariensis, a wonderful perennial that I love. It doesn't have a lot of foliage to shade out the other flowers, and blooms for a very long time. I think it is a perfect flower to have in the daylily bed.

The Rudbeckia that is growing along the outside of the back fence is beginning to bloom now. You may know it by the more common name, Black-eyed Susan. A daylily named North Port is in the next picture. This is the first year it has bloomed in my garden as it was new last year.

Pearl Harbor is the name of this wonderful daylily below. It is also new in my garden this year.

Below is one of my favorite lilies just beginning to bloom, Scheherazade. It is an Orienpet, a cross between Trumpet Lily and Oriental. A daylily named Pardon Me is next. It is a small daylily that has a very long bloom season.

 
The hardy hibiscus below has a wonder bronze foliage with deeply cut leaves. The variety name is Fire Ball with bigger blooms than the hardy hibiscus that we've seen in gardens all our lives.

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Find of the Day: Happy Fourth
For Photoshop Nuts: Photoshop Tutorials

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