A Flock of Flamingos......

Hello from
Ten Gables,

Man, is it hot and humid today! It is 92 degrees with humidity at 46% and just out for a walk melts you right down! The forecast for the next 10 days is very hot, and my poor garden is not liking this one bit! The squash leaves have wilted today and look so pitiful. The squash is blooming great, but I don't know if this weather will ruin it or not. I hope it survives!

In Florida, our main garden is in winter and for a summer garden, you must plant very early, by Feb. 19th or it just gets too hot. I did plant early, but now we are having unseasonably hot weather.

Check out this flock of pink flamingos. Aren't they just gorgeous.? I think they like it around the old oak trees! Well, I like them there---they are plastic! From a distance one does a double take at first glance. From the highway in front of the property, they look like the real thing. I bought them at the Dollar Tree today. Just could not resist getting a small flock and actually may need a few more for a real splash of color. What do you think? I know an odd number of anything is better than an even, so I got 5 of them, but now I am thinking maybe 9 would be good. Can you have too many of a good thing?

On to some photos of the flowers that are prettiest today. One good thing about the heat is we do have some lovely tropical flowers. Here is the huge bloom of a yellow hibiscus. I love the deep red center.

Well, I did find a nice little pepper today on one of the pepper plants. Don't remember the variety, but it is a sweet pepper, I am sure. It is a pale green, whereas I also have the regular green ones coming on and have picked one so far.

Here is the yellow rose blooming profusely. The leaves don't do so well in hot weather (black spot), but the blooms are good.

The orange double hibiscus is absolutely full of blooms. This seems to be their best ever.














At the very top of this post is the Florida bleeding heart,one of my very favorite plants. It is different from the regular bleeding heart in more Northern climates, and is a beauty in its own right. I do miss the beautiful pink bleeding hearts we had in Kentucky. Every area has its own beauty, though, and we can appreciate all.

Now here is a question for you. How do you get rid of stray cats? We have a stray mother cat who has had kittens here. We trapped the kittens and took them to the animal shelter, where they will get them in homes, but the mother cat is trap savvy and we cannot catch her or get near her, yet she roams around the property and sleeps under our renter's cars. I put out moth balls today under the cars and around the property (they also deter snakes).I even bought a water gun and tried to douse her and she ran away into the bushes. Any suggestions? She has brought in 2 Tom Cats,too, so we will have more kittens again, I am afraid. As far as we know, no one here is feeding her. Help!