Surprise of Color

Of all the things I have seen today, besides the cute baby anole I saw in the garden, this has to be one of the more cheery things.

It's a sight you can only see well in the middle of the day with all of the colors and shadows through this green space.  Unlike many other displays of vibrant color and light, this one just says be happy.

On another look it also keeps this space from getting as hot.  We were at a restaurant opening earlier today and, if it hadn't been for our umbrella, we may well have burnt to a crisp.  The heat out there is no joke and we really don't get out often enough to have any sort of resistance to the UV out there.

I mentioned that parasols just aren't a thing here in the states.  If you go out to other areas they will use them sometimes, or at least have other covering that keeps the sun off.

If you ever wondered why construction workers wore long sleeves in the over 100 degree weather, it's to keep the sun off.  They know that although it doesn't let the wind blow by as well, keeping the sun off of the skin is worth more than letting a little air cool you down.  Water will do so much better anyway.

Oxalis and Clover

My wife had been trying to find oxalis for some time. Finally one of our good gardening friends mentioned that she had quite a lot of it growing in her back yard between the cracks of her patio. So we went to get some and planted it in our back yard among the clover we already had growing there.

It's really amazing how many places it has spread to in such a short time. We have since found it growing some twenty feet away near the back fence and in a hanging pot. If I ever figure that one out I'll let you know.


It's a wonderful contrast to the clover though as the color pops among the green.

Ginger

Last night it rained, heavily, and the roof of the greenhouse decided to let some of the rain in. It's really not much of a greenhouse since there are very few plants in it but the rain was good for the rest of the garden. In fact it's probably the first good watering my ginger has gotten since it was planted. Sure I watered it a little now and then but it never got a really good soaking.
It's part of the master plan for the back of the house as a kind of wall for the rest of the shade plants. It's on the side where there's nothing to block the sun except for the fig tree which isn't really big enough yet to fully do the job right.
All I started with was a bit of root left over from cooking. I planted it in a pot inside and it grew for a while during the winter. When spring came I took it outside and the leaves all fell off. A few weeks ago however it shot up again and seems to be doing well.