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'Alabama' coleus

Yes, I'm still a garden blogger. Regular readers have probably given up on me ever blogging again though. August is typically my slowest month of blogging, but this year it's the slowest ever. Every once in a while you need a break, you know?

Allow me one little non-gardening digression - I first discovered blogging after getting laid off. I had a wonderful two years of blogging about my garden, meeting new friends, some virtually, some in person, and learning an incredible amount about gardening all over the world. (Being unemployed for two years was not so nice in other ways though!) Three months ago I got a job in a completely new field for me but luckily, it's in the town I live in and in a field I love - gardening. Sort of. I edit articles about gardening. So I sit all day in fairly intense concentration in front of a computer. Which means that when I get home, the thought of getting on my computer to read blogs, much less write one, is a little much. Those of you who knew me during my other career, software, will wonder why I didn't have this problem before. Well, I really didn't spend that much time on the computer after work! And with all of the management meetings I used to have, it wasn't as intense in front of a screen. All this to say that although I miss reading everyone's blogs and wish I could read them as often as I used to, I probably won't be able to. But please hang in there with me. Maybe I'll figure out how to make this work.

'Alabama' coleus on left, Cordyline australis ‘Red Star’ on right

Now back to the garden. There's not really that much happening in the garden so I thought I'd talk about one of my more underappreciated plants, the 'Alabama' coleus. I planted it in a potted arrangement when it was in a little 4 inch pot. Later I moved the plants that were in the arrangement around and left the coleus by itself. Other than madly pinching it when I first got it, I haven't done anything else. It's developed this nice mounded shape and absolutely no pests have bothered it. Not even the lubber grasshoppers! So, there's a nice satisfactory plant for August.

Ruby throated hummingbird

There are a lot more hummingbirds around the backyard these days. I think the migration is starting. It's hard to capture more than one hummer at a time at the feeder because they're so busy chasing each other around. I find it funny that they also chase the butterflies away from their nectar plants. Speaking of butterflies, I saw my first Gulf frittilary of the season yesterday!

Spooky balloon

A couple of weeks ago this ballon got caught on a vent pipe of my neighbor's house. It's been looming over my backyard ever since, kind of spooking me when I forget it's there. Does anyone else find this unsettling? I think you would if you saw it in person.

Wavy leaf cacus and agave (neomexicana maybe??)

My wavy leaf cactus pad has definitely rooted and even sprouted another pad. So I'm thinking of ripping most plants out of my stock tank, planting this cactus, and leaving the now thriving bamboo muhly with it. We'll see.

'Autumn Joy' sedum

I'm now seeing the "pinking up" of my AJ sedum. And pollinators are now getting attracted to it. Surely this means that fall is around the corner?? :-) Yep, I can't wait for it! Well, a couple of more computer tasks await me, including ordering some bulbs, so I think I'll call it a blogging night. I hope to get to your blog soon!

This post was written by Jean McWeeney for my blog Dig, Grow, Compost, Blog. Copyright 2010. Please contact me for permission to copy, reproduce, scrape, etc.