A Courtyard Makeover

It's that time of the year when the flowers we southerners planted in late spring and early summer have started to fade, wilt, and look bedraggled because of the extremely high temperatures and drought conditions we've been experiencing in the South.

Even though we had a nice rain here in Vicksburg a couple of days ago, it was "too little, too late" to revive my flowers in our courtyard. I felt sorry for them yesterday, and relieved them of their pain and suffering by pulling them up.

Of course, that left an empty flower bed and an urn that looked rather sad and forlorn, which prompted a quick trip to Home Depot.

I was delighted to see that they had just gotten in a shipment of beautiful Zinnias in bold yellows, pinks, and oranges, which would be perfect to add some color around the waterfall in our courtyard.

After I loaded a cart with a few of the Zinnias, I noticed a man pushing a rack of flowers that had just been taken off a nursery truck. There were several kinds of flowers on the rack, but the ones that attracted my attention were some pretty little blue flowers, and I couldn't resist getting a closer look.

I wasn't familiar with their name, Scaevola Bombay, but when I saw the tag describing them, I knew they were just what I was looking for.

I bought four plants for my urn and hope they will live up to their promise to survive under our Mississippi "extreme heat, humidity, and drought" garden conditions.

I planted the Zinnias around the waterfall, and love the bright colors.

I hope they look like this for the rest of the summer.

These Sunpatiens I planted in early summer get morning sun and have done beautifully.

It looks like my "Grow Dammit" sign worked with them. They have almost covered the bird bath!

This stone bridge leads to a stone path that connects the courtyard to the backyard. You can click on the picture if you'd like to get a closer look.

I will let you know how the Scaevola plants do. I know they are going to be challenged to survive our 100+ temperatures for the rest of this long, hot summer.

Best wishes to you for a happy weekend. We will be traveling to Shreveport, Louisiana, for a weekend getaway. It will be our last chance for a while because we will soon be welcoming our little grandson into the world. Thanks to many answered prayers, he and his mama are doing great!

And speaking of mamas — today is my mama's 85th birthday!

Happy birthday, Mama ... we love you,
and look forward to seeing you later today.