Green Thumb Sunday

It's Green Thumb Sunday, hosted by Tricia at As the Garden Grows. If you'd like to participate, just click on the link to find out how.

I made a comment on someone's post the other day about the Balloon Flower I bought. I had never seen these before and thought they were lovely. When I bought it, it had three purple flowers. It seems they don't last very long, but there are more blooms coming.

The reason they are called Balloon Flowers is because the buds puff up before the flowers blossom. Here it is basking in the sunlight.
Later, I moved it to my porch to sit beside my little bluebird. Once the weather warms up, I will plant it. It is a perennial and will propagate itself.

The hanging basket above is a scarveola. Pronounced scar-v-oh-la. The first time I ever saw these was about eight years ago when I received one for Mother's Day from the boys. At that time the lady at the garden center told me they were a new type of plant.

Last year they were very scarce and that was the first time I hadn't had one hanging on my porch since that first one. Michelle tried to find one this year, but no luck. So, when I saw this at a little out-of-the-way store, I snapped it up. They only had two and I wanted to be certain I'd have one this year. I wish they were perennials, but alas, they are annuals. It is one flower that I want to have every year.

In other news, Brandon came for a sleepover Friday night. It is his birthday on Tuesday and the boys are always invited for a birthday sleepover. Brandon got to choose where we ate and he chose McDonald's. He hasn't eaten there in months because we don't encourage it but birthdays are special. I was surprised as Brandon is not a McDonald's fan. I think he wanted to try their cherry milkshake.

Once we had eaten we came home and dropped Grandpa off and then took Jordan the DVDs he had forgotten to take with him to his other Grandma's. Then we headed to Zeller's, which is a department store and we looked around a bit there. We didn't buy anything but had fun looking at things. After that, we came home, had a game of crib and by that time Brandon was ready for bed. He's an early to bed, early to rise kind of kid.

This morning we had breakfast and all he really wanted to do was lounge around in his pajamas and watch TV. I did a few chores and then at noon Jordan was dropped off by his parents and we got ready and headed to Apps Mills Nature Center. On the way, we stopped for gas and I couldn't believe that $30.00 only gave me a little over a half tank. The gas price was $1.27 per liter. Multiply that by 4.5 and you get $5.72 per gallon. I almost died when I got back into the car and saw I only had a half tank. I used to fill my car up for $30 not that long ago.

It was a beautiful day here today. The sun was shining and there was a light breeze. It was a glorious day to be out and about in the woods. One day this week I will tell you all about our trip.

Take care and if you are in the US, enjoy your Memorial Day weekend. ~Blessings, Mary