The Birds and the Bees... and the BLOOMS

Today my sweet hubby and I had a lunch date.  My usual office lunch-mates were both off, so he and I made a date.  It was sweet!  We just ran to a nearby pizza and sandwich shop for a quick bite and then he took me on a tour through a historic neighborhood to view the gardens and architecture.  There was quite an assortment of gardens; some were fabulous, some suffering, some thriving, some sweet and innocent, some chocked full of plants, some more sparsely planted, and a couple that were just plain scary; the kind of setting that wouldn't exactly beckon visitors!  One yard and its gardener's idea of beauty was, even in broad daylight, "intimidating".  It would take more than a dare from my older (and decidedly more evil) sister to force me into that yard after dark!  As a matter of fact, I can admit without a doubt that it wouldn't happen, not today - and certainly not in my youth!

But there was one corner garden that was so expansive and colorful that we had to get out of the car and enjoy up close.  The garden ran along the west side of the house and reached a half a city block in length.  it was filled with brilliant green sweet potato vines, squash vines, hyacinth bean vines, clematis vines, 10 ft. tall sunflowers, poppies, zinnias, day lilies, deep crimson hibiscus (with blooms the size of a dinner plate), a butterfly bush that was pruned into a tree... and many more blooms/plants that I either can't recall at the moment, or with which I am not familiar. 

The only thing this garden was missing was shade.  It sat next to a vacant lot without one single tree to offer a bit of relief from the scorching sun.  It was amazing that it was still so lush and full with the temperatures of late; however, their rainwater collection container system was well thought out and quite impressive.  The bees, butterflies, sparrows and squirrels seemed quite content to call this corner home!

Speaking of bees... Monday morning on our 6 a.m. commute to the office we passed a flatbed truck loaded with beehives!  They were covered with netting, but there were several bees that could be seen between the netting and the boxes.  Now that would be a bad truck to crash into, wouldn't it?  Hazardous materials are one thing... but millions of buzzing, angry, confused bees is another!