More Blooms

The Hibiscus is in bloom! It's stunning :) Turns out it did come into bloom while I was out of town. Above is a close up of one of two blooms that opened up this morning. The blooms are the size of dinner plates. The color is a deep red. Very beautiful. However, they are very delicate and seem to only last a day. So I been photographing them every day. Today I had the best success.

As for the deer .... They love these plants. I've been spraying them every other day with Deer Off. This seems to be working, however I didn't spray the entire plant and those darn deer reached to the back at munched on one of the stalks :( I think they were here yesterday while I was at work. I think I'll put out the Deer Scram but I'd like to wait until it stops raining. But alas there is no end in sight. The lake is way above full and the rain is still coming.

Deer Damage

The deer have been enjoying my garden too. Unfortunately not in a good way. Check out the damage they have done to my hollyhocks. This is the same hollyhock I posted a few days ago. It's right up next to the front door. I have to say these deer have a lot of guts! But look out you pesky deer, I've ordered Deer Scram. I hope it works. But as a back up plan I'll be building the robo-crow. Once released, these guys should put a stop to your menacing ways :)

Even More Flowers

Here are some more pictures from the garden:

Red Cosmos

Pink Cosmos

Barrel Cactus

Welding at the Big Build

The welding has resumed. Below is a picture of Dave and Tim working on the real platform. Turns out it will be at 5M and a foot or two. Tim is standing on the make-shift platform I've been diving from thus far. It's at 4M or so. It's been great for line-ups, but really want to be able to practice my full list. Hopefully soon!

More Garden Pictures

Here are some more pictures from my garden ....

Rose buds - This is a snap shot of a few of the hundreds of my Simplicity lavender hedge roses from Jackson & Perkins. I have five and they are on their second bloom. They stand almost 6 feet and are covered in blooms. I think next winter I'll be a bit more aggressive on the pruning so that they do not grow so tall.

Pink bougainvillea - I have several, however they are not performing very well. This is a close-up of one small cluster so they don't look too bad. I hope they start to bloom a bit more.

How Does My Garden Grow?

With all the rain we have received this spring, it is growing very well, thank you. Here are some photos -

Hollyhocks

Coreopsis

Cosmos

Iceplant

Coming soon my newly planted rose hedge, Hibiscus, and hopefully my Pride of Barbados. Keep an eye out for postings of these beauties.

New Patio

Things are always changing at the Big Build. The past few weeks we have been working on a new patio. Well I should say Dave has been working on a new patio. The patio is in the front of the house. He first poured the concrete base in April. Now he is covering it with stone. It is due to be completed in a couple of days.

Here's a picture of it basically completed -

Stormy Spring

The rains finally came to North Lake Travis. We are all very happy. The lake is now above full which is a good thing because we are heating up. There have been several severe thunderstorms over the past few months. Check out the lighting picture.