As John Oliver says…welcome, welcome, welcome. Wilson here ready to share slices of nature as I join our pals from the Adventures of the LLB Gang‘s blog hop. Make sure you check the link out to see what great posts and pics are shared. Now let’s get on to some of what we encountered this week but first I want to extend best birthday wishes to sweet Rosy who turns 8 this weekend and Chia who continues celebrating her birthday month. Happy Birthday, girls. I’ll be turning the ole Lucky 7 on Sunday so let the good times roll. Let’s paw-!
It’s been hot, but some of the summer flowers are loving it. Check out these two pics of a particularly vigorous trumpet vine we walk past all the time.
As you can see it was a bright sunny day (which made it hotter). Hallelujah, eh Mum? So have you recovered from blowing up those balloons yesterday?
The Mum: Oh lord, talk about a lung workout. They are meant to be blown up by hand using a special straw and not to be used with helium. Talk about being gassed! At any rate, I thought they would provide a nice celebratory vibe for your birthday weekend.
Wilson: 2025 is sure whizzing by us. For those of you who need something to look forward to, there are 66 days until autumn officially arrives. While I know it’s never good wishing your life away, we’ve been checking days off on the calendar. In addition to these trumpet vines blooming their little heads off, daylilies are front and center around NW Denver gardens. Just look at these beauties.
The Mum: Whoa…those are gorgeous. You can never go wrong having lilies in your garden.
Wilson: Right you are on that, Mum. They are real showstoppers in a summer garden if you’re not into pots of annuals for summer color. I’ve been noticed Hollyhocks are blooming nicely too. Check this bright pink one out!
The Mum: They are quite lovely, House Pony. Nice find.
Wilson: If you like those Hollyhocks, you’re gonna love the ever popular sunflowers that are having a go in summer gardens all over our neighborhood. They look especially stunning against a crystal blue sky. And I like that you managed to capture a happy bee flying from one flower to another.
The Mum: Thanks, buddy. Glad you liked it. Neighborhood birds are enjoy the sunflowers too as are your arch nemesis, the ever opportunistic furry critters you despise…squirrels.
Wilson: SQUIRRELS!! Where? Let. Me. AT. THEM! I’ll make sure they don’t take seeds away from birds!
The Mum: Easy Hoss, just relax. I’m sure there’s plenty to go around…
Wilson: {interrupting} There’s never enough when it comes to squirrels, they’ll eat anything they can get their grubby little paws on…you of all people should realize that.
The Mum: I’m so tired of fighting them, and I’m hopeful the electronic anti-squirrel device I recently ordered keep them at bay. I mean just look at the newest bloom on the everbearing strawberry plant. That little guy needs far more protection than a bunch of sunflowers that are quite abundant.
Wilson: So you’re saying to choose my battles wisely? That’s probably good advice across the board. I’ll try to keep that in mind, but if I find them in my garden, mark my words…they will not go unchallenged.
The Mum: {rolling her eyes} Whatever-you know how I feel about the whole think. So long as neither of us get hurt by you launching me into space on our walks like a kite. Deal?
Wilson: Hmmm, I think I’m good with that but may backslide on occasion. Just wanted to know when it comes to squirrels, it’s literally a moving target. Full disclosure and all that.
The Mum: Fine, I’ll take my chances and hope for the best. So what else do you have?
Wilson: Well I notice this gigantic stalk coming from an agave plant on yesterday’s walk and was blown away by how tall it was. I’ve never seen one that tall before! It reminded me of a palm tree.
The Mum: It really was something to behold. I’d never seen one that tall either and just had to take it’s pic and it obliged nicely. It looked especially regal with that blue sky.
Wilson: And lastly we have a few photos from our immediate garden. The first tomatoes ripened and they were mighty tasty. Your fig plant is doing nicely too and the two little figs seem to be doing well. The plant in general has put on a bunch of new leaves and it looks very healthy overall. It will be fun watching those babies ripen.
The Mum: Yes, I’m very jazzed about them and hope they continue to do well. Well that about wraps it up for us. We hope you’re able to experience some of nature’s many gifts firsthand. Have a great weekend-stay cool. We plan to do lots of celebrating for Wilson’s birthday.
Live, love, bark! 🐾
We had to cut down a huge trumpet creeper when we related our generator, as it was in the way…now its not only growing back, its sending out shoots way far away from the original site…to propagate itself, though I don’t want them all over my lawn, LOL!
Part of my yard has a climate that is more like a desert, maybe I should try some holly hock and agave. plants. I have a lot of huge volunteer sunflowers from the bird feeders. All is well till the squirrels discover them…they take them down…argghhhh…and then use the left over stalks to jump onto the otherwise inaccessible feeders. Sheesh:(
I love watching the blue jays, chickadees and canaries hanging on the them to eat as many seeds as they can. Usually the whole head is devoid of any seeds to save.
Happy Birthday Wilson!! Hope you had a great day!
Many thanks! It was a great birthday weekend even though we stayed with my son in Boulder to help him as he begins to recover from shoulder surgery. As I’ve had it myself, I think I was able to provide some tips and he’s doing really well. He even stopped taking the pain meds (so happy about that!). Wilson enjoyed some ususual wildlife (for him) – a mama deer and her twin fawns. He froze when he saw them and must have thought “my goodness, those are strange looking dogs.” LOL Have a good week.
Lulu: “Ooh, we’ve got a trumpet vine here! No one knows exactly where it came from but it has been slowly taking over the hedge for years. It is unstoppable. Someday the entire hedge will be trumpet vine.”
Java Bean: “Ayyy, are you sure it’s not kudzu?”
Lulu: “Oh no, if it were kudzu the hedge would’ve all been kudzu a long time ago. And so would the house.”
Trumpet vines are very invasive and once they get a foothold, are almost impossible to get rid of. They can be destructive but doggone it, they sure are pretty.
🎉Happy Birthday Wilson. Hope you have a wonderful day… and lots of treats🎉The picures are outstanding! so beautiful and what a huge flower, hope she still can stand on her feet when the wind blows🐱Extra Pawkisses on this special day for the both of you🐾😽💞
Thanks so much for the lovely birthday greetings. Glad you enjoyed the flower pics.
Your summer is so full of flowers! Our sun flowers are just growing, no bulbs yet. I have noticed also that the nature likes this heat wave.
Happy birthday to Wilson!
Thank you, Kristiina. With the intense high altitude sunshine and lots of heat, flowers have been working overtime to spread their blooms. We really need for the summer monsoons to help our mountain desert stay pretty. And thanks for the birthday wishes. Wilson is having a grand weekend seeing loads of bunnies and 3 deer this morning (a mama and two little babies that were beyond adorable). I’ve been staying at my son’s helping him after he had some shoulder surgery a few days ago in Boulder. It’s been like a vacation for us!
Lots to love about this post❤️ but the sunflower picture is perfection! That agave is spectacular. It’s always nice to see the bloom but I think the plant usually dies after the flowers are spent, at least they did in Albuquerque. Your figs look great. I hope the squirrels don’t find them! Last but not least Happy Birthday Wilson.
Awww, thanks for all the kind observations. I’ve never seen an agave in bloom so it was quite a shock. Sunflowers in bloom are always so happy and with a clear blue sky, truly perfection. Wilson is enjoying his birthday weekend in Boulder while I help Kevin out after his surgery. All is good all around. Wishing you a ‘wagnificent’ weekend. 💙
WOWZERS! That trumpet vine is spectacular and that agave looks like it’s about to launch into the atmosphere!!! Everything looks BIG there……I’m afraid it’s been so hot here everything is small….we think it’s afraid to get big and attract more hot! Tee Hee
Hugs, Teddy
Thanks Teddy. It kind of reminds me of Seymour from Little Shop of Horrors! You don’t want to walk too close to it! Hahaha. We hope you have a great weekend and the temps start to moderate so things can grow properly.
Happy happy birthday sweet Wilson, wishing you a fabulous day and a very happy and healthy new year in your life! 🥰🎉🧡🐾 xxx
Thanbk you so much, Xenia. We’re having a lovely birthday weekend and hope all is well on your end.
Happy Birthday Rosie and Chia!! Beautiful daylillies. XO
Thanks, Ellen. The daylilies have bdeen gorgeous this summer. Wishing you and the kitties a purr-fect weekend.
The blossoms are lovely, as are those tomatoes! Happy Birthday, Wilson. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.
Many thanks, Dan. I love homegrown tomatoes and are so thrilled these are early in ripening. Tasty too. 😉 Have a wonderful weekend!
Those flowers are sure pretty and hooray for fresh tomatoes!
Thanks. There’s nothing more tasty in the summertime than home grown ‘maters. Yum! Have a furbulous weekend.
Sounds the trumpets! Which truly are a divine feast for the eyes.
66 days but yeah . . who’s counting? 😉
Squirrels! Those dreaded squirrels! But you’re right, the boy’s got to chill, it’ll be just fine.
And that stalk . . . I wouldn’t go climbing it just in case that story about a giant happens to be legit . . .
Have a chill weekend guys
Thanks Marco. Yeah, that stalk blew me away. I’ve been looking for ‘Jack’ ever since we came across it. LOL Have a terrific weekend.
If you see Jack, I’d get to stepping in the opposite direction because . . yanno. The giant’s gotta be in the building.
You as well.
Yes, my motto has always been “avoid the giants!”
ANY kind of giants, from Jack’s bean stalk to the team in NY.
Bwahahahaha. Particularly the NY team!
LOL
Happy Friday!
Beautiful pics! Love the trumpet vine and hollyhocks.
Wow, on the agave tree! You are right Wilson, it does resemble a palm tree. Smart dog you are. It is tall! We use agave sweetner. Cool to see the plant.
Yes, Wilson, listen to your wise mum about choosing your battles. 🙂 Don’t send her flying!
Happy weekend to both of you. May it be Paw-some 🩷
Thank you! You do realize that agave is the base ingredient for tequila. 🍹Have a great weekend!
😳 That shows how much I know about alcohol. LOL! We use it for baking!
Agave is a great substitute for syrup. But it’s even better in a margarita. 🤣
😂😂
Happy birthday, Wilson! Hope you get lots of treats and ear rubs!
Thanks, Eliza…there’ll be no shortage of either! Have a great weekend.
I LOVE trumpet vines. Unfortunately we had to cut down ours because it was covering doors and our A/C unit. It’s growing back from the roots, though. We’ll see how that goes, and maybe plant another one.
Thanks, Pit. They can be very invasive and destructive with masonry surfaces (or siding). They need constant managing to keep them in tow. But they sure are pretty. Hope it’s a good weekend down your way.
ripe tomatoes, just a dream for me! I want a fig plant, my Maryland neighbor had a fig TREE that was so big and so much fruit. He shared with me, and all the critters around his yard too
LeeAnna
I do my tomatoes in pots since the soil is so crummy. I planted the fig in a large pot too so I could bring it in this winter. It’s supposed to be rated to 10 or 20ºF but figured there was no point tempting the gardening gods for those freak cold spells. Have a swell weekend-stay cool!
A lovely tour, Monika and Wilson. I have to say that trumpet vine is spectacular. I also enjoyed the sunflower photo. We don’t have many of those here, so it is a treat to see them. That bee in mid-flight was genius. Say goodbye to the agave, although its stalk is amazing. Thanks for the tour.
Thanks for coming along on our tour, John. Trumpet vine is so showy but it always needs a heavy duty support system (like a utility pole) because it’s very heavy. Have a super weekend.
that is the magic beanstalk, you can climb into 6th floor on it or something like that… we love the showstopper flowers they have some caribbean feeling…you need only muzak from goombay dance band and viola … st lucia comes to you….
Thanks guys. St. Lucia would be lovely in the late autumn, right now it’s as hot as it is here (but you’d have the ocean to cool off in, presuming a certain floof wasn’t afraid of the water). LOL Hope you guys have a great weekend.
Gorgeous flowers…..and that agave!
Thanks Helen. Wasn’t that stalk something else?! We hope you have a terrific weekend.
We have them in the garden here….quite spectacular.
We’d never seen one that large here. Mexico yes, but not in Denver.
a mozt happee birthday two ewe wilson…hope yur dayz filled with steak, bizcuitz, burgerz, squirrel 🐿️ chazin, cake and N all round grate day‼️💙 me and de gurl iz lookin for werd ta fall time two ….sum pawsum flowerz fotoz two day 🌼🌺🌸☘️🍀😸‼️🐟
Thanks Da-Tabbies. We appreciate you swinging by the Ranch and checking out our neighborhood flowers. I think there might be some watermelon birthday treats if I can find a small one at the grocery-Wilson loves melons, even more than cake. Here’s hoping you have a great weekend.
Wow, you’ve got some really beautiful flowers around and what great pictures of them! Thanks for letting me know what the plant in my back yard cactus garden is. The one I keep cutting down cause I had no clue…it’s an agave plant stalk. Great job, Wilson, and Lucy says hi with wags.
Thanks so much guys. While it’s hotter than h-e-double-hockey-sticks, it’s apparent that a lot of flowers in our ‘Hood seem to rather enjoy the heat. We say “let ’em have it.” We’re so done with summer heat and can’t wait for the cool down. Have a wagnificent weekend.
I have to take the pups walking between 6 and 7 am or it’s just too hot. I’m looking forward to fall, too.
I know what you mean. We are out between 5:30 and 5:45 am to avoid the heat ourselves. No wonder I feel like I need a nap every day!
Mom has her own business as a real estate transaction coordinator. The other day she got a new file from a client for a home on Hollyhock Way. She told us she had forgotten all about hollyhocks but remembers them from growing up. Now you have them here and they are beautiful. Funny how things just happen! We count down the day until summer is over here too, our least favorite season! Have a good weekend!
Thanks, summer is our least favorite, too. I do love hollyhocks and tried for years to grow them from seed. Then one summer, they took off…unfortunately it was in the crack in the sidewalk…not where I wanted it. They seem to favor hardy spots like that and now usually find them up and down the alley.
That is one impressive trumpet vine. I’m kind of amazed at all that lush vegetation on what looks like a city “hellstrip” LOL!
Yup, that’s exactly where it’s at. They can take over a utility pole like crazy to support all that vegetation. Have a great weekend!