An Old-Fashioned Fall Flower

We are thinking to add an arbor-pergola to an existing side brick patio down the hill from our house.  Our builder invited us over after church this last Sunday to take a look at her arbor-pergola to help with design ideas for building the arbor.

While standing out under her beautiful arbor,  I looked over to the left side of her backyard and saw a tree filled with beautiful pink flowers.   This tree is a popular heirloom favorite among Southern gardens.  The flowers are 4 to 6 inches wide, fully double, bright pink, peony-like blooms.  When you see these blooms you know Fall is not very far away.

A popular old-fashioned Southern heirloom tree.

Confederate Rose

The Confederate Rose was once very common in the Confederate States of America.  The original Confederate States were South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.  The hardiness zones for the Confederate Rose are 6, 7, 8, and 9.

They say this beautiful Southern tree is very easy to grow.  It likes full sun,  but can tolerate partial shade.  It prefers rich, well drained soil.  It is a favorite pass-along plant since it is so easy to root cuttings in water.

This tree is sometimes called "The Cotton Tree"  because it's leaves resemble 

cotton foliage and it's round flower buds remind some of cotton bolls.

I wish I had stood back and taken a picture of the whole tree which was probably 12 feet tall and probably the same width.  But these flowers were all I could think about when I spotted the beautiful pink blossoms.

My husband tried to grow one of these trees many years ago, but it did not survive.  It probably did not survive because we have so much shade in our yard.  But, after seeing this tree growing so beautifully yesterday I really want to try our luck at planting one of these trees again.

With a little luck and a sunny location, hopefully, next Fall I will be able to take pictures of these beautiful Confederate Rose  blossoms growing in our yard.

Well! I hope it was a happy Monday for you today, and that all is well wherever you may be.

A Cloud-Filled Day

Yesterday we were driving back from a short visit with our twin grandchildren Ethan and Elly and our daughter Debi.  It was such a fun visit and now we can look forward to seeing them again during the Thanksgiving holidays.

October is a beautiful time of year here in the South.  The leaves have not begun to change just yet, but the fresh air sweeps in, and there is a different feel all around.  The days and nights are slightly cooler and there is a feeling of change in the air.

As we were driving along we could not help but notice how beautifully clear and cloud-filled the day was.   The sky looked like you could see forever and was so bright and intensely blue.  From time to time I would pick up my camera to try to capture some of the beauty of this beautiful day. 

The below cloud was such an unusual cloud.  The day was perfectly clear, with no rain clouds in sight. ... And, then,  this little cloud suddenly appeared.  Notice the trail from the cloud all the way to the ground.  Yes, it was a rain-cloud which appeared "out of the blue."  The good Lord must have felt they needed a little more rain in that particular spot.

The clouds remind me of fun times when we were children.  We would often spread a blanket outside on the grass,  have a picnic lunch,  and watch the clouds.  We would try to find picture patterns in the clouds and we usually did.  What a fun and care-free memory.  I wonder if children find time to do that today ... I hope so!

The long-range weather forecast here in the Deep South is for a cooler than usual Fall season.  With a little rain in our area today they tell us the rain is a cold-front sweeping in which will bring dry air and cooler temperatures.  Oh! How nice!  I love the cool freshness of Fall.

What a beautiful world!

It was fun trying to capture the beautiful cloud-filled sky as we drove along, even if we were traveling along in the car on the Interstate at about 70 miles an hour.

I hope it was a beautiful weekend for you too, and that you had beautiful cloud-filled days as well.  

Wishing you a happy Fall and many blessings wherever you may be.