Remembering "Show and Tell"

I LOVED show and tell day in elementary school.
When I was young, I would scour our house the night before, for some wonderful treasure, that would be sure to wow my fellow class mates on show and tell day.
Our house always contained different items such as rock collections, seashells, instruments, and the like,
which were pretty interesting, as I remember.

But the all time most exciting show and tell day was the day I ( unbeknownst to my mother), brought into class, a promotional brochure of her from her Tahitian dancing days! I kid you not...
My mother was a wonderful Tahitian dancer who used to perform in upscale restaurants and clubs.
She was the lead dancer who had 3 back up dancers, a fire breathing performer ( whose name was Towoufy), and several musicians including a bongo player ( think Ricky Ricardo) in her troop.
 
So there she was posing for this brochure, in three different costumes including an authentic war costume with full headdress.
She had made all of her elaborate costumes by hand from authentic materials she had sent for from Tahiti.
Long black wavy hair to her waist. The original fake tan. You get the picture.

So when I came across a stack of brochures in the back of her closet from her dance days,
I knew THIS would be an amazing item to show.

I was so proud of her! I never thought for a moment that a second grade classroom might not be the best venue to showcase my Tahitian dancing mom!

 But my teacher was gracious, seeing how proud I was, as she asked "Is that really your mother?".
"Yes!" I answered, beaming.

When I got home from school that day, I told my mom about my wonderful day, and she looked a little pale as she realized what I was saying.
"What did your teacher say?" my mom asked.
"She asked if you were really my mom" I explained.
"Oh, okay" my mom said and we were onto the next thing, as was often the case in our house.

So, in sweet remembrance of show and tell, here goes...(don't worry, there won't be any dance photos, lol)

                                    The cockscomb is being harvested! Check out this color!

8 Monarchs were dancing around my head! I caught 5 of them on this Buddelia at once

                                              This guy was BIG!!!!  We thought he was going to speak!!   
                                                             It was a good year for "good bugs!"

                         The Peegee Hydrangea tree is lovely with a circle of lavender at its feet!

Okay and here's what we've been baking!

                                               Peppermint swirl and peanut butter swirl brownies

                      Espresso walnut brownies on the left, Raspberry almond white chocolate brownies on top,
                  cream cheese chocolate  chip cake bars on right, and dark chocolate brownies on bottom.

So, I guess I'm a "show and tell" girl at heart. Not that I'm not overly wordy at times, lol.
I just like the visual. And that's what my garden is usually about...the big showy stuff, the take your breath away, big color, billowy, bomb-style, car stoppin, jaw dropping beauty.

I guess it was inevitable...seeing most kids don't have moms with Tahitian war regalia in their closets.

Random thoughts

Lately Ive had internet issues so my posting has been less frequent than I'd like.
And I haven't been able to visit all of you as much as I like to :(
Thank you to everyone who has been stopping by!
Hopefully I will get these issues solved soon.
So, today, I'm posting this from my local library. Libraries are great!

 There are many farm fields that are local to me that grow beautiful crops, but this one is a car-stopper!

This lovely has performed beautifully all summer, through heat, rain, hurricane and more rain.
I have shown it before, but wanted to post it now that we are at the end of September. Or almost.
The garden is starting to go to sleep and I am out there cutting back many perrienials.
 But Mandevilla Pergola ,'Surprise' (an annual), is still going strong and giving me joy.

                                               Hibiscus moscheutos 'Luna Red' is another joy.

                                                  Knock out roses are great - aren't they?
                                                  Being common is not always a bad thing!

So, here are my random thoughts...or questions.

Why do garden centers sell invasive plants? Is it a part of an evil plot?

What do garden bloggers post about in all those long winter months?

How is it that each year by October, I'm so sick of gardening to the point of thinking:
"I cant' wait for the first hard freeze so I have an excuse to get away from all this back breaking labor"

only to be thinking

" Oh, soil, beautiful life giving soil, Is that a new green shoot I see bursting from the ground??" with sheer excitement a few months later?

Randomness... pure randomness.

Meet Celosia

Crested Celosia ( Cockscomb) has to be one of my all time favorite flowers. Why?
This plant has so many good attributes it will be hard to list them all!

This velvety, luscious, wavy flower grows in sun and withstands brutal heat. 

It withstands drought and doesn't have any pest problems that I have noticed
 in the last 18 years of growing it.
It doesn't generally need staking even when it reaches over 3 1/2 feet tall.
It faithfully puts out enough seed to "cockscomb" the East coast of the United States, but is not invasive.
It does self sow, but seedlings are so easily removed.
(when you can bring yourself to pull them out.)
The seed is so easy to harvest and it stores well in a dark glass jar.
It dries even better (hung upside down) and is WONDERFUL at Christmas!
Mix it with dried evergreens or boxwood, in wreathes, ornaments, or in garlands.

Recently, our town experienced very high winds because of hurricane Irene.
I was worried that the Celosia I had growing would be destroyed.
Even though it did flop over a bit, it is still flourishing and I'm about to harvest it.
In the past,I have planted it too close together, have forgotten to water it,
and still it produces wonderfully.

The color can be dark pink, light pink, red or yellow.
The dark pink is my favorite, especially this time of year, when the garden is fading.

The leaf is nondescript, but the flowers are a show stopper.
They can get quite large, some larger than a softball.

One year, I set up a stand in front of my house and sold them. Not only did they sell out,
but people came to my front door wanting me to tell them about this amazing flower.

And I was more than happy to oblige.