You Inspire Me

BEFORE I LAUNCH INTO today's post, I want to thank all of you gracious, sweet people for encouraging me on the jungle I loosely refer to as a garden. I've always known that gardeners are the awesome-est people on the planet and now, once again, you've all proven it. So kudos to you. 

I still don't have the "afters" for the aforementioned jungle but hopefully soon. However, last time I was sneaky and didn't post all of my "before" shots. So, here are the "befores" and "afters" of my front yard rock garden and the entrance to my courtyard. 

Before, with lots of overgrown stuff. 

After. You can actually see the tiny gravel now. Yay! 

Before. Embarrassing. 

After, ah.... 

Before...madness and lunacy. 

After, we still need barkdust but at least you can walk without tripping. 

The other day while shopping at one of our local "we have everything" stores, my eyes caught hold of this flower, below. It looked like a Gazania on steroids. Above a fluffy, silver rosette were several of these pink (and you know me and pink) daisy-type flowers. 

Once the plant is out of direct sun, the flowers close up, just like
a Gazania, so this weekend I'll get a better shot of the flowers.

Here is the tag. It's a cross between a Gazania and a Gerbera. Apparently it's been around for awhile. My online search didn't reveal much other than the fact that it was trademarked in 1998 and that it is, indeed, a cross between the two Gs.

Have any of you heard of this and if so have you grown it? There
were orange-flowered plants too but, nah. Pink all the way!

Oh, and uh, it's hardy in Zones 8-10. Even though mine is a Zone 8b garden, I doubt it will winter over so I'll treat it like an annual. At $5.99 for a one-gallon pot it's one of the very few plants I've
actually purchased this year.

My Indigofera heterantha is beginning to bloom. I didn't cut it back last fall
 so it's really much too tall. I won't let that happen again. 

The booty on my patio is almost exclusively green this year. 

Ditto for my courtyard. 

Two leaning plants playing nicely: Cotinus and Verbascum. 

This is a smaller bed near my outer pond. Who needs flowers?

Unfortunately, I have a bit of sad new to report. Our garden matriarch, Willow, passed on last week. She was 15 years old. 

This photo is about 5 years old. 

I took this photo just a few weeks ago. A few days ago she looked lethargic. The next day she wouldn't wake up.
I'm pretty sure she went peacefully. It's the end of an era for us. 

Finally, the Albany Master Gardener garden tour is this Saturday so I'll be posting photos of the gardens soon.