Florida Gardening: Chit Chat - Everyone Welcome - Part 116, 0 by JaxFlaGardener

JaxFlaGardener wrote:
Good Morning, all! DutchLady - your white sprawling flower could be Meadow Sage? Salvia nemarosa 'snow hill' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/68585/ I bought a pot of it recently but haven't put it in the garden yet. I didn't notice a pleasant smell from the flowers, only a strong odor of the leaves smelling like cat pee, so maybe it is not what your plant is.

Christina and I are planning to make a rare appearance at our UU Church this morning, so we are up a bit earlier than usual for a Sunday. The choir is singing (in which I once participated, but couldn't keep up with the rehearsal schedule) and we need to say "thanks" to the congregation for their generous support during our recent financially lean times.

Friday the 13th lived up to its bad reputation for me: I was officially served notice of foreclosure for my house. It was a huge surprise and made me angry and hurt because I thought I was still in a negotiating stage with the bank. All their previous E-mails were about me sending in financial info with the bank offering a possibility of payments of "interest only" for a few years, so the foreclosure notice seemed premature. I am still working with the city foundation that provides foreclosure assistance and will try to get in to see a Legal Aid Society attorney this week, but that requires showing up early in the morning, waiting in line, and being one of the first 55 people in the line. I am not distraught (yet) because there is still time to turn the situation around through several means, but it was just very disturbing to find that the bank had skipped over the offer to work with me and went straight to foreclosure proceedings. It will take a lot of energy, focus, and resources of my talents to see this one through, but I will do what I can to keep my house and gardens. I've never been in a house that felt so much like my "cosmically intended" home.

On a brighter note, here's a photo of my Cherokee Rose (Rosa laevigata http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55764/ that will soon reach its flowering peak. The only downside is that it only blooms once a year in the springtime, but it puts on a great show when it does. It is not a native plant, but has naturalized throughout the eastern states and is the Georgia State Flower. The story for it is that the colonists brought it over from Europe to keep deer out of their vegetable gardens. The thorns on the Cherokee Rose are large enough to do some real damage if the deer try to walk through it, and it grows into such an immense thicket that the deer can't jump over it. It requires no care and has no diseases. From what I've read, it was one of the roses used in the hybridization of the 'Knock Out' roses.

Christina is rethinking her attendance at church today. She was in a screaming rage yesterday (not directed at me, but at her work situation) and kicked something hard enough to possibly re-break a big toe. If I were not also a red head, I might not understand, but I am and I do. LOL

Jeremy