Dear Reader:

This year I have decided to add lantana to the garden because it is the only flower that can take the hot humid days ahead in the lowcountry. The photo above is my lantana “patch” in the front yard.

All the other plants and flowers have only their “moments” in the sun…and then eventually they give up the “ghost’ after repeated days of nineties and humidity…especially when we don’t get the necessary rain to prevent them from (literally) burning up.

I have learned my lesson….plants that say they can take “Full Sun” haven’t tried to do so in this semi-tropical environment.

In the lowcountry, the coming weeks will undoubtedly cause certain plants and  garden flowers to look crispy, brown, and pathetic no matter how often I  apply the water hose.

That’s where easy-to-grow, low maintenance plants like lantana come into play. These shrubby bushes  enliven one’s yard with minimal effort.

There are so many different varieties of lantana (besides the basic yellow)….and I hope to find a wide diversity to plant. Here are some ideas I found in several magazines including Southern Living.

I hope they will be “good neighbors” to many of the plants emerging now…as I said earlier…May is the most beautiful month for spring flowers in my garden….by June…the high temps and humidity will have started damaging the poor flowers struggling to hang in there….like some of my latest blooming flowers in the garden.

Though some, like the Mexican petunia can withstand the heat also.

Gardening is a learning process…every year I learn a new lesson on which flowers can survive a lowcountry summer and which can’t…it helps me quit wasting money on plants that can’t make it through the next few months.

EXCEPT….I am so weak-willed when I see just “one more plant” then I must try it out in the garden….I am this poster! Thanks Pam!

So until tomorrow….

“Today is my favorite day!” Winnie the Pooh

*I came across this reflection about a different take on “mothers” and wished I had seen it before Mother’s Day. Then I thought to myself…”How silly?” Every day is a potential mother’s day for all of us.

“In its purest form, a “mother’s” love is a metaphor for the nurturing, sustaining love that holds us in the world. We yearn for that type of love from our own mothers, but often receive it from others-grandmothers, aunts, teachers, and friends. 

“Mother” Earth and the Sun sustain us daily without question. Let’s reflect and be grateful for the manifold manifestations of maternal love in our lives.” Ameeta

*Today is Kaitlyn’s Uncle Rusty’s funeral and Susan’s younger brother…I know it will be a difficult day for the Swicegoods and other members of this close family. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers today. A very giving, generous, kind man is being laid to rest…the world will miss him.