How Many Days til Christmas?

I admit I've been doing some holiday shopping--but in truth, I am on the look-out all year for gifts and such.  (It's not that I'm trying to get a jump on the season!)  

Other living things in the household, on the other hand...

This used to be bright pink, but over the years it has produced lighter blooms.  It lives outside in warm months.  

I was hoping this would bloom for Thanksgiving, when the Younger Generation will be visiting.  Ah, well.  Pictures will have to do.

The Yard in August

The first week of August was a continuation of the dreadful heat wave and drought...but at last some rains fell--so welcome and refreshing.  The response was immediate--greening lawns, fresh flushes of flowers, and plants given up for dead assuring us of the resurrection.

Portulaca is both a bedding and a container plant.

Evidence of drought marks the rejuvenated dogwood.

CREPE myrtles tower from 10 to 15 feet beside the pool.

The emerald ash-borer is a pest--but so pretty.  

Oregano is a spreading perennial here....but struggled in the drought.

Surprise lily-- a gift of my BFF from 2nd grade!

This is the only plant that liked the conditions.

More surprise lilies on the way.  Mary Jane was my first friend in Fort Smith, and we have been in touch for 57 years of
friendship and sharing.  These bulbs came from her family garden in Fort Smith, following her dear Mother's death.

 God alone knows what the blogspot program will do with this post.  It has no rhyme or reason that I can discern, but I hope you can see the renewed flowering in my yard, which gives me such joy.  The 'happy tree' is a mango (grown from a seed) that clearly loves the heat and humidity.
It lives inside each winter.

Orchid

This plant was a gift from our realtor back in Ohio (the one who sold our home with its 8 acres on the Chagrin River.)  I thought it was kind of off-putting at first, but it has reliably set blooms year after year, and now it has grown on me.

I have no idea what kind of orchid this is.  Anyone?  Anyone?

Crazy Christmas Cactus

Though I'm generally good at growing things, there is a rocky history with this plant.  When I adopted it--from our mother's room on the nursing pavilion in her final days--it had bright fuchsia-pink blossoms.  After relocation, it had no blooms for years.  Then, when buds finally appeared, most of them fell off.  The few surviving buds opened into blooms of palest pink.  I assumed this had to do with low light; (no windows in this house have direct sun.)

A friend with a prolific Christmas cactus gave me some tips, and this year (knock wood) most of the buds are so far being retained and are opening...into pale pink blooms.  However, there was one bud--darker than the others, almost a coral tint to it.... 

Explanations I have none.  
Every other bloom is the usual pale, pale pink.
The stamens alone hint at the original bright color of the blossoms.

It really is a very showy, surprising sight!

It is actually MORE orange than it appears in these pix.


Christmas surprise!