Judging by the heat and humidity (humiture as the weathermen call it) we are in the early throws of Summer! We have already had so much rain, that now with the heat, it's like a sauna when we walk outside. But here at the Beach, we are so lucky to have a sea breeze! Our saving grace! My yard is in such a state of Blah, I mean the plants are doing well, but there are no flowers, I only have three things blooming at this time, Canna Lilies, Alamanda and Princes plants. Some of the Crepe Myrtles have started to show, but the huge tree on the corner of the yard, has not opened yet, oh my goodness it is so beautiful when it blooms, all lavender. We also have watermelon and white Crepe's too. Ok Ok, maybe I do have flowers , but just not like I usually do, no Petunias spilling out of pots, no Marigolds standing erect in the sun, and most of all NO IMPATIENS! Impatiens were my saving grace in my shaded back yard. We still can't get the good ol regular Impatiens, only the New Guinea ones, (and they just don't grow like the "Regular" ones did).Oh, and no Zinnias, with their bright Mexican colors, all the rain caused a mildew to form, and out they went, wilted themselves to death. Just seems like a lot of healthy green is going on right now, you know Tropicals love this weather!
See what I mean, nice, but just no flowers.. and vines upon vines are growing everywhere! I pull tons every week to put out for trash pickup! If I didn't they would cover everything like Kudzu, and if you are from Alabama you know what that is! Going to my Grandmoms for the summer, we would pass so many abandoned farm houses that the Kudzu had totally taken over, I mean they were still in the shape of a home but totally encased in this retched vine! Miles upon miles of everything covered in a rolling sheet of Kudzu!
Now this is what I'm talk'n about! Flowers, this is how the back yard used to look, Impatiens galore!
I guess cuz it's summer, everybodies creative juices are flowing, (or is that sweat?) but I have seen so many different tutorials on making Cement Leaves! As you can see in the top picture, I made one about 7 years ago out of an Elephant Ear. It has been in the garden all this time, I think when I first made it I sealed it with Thompsons waterproof, but have not touched it since, and it is still beautiful to me.
For some reason Dixie Boy, our fluffy guy, before I placed the leaf in the garden, used to love to sleep in it, must have been the coolness of the cement.
There are so many tutorials on Pinterest and Youtube, on making cement leaves, please take the time to try this more than fun and easy project! I used Quikrete to make mine, so easy .
