Flowers for the the hot weather!

Because I live in New Jersey, and because most of my gardens are next to my house near the concrete foundation, one thing that I look for when choosing plants are ones that can withstand heat. The perfect flower for hot weather is the Blanket flower. One thing I have found out is that there are two types of blanket flowers. The one in this photo is the "Flare" Blanket flower. I've added a link to this, the person who does the link has some great photo's and gives details about the plant which are really cool.
I love the color of this plant, yellow's and reds make me think of the sun. I also love the fact that this plant blooms all summer. Once a flower is dead you clip it off the plant and more buds appear. In the link you will see all the stages of this spectacular plant. Tomorrow the kids and I head to the library, and I'm getting some gardening books. I've really found a passion for my garden and flowers this year. I hope to share more photo's soon. I have to also say I'm thankful for my two neighbors who diligently watered them while I was away! I only lost a few baby plants and you can't get angry when the garden still looks good.


I love taking photo's with the bee's collecting pollen. I wonder if pollen has some drug affect on the bee's. Sometimes they seem to sit on a plant and act almost dead, then you touch them and they fly away.








Yesterday I also wrote about an article I read on Aol.find a Job. Slow Love: Can You Lose Your Job and Find Happiness?
My husband is the first phase listed in the story. The shock phase of losing your job. I find I'm out of that phase, even though my job ended only a few weeks ago I had months to come to terms with the loss. It is noted in this article and I quote " Psychologists have said that losing a job is the third most stressful event an individual can experience in their life (the first and second being death of a loved one and divorce.) And just like death or divorce, job loss may require a period of mourning. I think this is what my husband is going through. Even though we have known it was coming and thought for at least three years that he would either leave his job or lose it, the fact that it happened is a little shocking. I think mostly because the end just dragged on forever.
I'm at the phase of rediscovering my passions in this article, I love photography, gardening, using computers, reading, and learning. Now I need to think about what I can do that will lead me to a new job. I still hope for a job at a book store where I can work with people to help them find the books they need to help them grow, learn, or find some other world to dive into for awhile. I also need to sit down and write the children's books that are floating around in my head. My problem, I'm just not sure I'm the greatest writer... But I have a good and now unemployed editor right in the house. On day two of two unemployed people I think we are doing OK. I'm trying real hard not to nag, or bug my husband. Maybe going out in my garden often is a good thing. I'm also doing a total house clean out. Unfortunately I'm still stuck in the kitchen. But I still have weeks to go!!