Epiphyllum flower buds

This cactus was nearly completely denuded by some type of illness that made most of the sections become brown and crispy. I removed the dead parts, which was most of the cactus. One of the few remaining sections looks like it might bloom. Does it have the energy?

Kitchen garden

Tomatoes are starting to set fruit. Here is Lemon Boy with a marble sized fruit. The figs are also producing embryonic figs that I expect to harvest in late fall. here is Hardy Chicago. This tree is 3 feet tall and in it's 2nd year. An early producer.

opuntia flower

Here is a better photo. Apparently the flowers last only one day., then change color to orange and fold up. Will there be edible fruit?

Flowers

Ville de Bruxelles
Opuntia
Oriental Lilies
Angel Face

hummer

They like the crocosmia more than any other flower in the yard.

Banana recovery

This banana looked dead. The "dry overwinter" method was too much stress for it. "Yes, we have no bananas" this year. But it is recovering. I read that they need a lot of nitrogen and a lot of water. It got a dose of fish emulshion today.

Yellow Clivia

This yellow clivia was purchased as a SEED whcih cost about $8.00 via mail order. That was 5 years ago. This is its first blossom.

Lilies

Unknown varietes of lilies. Most of there are Asiatic hybrids, with one Trumpet. Ning bought these as "variety packs" so they dont have names.

More roses

"Peace". I had given up on this one. It looked "viral". This Spring it was cut back to about 1 foot, and it hasn't received any water. This is it's nicest blossom so far.
Beautiful in the garden and in a vase. "Fair Bianca." Very fragrant. The perfect white English Rose.
Symphony. This one is so-so compared to some English roses, but is reliable and hardy. This set of blossoms stuck up out of the ground about 1 foot from the main plant. It is own-root.

Scepter'ed Isle. Reliable, hardy, and very fragrant. There are a lot of pink roses around. I like this one a lot.

"Work life balance?" Opinions. Bike to work again. More.

 

Now and then I think about the concept of "Work / Life Balance". There must be a more accurate term. I expect for work to be hard. I expect for the hours to be long. But what I still haven't learned is how to draw the line. NOt only that, but instead of getting easier, it's getting harder.

OK, enough whining. Resolution: back into the bike-to-work mode. Last week I biked one day. This week, maybe back to 3 days. It is harder this year - hours are longer, more has to be done in those hours, I'm tireder and more stressed. Be that as it may, there will be days when I bike. Not every day (those cursed days when there are meetings on the other side of town), but when I can.

Today I tuned up both bikes, cleaned the chains, replaced a flat tire's inner tube. Lunch in the fridge - check. "Homework" packed to take back to work - check. Clothes laid out - check. Thermos by the coffee pot - check. Light charged - check.