Winter Garden

Growing up in the Northwest and having spent most of my adult life in Utah it is SO WEIRD how warm it is during the "Winter" in the desert!    I just couldn't believe how GREEN our backyard was halfway through November!  Ever since the real nasty heat died out the backyard really exploded...to the point it is a bit like the rain forest back there! :D   These pics were taken on November 6th and up until the first few nights that the temps finally dipped close to freezing just last week, the backyard looked like this:

Our Bouganvilla went CRAZY! 

Next year I have GOT to be better about pruning

that monster back so it doesn't try to overtake our

 ...and the neighbors yards! :D

No, that isn't actually a jungle...Josh was gone for

7 weeks, so the grass was TOTALLY out of

control before I finally drug out the mower!

This IS actually a jungle.

The biggest broccoli plant I have EVER seen.

Unfortunately no actual broccoli heads

are growing... rats.

(OK, so there is one about  the size

of a nickel...not quite one bites worth!)

The lettuce are still growing strong, even though

most of the flowering plants have succumbed

to the colder temps now.

Iceberg & Romaine lettuce

and more broccoli

(the kids LOVE broccoli...

no really they DO, I swear! :D)

Josh's pepper plants!

Tomatoes...YUMMY!

GORGEOUS Morning Glory plant,

the blooms were so HUGE and

just the most beautiful color of blue!

The Morning Glory (and another vining flower plant

that I can't remember the name of) really climbed up the

Bouganvilla, it is amazing the thing didn't bow to the ground! 

It is hard to see it but this Bouganvilla branch is absolutely

COVERED in the flowering vines!

We were smart enough to plant the vining plants in 

a pot so that they didn't get out of control and infest the

grass for next year, it is amazing how LONG they 

got from just one little pot at the base of this Bouganvilla! 

Our Hibiscus plants were still blooming well into November!

:D

Just a couple days ago I went out and pruned back the

Bouganvilla and tore out all the vines, they were

ALL OVER! 

I am just still weirded out that I was having to do

yard work in December that

didn't involve snow! LOL ;)