So apparently I’m NOT the only one whose cactus is starting to bloom… like this one down in Peoria! They’re looking pretty happy in their handmade pottery flower pots, just sayin’! Thanks for the photos Gerry & Rosene!

Anyways, thanks to a Facebook Fan who clarified the difference, this is in fact a Thanksgiving Cactus. Different from a Christmas Cactus… or even more different from an Easter Cactus. Who knew there were three?… not me! But thanks to Kim for clarifying the cactus confusion for me.

For more information to clarify the cactus confusion, click here!

And when one is down by the Museum of Science & Industry, you should always take a few minutes to explore the hidden treasure of the Japanese Garden just south of the museum. A beautiful & serene space… still preserved from the Columbian Exposition Worlds Fair! Complete with some STUNNING Japanese maple trees in full Fall colors!!!

So I posted earlier this summer about this perfect little “volunteer” petunia who decided to grow through the cracks in the cement by my back gate. And now he has a friend!!! We have quite a little flower garden going on back here!!!

These shamrocks have been enjoying the summer on my back porch. But they say the temperatures are going to drop quickly overnight… so their stay outside might end soon! I’m thinking I need to find a new home for them inside today before they “freeze” to death tomorrow!

Some cute white flowers blooming in the garden. Not really sure what they are… but they’re pretty sweet little flowers blooming this late in the Summer… errr, I guess it’s technically Fall.

I keep forgetting…

Fall berries on the vine. Simple curves, colored berries on a metal trellis against a weathered wooden fence.

Okay, so you know how much I love a good coleus plant… the colors, the textures, the shapes! But these might be the HUGEST coleus plants I’ve ever seen… and this is just gonna kill my gardening pals in Peoria!!! Challenge on Rosene & Gerry… here’s your “goal” for next summer’s crop of coleus!!! Step it up my friends!!!

Looks like Diane’s eucalyptus plant is enjoying its new home… she picked up the stamped terra cotta pot at ART IN THE GARDEN. And then proceeded to plant her own “garden” at home! Looks happy!

So I have a little “situation” going on at home?! I purchased a sweet potato with plans to cook it up with dinner one night. But things got busy… and I kinda forgot about it a bit. And then THIS happened?!

No water… no roots… just these crazy cool sprouts!!!

So… do I let it go?…
do I put it in water and call it a new houseplant?…
or do I try to cut these off and see if it’s still edible?!

And for those of you following my flowering houseplants… apparently this has been identified as a “Christmas Carol” aloe plant… and the flowers don’t really do much more than open up at the end of each tube, and then wither away?! Still pretty cool plant… love the red spiky edges on the leaves!