Moss Roses and Rogue Petunias

What with the garden and other necessary distractions, I have not spent much time on flowers this year.  Which is a shame, because I love flowers.  The year my husband and I were engaged, we both lived in Nashville Tennessee.  He lived in a well-kept but older condominium complex where all the units had olive green doors and were rather nondescript.  There was one door though that had a simple welcome mat and on either side of the mat was a terra cotta pot filled with red geraniums.  I never saw who lived behind the door, but I've never forgotten how that little touch made such a difference.

Having said that, I have to admit that I am not naturally like that person one bit, and I have to WORK at this kind of thinking.  And I have to REMEMBER to work at this kind of thinking:)  There's always lots of room for improvement, but I do have a few pretty flowers this year.

These petunias were originally planted in containers, but they went rogue and reseeded themselves directly in the bed itself, preferring to spread more freely across the ground.

You can just see them in the top right corner of this picture.  This is the left bed leading up to my front door.  The purple plants are Mexican purple heart, also known as purple wandering Jew (a very dependable plant -- it dies in the winter but always comes right back).   Lavender, sedum, and various sages are also in there.  In the front are vincas.  They are annuals but they can take the heat and will fill in the front edge.  They will (hopefully) last until the frost gets them.

 My house is on a corner so I have a gravel circular driveway in the front and on the side there is a concrete driveway going to the garage.  This walkway goes from the concrete driveway to a back entrance.  You can also see the propane tank, looking like a big egg in my backyard.  Anyway, this is the first year we've done anything at all with this bed.

We cleaned it out and put in various sages and a butterfly bush, and then I planted moss roses along the edges.  (Portulaca is the real name, but moss rose is easier to say and just sounds so nice :)

I like their thick spiky leaves and all the variety of colors. A purply-pink:

Apricot and yellow blossoms on the same plant:

And white with their cheerful yellow centers:

What nice faces they have!

Flowers surely are indicative of the extravagance of God -- such imagination and such beauty lavished upon the mere grass.  Their beauty is a visual reminder to me of Jesus' words in Matthew 6:30 --
"Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"  KJV