Crepe myrtles grow easily in the soil my neighborhood. They flower in several shades of pink, purple, and white gracing neighborhood gardens, waving their frondy heads at passersby with the slightest of breezes. Several of us on our street planted them about four years ago and we enjoy the different varieties; some are huge trees, some are bush size and some are something in between. They are a big splash of color that starts in early July and keep flowering well into August, especially if you water them a lot. They are not expensive to buy, they grow quickly and for us lazy gardeners, they don't need all the plant food, pesticides and attention that our rose bushes need and yet they give the same amount of pleasure in many ways. What a garden we all enjoy when we take the risk and plant something together!
My neighbor has a fountain in his front yard and I've been thinking about adding one too. Some little splashy thing, perhaps one that birds can also bathe in. The fountains pictured here are up on Capitol Hill and are a delight to walk past in the morning, if my job compels me to go to the Hill in the morning. One fountain is slightly hidden on a plaza between the Senate buildings and the Korean war monument. I was up there again recently and saw the other more famous fountain with those very nude Neptune and Nymphs boldly splashing in front of the old Library of Congress building. When I got home, the temperature had dropped even more from the 80s into the 70s and it just was so much cooler and more comfortable. There was even a good breeze as well so I watered my plants and the tree in the street and hosed off the birdie doo and flower pollen from the car and generally had a good time squirting water about, pretending to be a water goddess. Thank God for living in a watery zone!
