Garden surprises

I had two wonderful garden successes this year: the moonflower vine and the eucalyptus. The moonvine started out slowly but then wrapped itself not only around my lamppost but all the way up into the nearby evergreens. It has been flowering the past few weeks, big white sweet-smelling blooms that open up around suppertime.

The eucalyptus I planted in planters with geraniums, and the silver and red combination is very pleasing. I never would have thought of getting it until I saw some plants on a table outside the greenhouse where I was shopping this spring. I plan to cut it, dry it and use the fragrant leaves for therapeutic purposes if I get a cold this winter.
Don't forget to order your bulbs for fall planting! I decided to break with tradition and instead of my usual tulips I ordered 100 assorted daffodil bulbs and 50 crocus in what the catalog described as lavender shades.