I love tiger lilies but why did somebody attack my fruiting Basjoo banana ?

Tiger Lilies are my favorite lily! I love how they quickly forms colonies thanks to their habits of forming bulblets along the stems which drop around the mother plants and grow into new bulbs.
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The bulblets grow through out the Summer and drop off when they begin to grow a root.

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The Basjoo Banana was blooming beautifully until…..

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Until one morning I noticed it was leaning. When I attempted to straighten it this is what I found!

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Something had chewed the stem off at ground level! Oh well. At least I had a few months of enjoying the bloom!

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Over the holiday weekend we took a day trip to Durham, North Carolina and to one of my favorite gardens.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens

http://gardens.duke.edu/

The gardens have a large lake and a several small lakes with plenty of water lilies. A few swans, geese, and ducks inhabit the larger pond. The Black-Neck Swan from South America are beautiful. The one below was photographed near the Japanese style bridge.

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The red Japanese Bridge

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The lily pond near the Doris Duke Center.

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A native azalea

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The terraced gardens leading down to a koi and lily pond.

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The Blomquist Garden of native plants.

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I love this stone bench built into the hill.

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Durham Bulls

We also attended a Durham Bulls minor league baseball game while we were in Durham.

This is the mascot: Woll E Bull

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A little break where Woll E Bull drove a go-cart around shooting t-shirts out of a cannon!

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Our seats were perfect! On the left field side of home plate until the cover!

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The Durham Athletic Park is surrounded by office buildings in rehabbed old tobacco processing campus.

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When a home run was hit the bull sign would blow smoke out of his nostrils, his eyes would light up red, and his tail would wag!

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The team roster had players recruited from all over the world!

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It was a busy day!

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Hot nights are patio nights..

The typical Summer temperatures have arrived for The South.  Hot! Humid! Muggy!

Well after sunset the air may still be thick with humidity which gives weight to the Southern saying: “Its not the heat, its the humidity!”

Its a good time for a cookout and patio party!

They always seem to begin with my good friend: Bad Penny!
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Pot luck is the way to go as there is so much food as more people arrive throughout the evening. The first cookout I had years ago I tried to do it all myself. It was too much to do alone and stressful. I have discovered its easier on me and the food is much more diverse if I went Potluck!

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There can never be too many chairs!

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Once the sun goes down and the air cools it becomes more comfortable or maybe it was the several Bad Penny’s which I had consumed by then?

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It was fun to have everyone over and so much food! I was so tired but my belly was full!

Tired and exhausted from cleaning the patio furniture and shopping for hamburgers and food I retired to watch “Milk” again.

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Such a good movie! Cue the tissue!

xxoo

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It’s Wednesday and you can never have enough of “The Saturdays” and EuroPop!

The Saturdays: “Missing You”

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