I believe I've mentioned that Mr. Southern and I have been spending our weekends tilling the area around our fenceline in the backyard, making way for gardens. Sadly, tilling stirs up the soil often making way for weeds in our beautiful beds. I was intrigued when this volunteer plant popped up. I gave it a chance to grow (though was secretly fretting it might have been Kudzu) and voila! Little purple flowers appeared today. A petunia perhaps? Sadly, the overcast skies today have prevented the blooms from fully opening, but still- a burst of happiness for free.
We have a couple of other successes right now (we won't speak of the tomato plant deaths and the massacre of of all my zucchini and squash by the squash scrub)-- check out this baby cantaloupe!
I actually planted these from seed- on a whim- and they're doing quite well. The little yellow blossoms are fun too.
Mr. Southern's Pepper Plant is faring pretty well too. I don't think he cares about the veggies too much- but he LOVES the peppers. Far better than the pepper plant he's trying in a Topsy Turvy. Not only are those things hideously ugly, but our experiment proved them highly ineffective.
My favorite is the mint, which is planted separately from the other herbs and perfect for good old Southern Sweet Tea or mojitos. If you think you have a black thumb, plant mint. Just keep it in a container or away from other plants as it has a tendency to take over! 
And lastly, the rest of the herbs. I tried to be artsy with my photography but likely failed miserably. Basil, thyme, chives, and rosemary are shown here. I love the various shades of green. I've had much better success with the herbs than many other plants- and in Atlanta, many of these are evergreen!
If you're in North American and want a different view of nature's beauty, check out the Perseids meteor shower. Sadly, best viewing was supposed to be before dawn today. But I'm still going to look tonight!
photo via Wikipedia -Emmie
