Flowers in my yard

In spite of the extreme heat, things are blooming. There aren't many flowers in my yard, mostly only the ones that were here when I moved in March of 1999, meaning crepe myrtles along the back fence. Of about 20 azaleas which my parents and nephew helped me plant, only 1 grew. Seems that the side of the street where I live, there's almost no flowers; the people who live in the houses on the low side of the street have a lot of azaleas, so it must have to do with the water staying in those yards longer, and the fact that those houses face south. Nonetheless, the few crepe myrtles are in full bloom.

Another thing which seems to be growing a lot everywhere -
and this is a warning - is poison ivy. My mother is 93, decided a few days ago to pull some weeds by her roses, fell right by the fence, was able to pull herself only to a sitting position, a neighbor heard her hollering, called paramedics, got her inside her house - and a couple of days, she had tiny blisters on her face, arms, and legs. My sister took her to the doctor. He said that half of his walk-ins lately have gotten into poison ivy!

My sister came over yesterday, and we went for hamburgers, and to the store. She brought her camera. So ... here's a close up and another of the crepe myrtles! The trees are loaded with blooms, and there are a lot of crepe myrtles all over town. They come in white, pale pink, deep pink (such as these), and sort of a lilac color. Not only are they beautiful, but they seem to grow best when left alone (meaning of course that they can also take over a yard if you don't cut them back).