Oooh!

At the far edge of the yard we have a flower bed named Crazy Patch. We threw in a bunch of mixed wildflower seeds and enjoy the surprises that turn up. This is today's. How delicate and lovely is that?! I have no idea what kind of flower it is, but I bet the master gardener can ID it for me.

This one's blurry because I took the picture. I wanted to include it anyway because you can see the pretty foliage better in this shot.

This is why I love gardening. I haven't been out there a lot today and already I've seen two things that I've never ever seen before (this and the butterfly in the previous post). It's amazing to me that if you just pay attention right where you are, you will see new and wonderful things all the time. And sometimes you see things you've seen over and over again but they're still mind- blowing. Like, when's the last time you got tired of smelling peonies?

Update: Reddit does it again! It's love-in-a-mist, aka nigella. Neat!

Roses!

These are blooming out front. They'll still have buds come December.

Mornin'!

Each hibiscus blossom only lasts one day. This morning I was up early enough to catch this one just starting to open.

This is what it'll look like in an hour or so.

Aphrodite

This hosta doesn't bloom till late August but it's worth the wait. It's the only one I know of with any scent to speak of and lemme tell ya, it smells like heaven.

Here it is growing under the ornamental plum.

Did You Know?

That lilacs produce seeds? They do. I've never tried to grow one from seed though. Has anyone out there done it? I wanna know.

Zinnia

In yer face!

PS: The have almost no scent and feel like crispy paper.

Sad Sunflower is Sad.

They didn't seem to appreciate the record rainfall this year. Hot and dry is better for them.

Chinese Lanterns

They start out as tiny white flowers (top), then form seed pods, then turn deep orange. They're well on their way- another sign of fall. These will look awesome in the house.

Last One From The Garden Center

This is sedum 'autumn joy' getting ready to bloom. I like the texture.

Color Combos

Red cockscomb near chartreuse leaves (dunno the name of that one). It was really striking though my pic doesn't do it justice.

White hydrangeas with coreopsis (I think).

Zinnias and salvia.

This Place Was Gorgeous

They paired annuals with perennials and had some great color combos. The center of this garden was odd, though. You can sorta see in the pic that it's just sand and what appears to be the foundation of a once or future building. But the beds around the edges were massive and clouds of butterflies were all over the place. Also clouds of gnats- there was no breeze that day. That ornamental grass in the (front center) is millet. I scored some seeds for next year.

We Toured Some Garden Centers-

Wee butterfly or moth on cockscomb.

This is my Rose Campion

It looked fine when I first put it in, then started to go to hell. At first I thought it was rot from too much rain, but then one day I pet it (its leaves are really soft) and a cloud of little white flies came out of it. Blech. So I did some research.

Turns out those little white flies are called... white flies. One site said that if you put tin foil all around the base, you'll drive them away because they like it better when it's dark down there. So I tried it and it worked like a charm- no more clouds of flies when I shake it. It might be too late to save it though.

This is what they were supposed to have looked like.

Butterfly Weed

... is starting to bloom. It's wee and kinda subtle, but I like it. That's a sweet shade of orange and it's supposed to be a butterfly magnet. This is its first year, so I assume it'll be bigger and showier next year. I started it from seed back in March. Patience. Always the patience. Now I will be waiting for the Monarchs to show up.

PS: It should have a nicer name than butterfly weed. Did they run out of ideas that day? Maybe I'll come up with my own fancy nickname for it.

Love-Lies-Bleeding

One of the amaranthus got so top heavy it fell over. S'okay. I cut a huge bouquet for a friend and righted it again. I think it can hold its own now. Maybe this is why its common name is love-lies-bleeding!

Sunflower

Seeds aren't fully formed yet. We'll leave them for the birds.

Castor Looking Sinister

Poison factory, this.

Gazanias

I keep forgetting to snap these during the day- a sunny day. That's the only time they're fully open. They're just annuals but the colors make me happy. Reminds me of fun stuff like carnivals. Love the little white dots in the center.

The Process

My big project for today was to move two eryngiums (sea hollies) from the big perennial bed to a new spot nearer the door. They're only 12" so they were getting dwarfed by the bee balm. In their place, I'm going to plant coreopsis. That's tall and yellow and can hold its own next to bee balm.

First I lift a bunch of sod. It's heavy. That goes in the wheelbarrow for my mister to use to build up crappy areas of the lawn.

Then I dig a simple hole. Except that it's not so simple since our soil is full of rocks. You can't even use a real shovel in some places- just that forked thingy (see pic).

Then I put the plants in. You can barely see them because they've gone to seed and turned brown.

After all that, I get the bonus- those little things that make it all worthwhile. In this case, it's a bunch of new seedlings that were hiding under the mulch! Yay! Oh, and then I take a shower. It's hot out there today!

(This is what they look like in bloom. This is why I do it).

Monster Hibiscus

They try to attack you when you go out the front door. So cool to have a tropical perennial in upstate New York.