WILDFLOWERS

While vacations are nice, cards on the table, I do miss the gardening when I'm away, although it does give a nice break. While gone, it is amazing to return back to see just how much things can grow and how fast. This this summer I choose to expand the wildflowers garden. Backstory. Two summers ago, I had an 8oft Eastern pine taken down as it was leaning terrible and worried it might hit the townhouses next door if a bad storm came through. In the past autumn, I had a huge burning bush removed that was next to where the pine had been, so I expanded the wildflower garden, added a stone walk in the middle, and also choose to move the Cassia and some sages and Allium to also fill in. I cannot believe how great the garden has done!!! It has also doubled the amount of honey and bumble bees visiting and now attracting butterflies. Some of the wildflowers have gotten taller then I! When I'm down there dead heading, the bees don't even seem to bother me. The garden has a number of things. Aster, Daisies, Bee Balms, two kinds of coneflower, Borage, poppies, Hollyhock, Cosmos, Dalhia, Zinnia, Black-Eyed Susan, baby breath, Sulphur Cosmo, Mexican Sunflower, ( which at this point is almost as tall as me now) Oakland Mariposa Lily, Butterfly weed, Queen Anne Lace, White Campion, Sweet William and many others yet to bloom.

Double bumbles!

Mind you, this was just the wildflower garden at the end of May...

And then as two weeks ago!

USUAL SUSPECTS IN THE GARDEN

It's been a warm sunny and downright glorious weekend! What with being away the last two weekends, I had much to do in the garden, especially deadheading various specimens to get even more blooms. The garden has had a wonderful spring, and things seem to grow leaps and bounds which seems to be overnight even. The wildflower garden in getting very tall and there are going to be oodles of a variety of blooms in it, along with the Cassia. Two days spent in the garden with one more day to relax. I told the showroom I would not be in Monday, put me in for a personal day. The beauty of my job is I could work four 10 hour days a week if I wanted and take off Mondays or Fridays, but a 10 hour day is long. Nonetheless... the garden of late.

This Centaurea Montana has been a great addition to the garden this year. And has already doubled in size. It gets full sun and is very good in heat and is very drought tolerant.

The columbines will be done soon till there next blooming.

A new suspect! A Greenback Woodpecker

Sea thrifts

The Clematis and Alliums are giving a spectacular showing this spring.

The spring dahlias

Campanula bellfower

Golden wagwort near the wildflowers

I'm not sure but this might be the start of chipmunk porn.

I put these steppingstones today in the wildflower garden so I can walk through to clip without crunching stems. To the left of the stone is where the cassia got moved this year, along with lavender, alliums, sages and dianthus . 

The delphiniums are starting to bloom in the salvia garden.

A friend of mine was here yesterday to clip my almost spent varieties of lavender and geraniums, in which she will make a lavender infused hand suave with it.

A grosbeak.

These Cleome on the side of the house finally bloomed this spring.

Happy to report that Sophie Lucille is off work release and confinement...no murders of late. And alas...the last of my peonies and others from the garden till next spring.