At this point in my life I have more gardens than I can manage, but I love to work in them whenever the kids are outside and I want to keep a close eye on them -- the kids that is! Most of the gardens have plenty of weeds to keep me busy, but certainly not as bad as my vegetable garden. All the gardens need to be edged again this year too. Thankfully, the Engineer takes care of that when he has a stretch of free time outdoors. I just don't seem to have the strength to wield the shovel and dig out sod. It take me at least twice as long as him to get a fifteen foot section done. I'll stick to the weeding and mulching.
So what's in bloom this week? Most of my perennials are hitting peak bloom time right about now. Some will bloom all summer and some only a few weeks.
The first three are different varieties of cranesbill geraniums. I have a pink one too, but in all the moving around of plants we did in the fall for our renovation, it might have died. I love these for their deeply cut leaves, their nice mounding shape, and that they look so rich -- even when not showing off their gorgeous delicate flowers.
Peach leaved bellflower gets its name from its leaves that are shaped similarly to those on a peach tree, as well as their bell-shaped flowers. They usually bloom twice a summer for me.
Coreopsis or tickseed. Another all summer bloomer and quite fragile really. I love to cut it and bring it in.
A lily and an incredible performer. They really are that orange. I think they are the reason Crayola has the red-orange crayon. :-)
My first rose to bloom. It is a hybrid tea, but I forget which one and I am too tired to run outside to see if it still has a readable tag. Normally it is not such a fly attracting rose. It actually smells quite light. The flies were warming up after a cool wet afternoon. Who wouldn't want to bask in the sun on a delicately scented rose?!?
Bug eaten daises. These guys grow rampant in my garden. I'm sure they're just seeds from a wild one, although I know I paid a neat little sum for the original one at one of the local greenhouses. Live and learn! The cashier was probably snickering behind my back as I walked out with it.
One of my favorites. A delphinium. They are so tall and majestic. Strong too. They have been known to survive through some pretty wild summer storms here. They will bloom twice for me, although the second time around, the blooms are not quite as large. That blue really is its colour! I'm not sure if Crayola has that colour in their box. :-)
They are all so lovely! I adore coreopsis. It's the FL state wildflower. I was amazed at how many varieties there are (at least 9 if I remember correctly). We have some growing wild in our yard, but it's a different variety from yours. I always hate having to mow and run over them. :(
ReplyDeleteThe red-bellied woodpecker in the feeder I *think* might be a juvenile. There isn't much red on its head at all (you have to look very closely). I finally saw the female up in the oak tree with the male yesterday. She has definite red on her head so that's why I'm thinking this one that I got a photo of was a juvenile. I need to do some more research on that. Birding is new to us for the most part. The other pics were indeed a cardinal family minus the male. I would love to take the feeder off the string and put it on a pole. The way it is now the poor birds spin round and round while trying to eat. LOL