Wednesday, June 19, 2013

In the Garden


The Hardy Hibiscus has finally made an appearance! I really thought it was dead. The woman at Linder's warned me that they come up really late - sometimes not until June. I had no reason to doubt her, but until last week, I was certain these things were dead. Must have faith. ;)

The poppies in the hellstrip are blooming, too. Based on how they seem to stretch for the afternoon sun,  it seems that they're not in a very good spot. The blossoms tend to flop onto the ground. I will collect the seed heads and try to seed them in some other spots this winter.

The Hope for Humanity is gorgeous right now. The pictures don't even come close to doing those roses justice. Work has been pretty difficult lately, and I often wonder about whether or not there is hope for humanity. Dramatic, I know.

The pink peonies are in their glory right now. The white ones will be opening soon. My living room and office both smell wonderful as I've brought many in to enjoy. I decided after they all got flattened in a storm last year that I should just cut them and enjoy them - I spend more time in my office than I do in the garden anyway.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Hummingbird!

I was at Dad's this weekend and happened to have my camera in the car to capture the action at the hummingbird feeder. The light wasn't great to get the colors on the bird (this one is red-throated), but the wings on this guy were amazing!





Saturday, June 15, 2013

In the Garden

I'm so behind! I missed posting the tulip pictures - they were quite nice this year. Awfully late, but they were pretty. By this point in June, the leaves have usually withered to nothing and it's easy to plant around/on top of them. Not so this year. I've got a tomato planted smack in the middle of a tulip patch because I had no where else to put it!

I'm excited about the lovage this year. It finally appears to be reaching it's full height - almost as tall as me. And it looks like it's going to bloom. I'm planning on harvesting the seed for planting in other places around the garden and to make celery salt.

The baptisia is finally blooming! I planted this from seed 3-4 years ago and while it has always survived the winter, this year it's finally worthy of stopping to look at! It's still quite small, but the sweet pea-like blossoms are lovely. It's planted the hellstrip, so the soil (if you can call it that) isn't great, and it's usually hot and dry. I'm hoping next year it becomes the standout of the spring.

Grandma Z's rose bush has a couple of blossoms. I think it bloomed once all of last year, so it's already surpassed last year's performance. This is also planted in the hellstrip, but that's sort of where it got it's origins. It used to grow in the ditch by Grandma's house. We dug up a patch and planted it at Dad's house. He's done nothing with it for 20+ years and it has practically taken over the hill on which it was planted. I dug up a bit a few years ago for the boulevard. It's comforting to have a piece of Grandma just outside the front door. I don't really know what it is... some kind of rugosa. The hips are big and hopefully I'll have enough some day to make rosehip jelly or some other little treat.

If you look closely at the Jacruwhi rose leaves, you can see that the leaf cutter bees have been at work. They get all my rose bushes at some point, but do seem to prefer some to others. They don't really harm the rosebush and with all the news about declining bee populations, I'm happy to provide them with nesting material.