It's hot, and dry. Very dry.

Wow, it's hot and dry. The grass is crunchy. Not good.

Here are some updates:

I told you there were canna in there! I'm crossing my fingers they will bloom.



Our house is being taken over by sunflowers, all volunteers!



The hydrangea from Oma is just beautiful. I'm hoping for even more blooms next year.



These lilies smell so sweet, we can smell them from inside the house sometimes.



This lovely daylily was a new addition last year (with the daisies seen in the background).



Smoke Bush looks good! To the right is Bee Balm from Mom's yard.



First bean harvest of the season!



We picked this up in Iowa, and Steve assembled it yesterday - too cute!

What we saw on our summer vacation

While we were in Lincoln, NE last week visiting my sister, we went to the Sunken Gardens and the Hamann Rose Garden. Here are a few of the things we saw.

Red Velvet Yarrow - I would love, love, love to get some of this.



Variegated iris:



Bee Balm:



Lady's Mantle (I planted this a couple of years ago in our gardens, and it didn't come back):



Some seriously happy Coral Bells, and a bumblebee doing it's thing on them:





Blooming Hens and Chicks!



Turtle baby statue:



I love old fashioned, white hydrangea:



And, hail - eek!

Rainy, humid update

Blech. Humid and grey. Not the best day to be in the garden for me, but the bugs sure seem to be enjoying it. Some new things blooming:

Rudbeckia - I planted these a few years ago, the second year they were gone, I thought oh, well but no, now they come back each year, in different spots, so I guess they are reseeding themselves.



White Astilbe is looking good. The pink is hidden under the hydrangea and daylilies, I need to mark it somehow so I can move it come fall.



These pink lilies are doing their thing quite nicely:



And here's a colorful wide shot of hydrangea, daylilies, yarrow and rose campion:

Our visitor of late

Weird, right? More white than black. Hmm.

On the verge of blooming

Walking around the gardens tonight I realized that sometimes things on the verge of blooming can be just as beautiful as the full bloom.

Bellflower:



Daisy:



Yarrow:



The one I can never remember the name of, and I need to move because the daylilies are shading and crowding it:



Hydrangea:



Hydrangea from Steve's Oma (finally, it will bloom!):



Astilbe:



Rudbeckia:



And, of course, the rose:

Pretty white blooms

Happy Anniversary to Lisa and Guy! 15 (or 14?) years ago today they got married and gave this Silky Dogwood as wedding favors:



The Snow on the Mountain that we brought with us from Cold Spring is also in bloom (yes, that is Chocolate Mint mixed in there):

Busy day in the garden!

Good morning!



One big project I tackled today - the weeds and mint that have taken over the azalea bed on the East side of the house.

Before:


During:


After - there is canna planted in there, and the delphiniums our godson brought us on Saturday:


(The transplanted volunteer sunflowers don't look so good now, but they'll bounce back.)

This coral bell planted itself in a crack of our sidewalk last year, earlier this spring I moved it back into one of our beds, and it is doing great! (Sweet William and Geum in the background)



I put some annuals in pots for out front:





We bought these at a new-to-us garden center, Sabellico, yesterday. That place is *huge!* We will need to go back, they had so many irises! Here is the millet and Toothache Plant:



and the Toothache Plant up close (the tag says you can chew the leaves to numb your gums, yikes.):



Dirty feet are a good sign of a long, exhausting and fulfilling day of gardening. :-)