Getting Caught Up...

Phew!!  What a week its been trying to get caught up with my usual gardening chores… after a week out of the garden due to heat things were in bad shape, and needed a lot more TLC than usual… with my extensive gardens that means I've spent the last several days trimming, cleaning, weeding, dead-heading… and I'm finally caught back up (well, as caught up as I ever get)…

My new Phlox are doing well… I just love the pretty pink flowers & beautiful green leaves…

Miss Manners, my Obedient Plant, is being as her name implies… a very pretty & well behaved young lady...

This pretty new Larkspur (Delphinium) seems to enjoy his new bed…  Love the blue/purple flowers on this one…

I've discovered my Beardtongue like to fall over when watered… so I've given these girls some underwires to keep them up where they belong… all us girls need a little support from time to time...

Jacob's Ladder is also quite happy in his new home… hoping he'll put out some new blooms soon - according to the grower the blooms he has currently are a little light due to the heat spell we had recently… we'll see… I'm going to like this guy anyway :)

Mallow was ready for her closeup… love her pretty color...

My new renters (temporary residents, annuals) are happily blooming & keeping their garden spot looking pretty…

My hardy Hibiscus is getting ready to put out a profusion of blooms… just hope I can keep the Japanese Beetles at bay this year (they like this guy)…

This "mistake" ended up being an awesome shot… when I look at it full
size (double-click) it feels like I'm falling into the plant...

A pretty Hosta bloom...

Another strange shot (double-click to see full size)… kinda wonderful
but creepy with his shadow on the wall...

My Hostas continue to bloom like crazy… now only 2 varieties have yet to shoot up their bloom stalks…

Gregori Pepper Blooms

Gregori Pepper

The peppers I got from my friend (her family's peppers) are blooming and putting out lots of tasty little peppers… they have a flavor that has a hint of a Jalepeño taste, but with almost no heat… yummy!!

The Liatris are going crazy… and I discovered that the local Goldfinches like these flowers… I wish I was fast enough (or had a camera that could zoom way in) because I had a male Goldfinch sitting on & picking at these flowers (getting nectar?? getting bugs??) for a few minutes… but when I tried getting closer he flew off :(

This was a fun surprise this week… one of my Purple/White striped Petunia blooms has almost no white at all… wish this picture did her justice because she looks like dark purple felt… very pretty...

This little fellow let me clean up the Day Lily with him on it… and he posed quite nicely...

This little sweetheart landed next to me while cleaning another Day Lily… I've had lots of butterflies this week…

This butterfly was enjoying my Liatris… she let me get quite close to take some pictures… and she stayed close by for a couple minutes…

Another grasshopper that didn't mind me being around… looks like he might be the big brother to the other guy...

The local bees are also loving all the blooms… this is a Honey bee, but I've also had Black Bees, Bumble Bees, and some sort of teeny-tiny little bee… unfortunately I've also had some wasps (or are they hornets - the yellow & black type) but there's only been a couple & they're not giving me any trouble… I'm watching out for nests though...