Enjoying My Garden: June 2013

Sunday, June 30, 2013

A couple more happenings...

My Spirea are now blooming well… it's about time!!

The above is a side profile of a couple of my Spirea bushes...

Closeup of some Spirea bloom clusters...

What's this? Well… I love to cook (if you didn't know) and I had some garlic cloves that had started sprouting in my garlic holder… and I just couldn't resist planting them - they're growing like gangbusters…

That's all that's new lately, more blooms ready to pop any day now!!

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

She's Up & Blooming… and other news...

She's Up & Blooming!! Who? Why one of my Peruvian Daffodils, that's who!!

Here's her first bloom, caught on camera yesterday…

That thick-ish looking petal-ish thing sticking straight up in the above photo was actually….

Her Second Bloom!! This picture was taken this morning… and tonight when I checked a Third bloom is ready to open as well… I'm just thrilled!!

I always like the look of this, it's the after-pic - Ninebark after her blooms fall off, don't know if that's technically a berry or ???

And finally, my white Campanul has started blooming… Yes!!

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Storm Damage & Warmer Weather...

So, we had some storms… resulting in…

This is what I first noticed… just off the edge of my deck this root ball was sticking out of the ground….

That's my neighbor's deck, the top of the tree went just to the side of it (no damage there)… in fact the tree missed 2 houses - I have 3 neighbors along the side of my lot… no pets, people or buildings damaged… Tree was 90-100' tall, good news is it was a Cottonwood :)

Roots & Pit… the dirt on the roots reached about 5' above ground level (nose level for me & I'm about 5'5")…. picture was taken from above (on my deck)...

What you can't see because of all the branches is what IS under the tree...

Yep, a Chain Link fence (one neighbor)...

And a wire fence (another neighbor)...

Pictured here is a local hero at work, Lloyd… he's a neighbor down the street that has a lot of experience cutting up big trees (he climbed one to cut it for us a couple years ago), and the proper tools as well… His young son & I did most of the hauling away (except for the big chunks)…

My Ninebark got blown to bits… most of her blooms are gone after a series of storms we've had (some since these pics)...

My decorative grasses got flattened...

My Weigela got bent out of shape… I've had to trim her back a bit… later storms knocked a good number of her blooms off as well...

One of my Beardtongue got pushed over & had to be propped back up...

My Smoke Bush and Bridal Veil Spirea got mangled… I was able to push them back into place & they've recovered, though later storms stripped my Spirea of her blooms :(

Not everything didn't like the storms… this little beauty, a Daisy named Becky, decided to start opening up and make me smile…

Then, just when we'd gotten the cleanup done earlier that day… another storm hit… and it was raining so hard that Brooks Pond filled up in about 15-20 minutes… I think that's a record… notice my Birdbath trying to float away…

But we've also had some very nice warm sunny weather… and things are continuing to bloom & grow...

Snap Dragon blooms...

Spirea blooms...

Balloon Flower bloom

Weigela… see all the blooms on the ground that have been knocked down by storms :(

Beardtongue has recovered, no longer needs to be propped, and continues to bloom...

Another Beardtongue going strong...

And my little Beardtongue is doing well...

This is one of my Campanula (Bell Flower) plants, with its first bloom open...

Jacob's Ladder blooming like crazy...

Becky is wide open now after all the warm weather… :)

My little Hydrangea is growing & I hope will start to produce blooms soon...

My big Hydrangea (Annabelle) is getting ready to bloom...

Snap Dragon blooms...

Snap Dragon blooms…

Ok… now I'm caught up :) Until next time!!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

And a few hours later...

These pictures were taken just a few hours after my previous post… amazing how a nice warm day can get things growing!!

One of my Snap Dragons...

The Balloon Flower bloom opened up the rest of the way…. notice the fine brown powder, that's my deer/bunny repellant - apparently the bunnies like these blooms as well because the second open bloom on this plant had been (mostly) nibbled away (grrr!!)….

If you could hear these blooms popping open it would sound like popcorn… wow, they're popping fast!!

My last Beardtongue, last to open its blooms that is, finally has a couple open blooms… yeah!!

More blooming going on...

It's almost Summer (at least technically) and Spring is finally starting to get into full swing here in Minnesota - very late this year!!

This is a new friend in the garden this year, a Balloon Flower, and she's deciding to start opening her blooms… I love the vibrant color!!

Balloon Flower bloom closeup, not quite all the way open yet...

More of my Beardtongue plants are opening their blooms, I still have one that hasn't opened yet but when she does you'll see the pictures!!

My "short" variety of Day Lily has finally started to put on blooms (about a month later than usual)...

I call this a Bridal Veil Spirea, that's what the locals told me it was, now someone who saw bloom pics on the internet thinks it's something else… do I care? No, I just like the pretty flowers!!

Dew on a Spiderwort bloom… love this new plant!

Dew on Lantana… love these annuals, I will probably keep getting them year after year!

With everything else starting late I never expected this guy to show up at his usual time… but here he comes, starting to send up shoots (sometimes it starts as late as early July)… this is my Hardy Hibiscus - yes, a Hibiscus that survives Minnesota Winters….