April Showers. .You Know What THAT Means!!

Well. .the school year is officially over around this place!!

Though it just ended yesterday, it FEELS like it is mid-June to me. Everything is blooming early. .and the heat is on!! Tomorrow is slated to be 99 degrees. We have already had several days in the mid 90's. Come along and see what is new here.

A lump of blue/purple salvia is coming along very nicely. .a gift from GonSS from her garden to mine in April. .I have been just tickled with it's progress. .I notice with her photos. .and from my mom's garden (I was able to ID this plant at her house! She knew what it was, I hadn't known that before) that this will freely self seed, and fill in a nice area of the Memory garden.

The wintersown Carnival morning glories are starting to climb up the rustic cedar fence. I can't wait to see the blooms. 

The cosmos did a super job of reseeding themselves to fill in this area on the east side of the pond. .I don't think I had any there last year. .so they must have traveled across the yard. The variegated cattail clump to the right in the photo has developed catkins. .will have to get a close up when the wind isn't blowing 50 mph!

The butterfly milkweed has established himself well. .and looks to have even reseeded in the area. It is really stunning in the midst of the purple larkspur. This weekend I hope to deadhead some of the dying larkspur to make way for the summer blooms.

The Ratibida are just starting their blooms. .The burgundy Mexican Hat coneflower plants were the "new plant" winners around here last year. .surviving the drought and heat and blooming for nearly 4 months. The yellow Ratibida are really nice too. They bloomed last summer, but they weren't that great. .these blooms seem to be larger and more showy! They self-seeded well. .and I will no doubt be digging them out for years to come!! 

The holly hocks are certainly making a statement this spring! Never do I recall having such nice looking plants. .and blooms from them. Earlier in the week as I shot these photos. .I scared a hummer out of them. I was tickled that there is still one out. .and that provoked me to refill my feeder and hang it where I could see it better. And then I was gone all week, here and there and everywhere. .am hoping to see him this weekend.

The blooms are red, burgundy, light pink, and white. Even the foliage has been relatively unscathed by insects. Maybe the chickens have scared them all away!!

The Russian garden is in bloom. Though the bluish sage in the middle is just starting and hard to see. The blanket flower have reseeded themselves in the garden. .but it just seems to be taking a long time for it to fill in. .It's coming!

I've been pretty happy with my patio plants so far this year. I found this cool looking foxtail fern and used some hot pink petunias and gomphrenia plants. Finally the honeysuckle bush is tall enough to give some relief and afternoon shade to the deck and it's inhabitants. 

The view from the boys' upstairs room shows the shape-up of the fish pond. The bushes to the far right are the caryopteris. .

Amazingly. .they are starting to bloom. .nearly 2 months ahead of schedule!!

One of the daylily plants shared by my friend Pat is blooming. .Pat. .if you stop by this post. .ID this one for me!! The other clumps have buds on them too. .so now it will be a short wait to see!! 

Wheat harvest started this afternoon. While the guys were in the middle of all that. .Cami and I hung out in the yard. .just taking deep breaths!! We jumped. .and played on the swings. .and checked out the flowers. .and peeked in the bluebird houses. .

Guess what we found?? 

A few TINY little bluebirds in the house by the road. Squinting with one eye through a 2 inch hole into a dark box provided only the glimpse of beaks and movement. .so we googled baby bluebirds. Cami couldn't see anything in the hole. .but she was pretty impressed by the tiny, naked birds we saw in the google images!! Can't wait to see them grow!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!

We are needing one around this house!!

The Garden and it's Creatures

It's so hard to believe that the summer has come and gone. We are enjoying cooler temperatures. .and though my gardening time is now severely restricted. .I do manage to find a few moments here and there to enjoy it!

We have had so much fun watching the dragon flies and butterflies this summer. .I never imagined that there were so many different kinds of dragonflies. .I have been taking their photos for weeks. .there are the little blue ones. .by far the most abundant kind. It isn't unusual to see 10 more more on one clump of the curly rush. .which by the way has been divided into two clumps and is doing remarkably well!

This big fat guy with the funky wings only came by a few times.

This one is a little hard to see, he is perched on the lily pad right under the yellow blossom.  It was a large dragonfly.

This guy was the most unusual dragonfly I saw all summer.  I love his reddish color. .he didn't stick around here for long either.

It won't be long before we stop feeding these rascals. We started with 19 smallish goldfish last fall that we saned from our friends' tank. I bought a yellow koi and a black google eyed goldfish in May. .now we have an uncountable number of fish and babies. .You can see how large the koi is, it started about the size of the cute little goldfish with black fins above.

Hoping to figure out how to hook the UV light inline to our pump this winter, to avoid the green water next spring. The lily didn't grow as large as I expected it to, so I will probably add another plant next spring. This one is a reddish pink. .I'm thinking a purple or yellow one.

The cats also enjoy the fish. .they stand on point at the edge, but I don't think they have ever managed to taste one!!

I have all but given up on the garden. There are finally some tomatos on the vine. . so maybe they will ripen before a frost next month. I also have lots of peppers still, and okra. My husband has been sauteing the okra, and it is pretty tasty, if you can get around the slimy texture. .even the kids eat them.  We are picking a few watermelon yet too.  The tomatoes are getting large in the bay window. .and need to be transplanted in the greenhouse soon.  I sowed flats of chives, parsely, oregano, broccoli, and cabbage last week. None of them are up yet. .I'm starting to worry. I have seen the Bright Lights Swiss Chard sprouts. .but yesterday when I went to water, I noted the tops were eaten off. .must have a mouse in there. I have left the doors open all summer to vent it. .first because they were broken. .but then because the self-opening windows weren't working. .so I'm sure there is a little nest somewhere!

I continue to enjoy this view out of the bay window.  The liatris I transplanted last year from our pasture has survived and is now blooming. The photos don't EVEN do it justice. .

. .and the spinyx moths are fun to watch up close and personal through the window. 

This hardy ice plant is flourishing in it's little crevice in the rocks by the waterfall.

Have you ever seen such a vivid color??

I got an aster cutting in the mail from my friend Gardener on Sherlock Street. .I wasn't sure what it was growing all this summer. .I knew what the possibilities were. .but it has been blooming it's first flowers for the last few days now.  I love purple blooms in the fall. .and so do the winged creatures.

I have been dying to see a swallowtail around here. .and finally this summer, I spotted some. This photo of the black swallowtail was taken a few weeks ago. .

. .and this one I saw a couple nights ago on the caryopteris.

The monarchs will soon be leaving for warmer weather in Mexico. .but for now, we are loving to watch them float around like little tufts of tissue paper in the breeze!

The red cypress vine has all but covered this metal headboard. .and the sunflower plants as well. I had hoped to attract hummingbirds with them. .but no such luck! I noticed that the dark eyed juncos are back as of last week. That means winter is around the corner.

I am really loving the purple fountain grass clumps. .and will need to be digging them up soon to overwinter in the greenhouse. I think I will put them by the pond again next summer, as they have given me immense pleasure this summer with their plumes and striking foliage!

The native plants from HCG are filling in well around the pond. .and the western ironweed is blooming now (the small purple ones in the front). The gray headed coneflowers are still blooming. .

As are the Mexican hats. .STILL. .They are hands down the flower winner around these gardens this summer!! Totally the most bang for my bucks!

An update on Tristan's foot. .the CT scan showed the damage in his foot to be worse than the doctor thought from the xray. His growth plate is still slightly open. .so no surgery for now. .but reconstructive surgery is what will likely happen after the plates close. .a process that he thinks will occur soon. So the walking boot is indefinite for now. .as is his basketball season. This week has been much better for all of us around here. .but we are still ready for the weekend!! One more day!!

Blessings to you. .Melanie