Garden Tour. .

Hello!!

I've stayed away longer than I expected!

I took a few pictures a couple weeks back. .but never had time to post them. .

So here ya go. .

Beware--heavy on photos this time!!

We have had so much rain and cooler temperatures than we have for quite a while. .that the vegetation is looking great!! And I wanted to document it. .oh and share it with you all too!!

Here is the cucumber jungle! I have picked a few small picklers and one large cucumber today! The dill is at the lower center of the photo. At the back of this garden is the pepper plants and beets! 

Here is my blackberry bush! WOW!! We have picked handfuls and handfuls!! Because the garage we just tore down was mounted on a concrete base wall. .I can now walk behind this bush and the soil level is at my waist. .SO. .after Jeremy builds me a wooden support. .We will train the bush over it and it is already a blessing to be able to pick from the back side of the bush as well as the front!! My $7 plant that I have moved 3 times is finally paying for itself! 

The trumpet vine has also really sported the blooms! We even saw a lone hummer on it last week! 

I dont' know what little succulent this is. but it loves the horse trough it is living in! 

Because of the construction of the new garage, my compost pile got relocated! Jeremy built me a sturdy iron structure to replace my rotting, falling down pallets. .and we put it on the north side of the green house. The watermelon rinds are sure attracting the butterflies!! 

Chocolate flower. .new little plant I bought from High Country Gardens to go on this super hot west bed that nothing else will grow in. .He likes it there! 

I LOVE frogs!! 

I don't know how they find us in this desert land. .but there are about 100 that hear jumping into the pond every time I walk by! 

Speaking of the pond. .

I LOVE this!! Jeremy has really helped out with maintaining it. .

And the plants are finally looking good!

Here it is again, peeking up toward the house. You can't see the pond when you drive into our driveway. .and it often surprises people when they walk up the sidewalk to the house. 

Look at this gorgeous water lily!!

4th of July found Tristan and I digging holes for these salvaged rail ties. We put in solar lights to light up the sidewalks. Both up the front walk (see the pond up yonder) as well as outline the memory garden walks. LOVE THEM!! 

My favorite daylily. I need to see if I can find a plant label. .but I love the colors! 

My little asparagus plants are doing well. 

Pampas grass that will grow up tall so it will block the unsightly views of the dead car lot! 

Other thing Tristan, Jeremy and I did on the 4th was trench in a water line UNDER the existing sidewalk so I will no longer have hoses left over the sidewalks! It was an all-about-me day. .and I made over 14000 steps that day. .plus some SUPER sore arm and chest muscles from all those post holes and digging!! I'm not 20 anymore. .I'm not 20 anymore. .I wish I could remember that!! 

Here is the memory garden about 2 1/2 weeks ago. .It's filled in more since then! 

Shasta's, yellow coneflowers, and a salvia in the memory garden. 

You see how quickly those cucumber vines took over the place?? 

I finally had Black Eyed Susans that look like the kind that bloom in Michigan. .right Sue?? 

You can see how loaded those black berry bushes were! 

East deck with some gorgeous ferns!! Those self watering planters made 100% of the difference! 

North garden is finally filling in. It doesn't take a great photo yet. .but it is coming right along! 

love!! 

Lavender and a different variety of susan.  

A couple photos of some of my daylilies. 

This one has a little Monarda in the front. 

This hosta gets dripped on by the condensation from the roof. .It loves that!  

Here is the blooms from my Russian garden. .They looked nice this summer!! It is one of my neglected beds. .and there are plenty of weeds to pull. .ug! 

Love this little penstemon!

It's planted next to this Videx tree. Cami spotted a hummer here last week. We haven't seen him since. .but it spent quite a while on this bush! 

Memory garden. .It's before the next light fixtures. 

We also enjoyed several handfuls of raspberries this summer too!! I can't WAIT till those babies produce again next summer. .they were delicious! 

Here are the cucumbers again. .looking toward the new garage. .and by the white picket way in the back and upper left is where the black berry bush is. .you can see the concrete wall there. 

Cynthia. .here is that monarda that you shared with me a few summers ago! I have transplanted some to two other places in my flower gardens. .I LOVE it!! 

Had to end with a spectacular Kansas sunset!! I LOVE our sunsets. .

Thanks for stopping by!! 

A Little August Color. .

It seems very difficult to believe that it is the middle of August. .

Not only because we have had over 7 inches of rain in the last month

(which to some of you sounds like no big deal. .

but to us in Western Kansas. .

In JULY/AUGUST. .

It is a HUGE deal!!)

But also because the temperatures for that same length of time have been in the 70-80’s and a few low to mid 90’s!!

This time of year is when we USUALLY have our multiple 100 degree days!!

Now don’t hear me complaining. .

I am NOT!! It just feels strange!!

The flowers are LOVING the weather. .

So I thought I would give you a quick tour!!

This is a little clump of purple salvia that I moved from my mom’s gardens after she moved. .

The bonus was. .

The pink sweet William in the front!

Across the sidewalk from that is my lil’ veggie garden.

The tomatoes have been a total bust!! Not sure why. .

According to all the messages in my In-box. .

Everyone else who bought these grow boxes have PHENOMENAL results!!

Grr!!

The basil and peppers have started to really look nice though. .

And the cucumber vines have grown well. .

The ones that survived the kittens did anyway!!

The three galvanized tubs that were salvaged for herbs are doing well. .

Dill compacto on the left is blooming!

I think I will let it make seed and hope that a few will come up in the straw area next spring! There is also some lemon thyme in with it. .

The chives are in the middle with a clump of regular thyme. .

And something LOVES oregano other than us. .

Cause it has nibbled the clump in the right pot down to the quick. .

It’s just now regenerating!

Grant and I are hoping to make some raised beds in the background to grow beets, garlic, and okra, and put the tomatoes back into the ground, using the grow tubs for peppers and smaller things. We also intend on moving the rhubarb and blackberry plant to the same area. .

Adding another blackberry bush and another raspberry bush as well as two grapevines.

The garden has sure been handier to monitor for this busy gardener when it is right under my nose as I leave every morning!

These little self watering tubs are working better on the flowers than they are on the veggies. .

They have just been slow to take off. .

Usually, we are eating watermelon by now. .

At least we have the promise of watermelon to come. .

Cantaloupe too!!

That will be wonderful!

The nice thing will be. .

That I will pick up the tomatoberry plants that are producing. .

As well as the established pepper and basil plants. .

And move them straight to the greenhouse in their grow boxes.

I am excited to see how that works out.

I also started some new tomatoes, some swiss chard, cilantro seeds, and Diva cucumbers. These will be my winter greenhouse crop.

The moonflowers have reseeded in several areas of the garden. .

They sure do shine in the moonlight and into early morning!
Tristan even picked one for me and brought it into the house the other morning. .
They don't last well in a vase. .
but he didn't know that!!

This was a volunteer Russian sage from my Russian garden. .

I transplanted it to the memory garden last spring. .

It is doing well here and the bees love it!

In contrast. .

Here is my Russian garden!!

Not only do the flowers love the rain. .

So do the weeds!!

This bed was cleaned out not long ago!! The Texas red yucca are just now big enough to have had one bloom on them. .

I think that in the next year or two, that color combo will be really stunning! This bed has had no additional water, even earlier in the summer when it was hotter and things seem to be holding their own.

Back to the memory garden. .

There is a HUGE patch of these cute little mini hollyhocks! Behind are all the dried blooms from the Monarda!

My favorite Grandpa Otts morning glory. .

They are rambling up the fences now!

Right down from those is this transplanted clump of Karley Rose grass. .

One of my very favorite grasses with purplish plumes and a medium height.

The patch of purple is a sedum from my mom. .

Possibly blackjack.

When we moved plants from her yard, she remembered how much I loved the black sedum and asked me to take that clump. It has established well. .

And I’m not sure that I had ever really been to her house this time of the year. .

Because the stem color has darkened dramatically. .
And I love it even more now!

Can’t wait to propagate that into some new clumps!

Last bloomer in the memory garden is this Guava ice coneflower that I got on clearance in mid June!! Loving that!

Grant’s zinnias are blooming. .

And look nice with Salvia shared by Gardener on Sherlock street. .

As well as near the goldenrod that has been blooming for about a month now!

One naked lady left. .

The clump was gorgeous. .

And there were several clumps that I found.

Those reestablish sooo slowly after moving them, that I still find new clumps each year!!

I tried to grow gladiolus this year. .

I’ve had mixed results. .

There were several that died. .

Though I’m not sure what made the difference.

I’ve had a handful that bloomed. .

Some that bloomed also had the bulb next to them die. .

Go figure!!

The pitcher pump has run water all summer!!

Seems the magical cure was to get it out of nearly all of the wind. .

I have absolutely loved it!!

My large galvanized tub. .

With purple fountain grass, lemongrass (which I STILL don’t know how to cook with) and sweet potato vine. .

There are still some purple petunias in there. .

But the other stuff is edging them out. I do like the contrasting colors and foliage!

The $2 clearance canna bulbs are starting to bloom in the pond. .
I'm hoping to salvage those in my garage this winter and use them again next year.

And this little blue pickerel water plant has also been throwing purple flowers out for about 2 months now!

The corkscrew rush has been naturalizing the pond since the pond’s inception. It looked really neat with the rain drops still on it’s stalks!

As did the backlit Mexican hats!

I love sooo much the colors of later summer and fall. .

Everything is fuller. .

The butterflies are visiting in full force. .

And the weather promises cooler temperatures (eventually)

I’m sure there will be a few more blooms to showcase before the end of the season!!