Moonflower in Bloom!

Finally, my first Datura to bloom this summer. There should be a lot of them this year as I let them go to seed last fall and they fell helter skelter around my planter. This summer I've transplanted them around to different areas. They belong to the family, Solanaceae or Nightshade. They are often called moonflowers because they bloom at night and smell nice. The deer don't like them because they are poisonous. They are also known as Angel Trumpets. I'm looking forward to seeing a bunch of these in bloom!

Bees Doing Their Thing

Bee Balm under Mason Bee House

I tried to capture the multiple bees around the bee balm today with my phone camera, but haven't figured out how to do a close up.  Since I got stung last night by mosquitoes all over, I figured I didn't want to get too close!

These bee balm were swarming with bees!

Obsessing Since I Got Out of the Hospital

No more ginormous hostas this year

One of the things I've been able to do since I came home from the hospital is work in the garden.  I wish I had pics of when Josh was here helping out, but we were busy working, or he was.  I was still pretty wobbly.  Since then, I've been weeding, pruning a bit, and getting a few new thing in.   I even put in some nasturtium seeds, though it's way too late.  It's been hot as heck except for the past two days which have been dry as well.  Monday promises more heat and rain.  I continue to take pictures, but I need to get out to some other gardens to add more pictures and points of view.

Front bed contains Purple Cone Flower (Rudbeckia purpurea) & Moonbeam Coreopsis

Swamp milk weed in front of huge Joe Pye Weed

A Walk Around the Garden

Annabelle hydrangeas

Since I've been in the hospital for the past 10 days after a cycling accident caused me to have a concussion and some bleeding in the brain, I've been missing out on changes in my garden.  I asked my husband to take some photos of it to fill me in on what's blooming now and so I know what I will need to do when I get out.  Since I'm not quite steady on my feet yet, there's not much I can do, but I sure need to place the order which may be lost for more plants for the "rain garden," get more mulch for the beds out back, plant alyssum and nasturtiums (is it too late for seeds?), and get some flagstones or other stepping stones for areas in beds and in the yard that need them.  We've had lots of rain to go with the heat since I've been her, so things are growing just fine.  Thanks to Bev Moss  of Garden Rhythms and her crew of master gardeners for helping me get my garden in shape before my accident.  I hope to take the Master Gardener class in the winter.

Coreopsis coming in.  I need more annuals in front.  Let me out
of the hospital please!  I'm in need of color!

Border of vegetable bed.  May need to clear out more room.  
Need to see if any raspberries are in season







Herbs coming up as well as raspberry bush

Honeysuckle has just about gone and clematis in bloom

Plants on deck

West side bed is booming!

Evie napping on Rene's desk

Mid June

Things are changing very fast around here.  Here are a few photos from three weeks back before my cycling accident when things were a bit dryer, just after the peak peonies though thankfully I still had a few in the side yard though past their prime were full of color.

New England Aster

 

 Milk weed, geranium and some kind of sedum

Honeysuckle and hosta

Backyard jungle of hostas, ferns and forest pansy red bud along with shrubs 

NEW SHOVEL

My friend Lori surprised me with a beautiful new shovel as she was sitting shiva for her husband Sid.  I had helped clear the front bed a week before and her awesome neighbor Dawn who does a lot of her gardening had been sent to buy me a new tool.  This is the one Dawn picked, and it is great for transplanting!  In fact it's called a transplanter and performs " all functions of transplanter, drain spade, digging spade, and standard shovel."  It's made by Radius and I really recommend it. No more  trampling everything as I dig.  It goes down deep with absolutely no effort.  What a wonderful present!  With the new shovel I was able to dig out some of the overgrowth of perennials and make some room around different ones, good thing because the current rain has encouraged more and more growth.  Next on my tool buying list is an edger.

New photos on a stroll around the west side of the house

After an overnight and all day rain:

My attempt at a rain garden.  The grasses died over the winter, so they need too be replaced.

Siberian iris, catmint and  unknown plant

Peonies and hosta