New Blooms

7/13/13
    

Asiatic lily

    In one of my earlier blog posts I wrote about three Asiatic lilies that suddenly appeared at the side of the house.  Since they were here when we moved in, I had no idea what color they would be.  I transplanted them to the backyard garden, because my husband wanted to put the trash cans there on the side of the house where they were growing.

lilies amid the hostas

     Here are the three lilies planted among the hostas in the backyard garden.  They finally bloomed about a week ago.  Their fragrance is heavenly.

butterfly bush

     This is a photo of a little slip of a butterfly bush I bought at a garden club plant sale this past spring.  It was planted in the side garden in May.

butterfly bush

 
     Here is the butterfly bush now with its first bloom.

glossy abelia

 

 

     This week the first bloom appeared on the glossy abelia shrub planted in the side garden.

crepe myrtle

     The crepe myrtle tree also had its first bloom this week.

zinnia seedlings

     Although I bought zinnia plants in May for the side garden to quickly fill up all the empty space, I really like to grow them from seed.  After reading Adrian Higgins garden column in the Washington Post two weeks ago where he said it wasn't too late to plant zinnia seeds, I immediately went out and bought some and planted two rows of them.  This is a photo of the seedlings after two weeks of planting. 

cosmos seedlings

 

     When I bought the zinnia seeds I also bought some cosmos seeds.  I always like to have cosmos somewhere in the garden, and I hadn't gotten around to planting any cosmos seeds this spring.  I thought, "Well, if I'm going to plant zinnia seeds I might as well plant cosmos seeds too".  I planted two rows of the cosmos seeds in the backyard garden.

     We've had another week of rain here.  It has rained every day since July 6th, and I'm really fed up with the weather.  Some of my plants have mildew, and there's all sorts of fungi growing in the yard.  I hope we get the hot, sunny weather that's forecasted for this week.  Maybe it will dry everyhing up, and the yard won't be so squishy anymore.

The Electric Garden

7/2/13

Scotch broom

      At a far front corner of the yard there are plantings I call my electric garden.  These plants were here when we moved in, and they surround a large electrical box.

     This is the garden in mid-May.  Two red Scotch broom shrubs bloom at the  back corners of the electrical box.  Scotch broom is considered invasive in some states, particularly out west.

front of  box

     At the front of the box in mid-May daisies and milkweed are starting to grow.

mid-June

     In mid-June the Scotch broom is done blooming, and the daisies and milkweed are starting to blossom.
    

July

     Now in July, the daisies and milkweed are in fulll bloom.

milkweed blossom

     Here is a close-up of a milkweed blossom.  The bees love it.

daisies

     The daisies seem so bright and cheerful.  I think I will cut some and bring them into the house.  We need some cheering up here.  It has been raining everyday for almost two weeks.  We have had ten inches of rain in June.  I need some sun!