August is almost over already

Yikes! It has been over a month since I posted here. I am obviously not spending much time outside in the yard, but when I do, I enjoy it despite my hip. How that the weather is cooling a bit, I hope to get some of the mess cleaned up before long. Meanwhile, here are some flowers to enjoy.

Rudbeckia subtomentosa

'Wild Romance' aster

Aster laevis

'Purple Dome' aster

Cosmos sulphureus

Coreopsis Tinctoria

'Limelight' hydrangea

'Royal Standard' hosta

Harvest

I am not growing much food in the garden this year, but there are a few items I cling to. Besides the cukes and zukes, there are green beans as well. Despite the plethora of farmers markets around here, I still think fresh-picked from my own garden tastes best.

Zucchini blossom

Zucchini

Cucumber blossom

Cucumber

There are several beds devoted to dye plants. Initially, it pained me to nip off all the blossoms, but miraculously, the next day there are more! The hollyhocks are about done, though.

Cosmos sulphereous, dyers coreopsis, black hollyhock

I wait for the hollyhock blossoms to fall on the ground before harvesting them; if you pick them off the stalks, you just might end up with an angry Japanese beetle on your hands. The other day, I watered the hollyhock before picking up the fallen blossoms, and the buds bled blue. I'm excited about dyeing with them.

More HOT

More oppressively hot weather is here for a couple of days. And it is dry to boot, so most of my gardening has been watering. I have two rain barrels and the kits for attaching them to the downspouts, but I have not been able to bring myself to cut up the downspouts. Good thing the outside faucets are on the old well.

Rattlesnake master is one plant that looks like it is made for the heat.

This is daylily season

Coneflowers are starting

Bee balm is also doing well

I think this coreopsis needs to be divided... in the fall

Hope you are keeping cool this weekend!

Housebound

MORE "heat advisory" weather! I planned to do a little weeding this morning, but after walking the dogs, I decided to hunker down inside. Tomorrow doesn't look promising, either. At least I mowed and trimmed yesterday, so things look somewhat tidy out there (except for the weeds).

What I call "ditch lilies" are busting out all over town, but not here. None of mine receive full sun, plus last year I divided some and those are still getting acclimated to their new locations.

This leaf damage seems to be limited to some suckers on one of the redbud trees. After a Google search, I concluded that this is evidence of the leafcutting bee, a native and beneficial pollinator. I see so few pollinators in my yard anymore, this one is more than welcome.

Despite my error in starting seeds too early inside, the resulting plants are (mostly) doing okay. I am growing these cosmos (cosmos sulphureus) to dye yarn, but the orange color is so vivid, I would consider planting them just for that alone.

The seed packet tacks on the word "red" to its name and in the package photo they look red, but mine are definitely orange tinged with red.

Another dye plant, dyers coreopsis (Coreopsis Tinctoria), produces lovely blossoms, but the plants are gangly and sparse.

I abandoned my original plans for the Profusion zinnias, to plant them mostly in the front yard, and put them in pots instead. Most are doing quite well and provide a nice accent for the back deck.

Too bad it's too hot to sit on the deck.

These three annuals are on the short list for next year. The dye plants need to live up to their hype first, though.

The mulch pile is GONE

I started taking a series of photos of the pile of wood chips in the driveway as we chipped (HA!) away at it, but failed to keep up. Just moving all that mulch was work enough. Yesterday my SO finished it off while I made an semi-emergency run to pick up my granddaughter from her summer program (stomach bug). What a relief to have that gone! Maybe the neighbors will stop commenting on it now.

Meanwhile, more plants are blooming. I purchased this 'Chicago Lustre' viburnum because I was assured it would help the 'Blue Muffin' set fruit. I don't know how that could happen when they bloom at different times. I know I should just let that go, but it still bugs me.

At least the 'Chicago Lustre' doesn't smell like something died.

The good old 'Betty Corning' clematis vines are going to town. The tuteurs are doing a good job holding them up although I still needed to wrap some twine around them to keep them from going too far astray. I was more successful with this one than its mate, which is sprawling across the nearby juniper chinensis.

The 'Avant-garde' clematis is not blooming yet, but has already outgrown its own (shorter) tuteur. I forgot that it gets so tall. Maybe next year I'll provide it with something to crawl up once it reaches the limit of the tutear.

This hosta receives more sun than the rest, so it is blooming first. It is in the bed with the yucca that won't die, under the sandcherry. I think this variety is 'Francis Williams'.

The only long-lived coreopsis I have found is 'Zagreb' but this bit of 'Tequila Sunrise' persists nevertheless.

The smokebush shrubs are smokin'! The purple leaf one by the house almost always looks dramatic...

... while 'Golden Spirit' is more subdued. This is the second season for the latter, so maybe when it grows big and strong like its cousin, its "smoke" will make me go WOW. And if not, I still love the foliage.

Believe it or not, I *still* have not finished transplanting, but I'm working on it. Last night I repotted a few that I think need to be a bit bigger before going into the ground and took inventory of the rest. Despite the weather, my neglect, and several dog attacks, there are few casualties. This weekend promises to be a HOT one, so it will be a few more days before I complete this task.

Meanwhile, I did some pruning of redbuds. How old are these trees? According to this blog, I planted them in 2011, which makes them older than I realized. It seems like just yesterday they looked like sticks!

Bedraggled

The weather is just not cooperating with my gardening efforts. Too hot, too humid, or like today, too wet. I did clear out the asparagus bed and planted coneflower and rudbekia there. Now I am looking critically at other difficult-to-manage areas of the yard and garden to determine what might be easier to maintain. Like the "orchard" and the rings of castle block around the redbuds. I love my yard but sometimes it is overwhelming.

The leggy annuals are not putting on much of a show (yet), but the random blooms do look perty.

Giant Scarlet-Red Zinnia

Dyers Coreopsis

Torch (Mexican) Sunflower

The lance-leaf coreopsis is supposed to reseed itself, but this year there is just one lone patch. I *suppose* if I kept that area weeded better, there would be more. I think mulch may interfere with the reseeding, too.

Ignore the burdock

I really did weed the south side of the house but somehow missed the thistle growing up in this little patch of shasta daisy. It is one of the bedraggled-by-the-rain flowers.

Ignore the thistle

Another bedraggled specimen is the Stella d' Oro daylilies. They are busting out all over town, though, so hopefully mine will pull through soon.

Put the rain on 'pause' please

The goutweed, a.k.a. bishop's weed, is doing its thing. This bed is relatively isolated so (fingers crossed) it won't become a pest. However, if it keeps the weeds at bay, maybe letting is spread is not such a bad thing. (Can you tell I am tired of weeding?)

Soon the utility boxes will be hidden

This is its third season. First year sleep, second year creep, third year leap.

Seed on!

We were hoping to eliminate the weed pile in the driveway today but RAIN. I've been keeping up on the mowing and not much else. Right now the forecast is for a wet week, but hopefully we can get some things accomplished in between showers.

Flower power

My yard is on the large size, so while I have lots of plants in bloom, they lack visual impact because they aren't planted in drifts. This year I have been moving things around, so the nomads are not blooming hot and heavy yet either. Here is what's in bloom right now.

The tiger lilies are done, but daylily season is here.

Midsummer is also coreopsis season.

'Zagreb' coreopsis

'Tequila Sunrise' (I think) coreopsis

Lanceleaf coreopsis

The clematis is hanging on.

'Avant-garde' clematis

'Betty Corning' clematis

The first Rose of Sharon is shy, facing the wrong way.

Hibiscus syriacus 'Aphrodite'

This is the first year for smooth hydrangea. I guess this is as good as it gets bloomwise.

The catmint is basically done, but the catnip is making up for it. I checked my wildflower book - catnip is an alien, so I have started eliminating it from the yard. Don't tell Finn.

Some volunteers are native.

Pokeweed

Fleabane

Other volunteers are a mystery, but I'm guessing this is a weed.

The coneflowers have been up and at 'em for a while, but the rudbekia is just starting.

Despite my neglect, some bee balm and yarrow have survived.

My prairie smoke didn't smoke this year, but the smoke bush is.

Can anyone explain to me why sweet alyssum continues blooming when crowded in a pot, but if planted by its lonesome, the blooming stops?

Gardening is always full of surprises: some columbine continues to bloom while the early flowering hostas seem sparse this year.

And last but not least, some butterfly attractants.

Common milkweed

Buddleia 'Miss Violet'

I actually saw a butterfly today that wasn't a paper white. Maybe a black swallowtail? It flitted around, not settling on anything despite my efforts to provide a variety of choices.