Hot Summer morning

I love morning.

The lilies with a seed pod from a daisy flowered Iris.

Abraham Darby rose.

Lobelia self seeded in the rose garden from last year. The deep blue barely shows up in photos.

The front yard was already feeling hot at 7:30am. Godetia.

Lavender Poppies.

The Portulaca does so well in the hot weather.

Cerinthe turning more and more blue. Can you believe how cool this is?

First white Cosmos opened among the Godetia under the Coral Bark Maple tree.

Rainbow knock-out Rose still doing well.

This is the fire heather, in yet another lovely stage, yellow with pink rings of bloom.

Allium Seeding.

Hydrangea starting to give a preview of turning the gorgeous autumn purple.

Beans, outgrowing the tripod we gave them, oops!

Heat lovers.

Saving Seeds

Gathering seed is one of my favorite things to do in the garden. The vegetables are quickly ripening their seed in the summer heat, and this morning I cut the long stocks of buff pods & crackled them into containers for later sowing.

Flat leaf Parsley pods.

Italian Parsley, Radish and Arugula seeds, into old Rx bottles for garage storage.

I also found the Cilantro seeds (Coriander) to be ready for harvest.

Flowers, Food.

Stargazer Lily.

The scent will pull you across the garden.

Standing about 3 feet high, the first sunflower is blooming: 'Pro Cut Peach'.

I planted a lot of different sunflower varieties so it will be fun to see them bloom. This is a branching variety so it will have a lot of blooms on this stock & will probably need staking later due to the weight.


Poor planning or happy accident...Lilies coming up under the hammock.

San Marzano Roma type tomatoes.

A look at the vegetable garden, many spring veg are going to seed. The leaf lettuces got very large and bitter, and have been pulled & replanted & are already growing well. My lack of a watering system back here has resulted in much bitterness, I'm afraid. My once or twice a week hand watering just isn't enough. I have a soaker hose that may solve the problem for the next rotation. The tomatoes and Borage are fantastic however! I am really excited to see what we get.

A view from the opposite direction. The onion in the foreground must be the most rewarding item in the veg garden now. With flavor delicate and mild, "New York Early" doesn't seem to mind my inconsistent watering.

The Jalapeno pepper is putting on many peppers! We vow to make something scrumptious with these. Maybe a Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwich, if I'm lucky.

Godetia...a surprise (free packet of seeds) and a lovely flower.

I am crazy about this. Can't believe there's even yellow showing up in there. Could it get better?

The leaves of the Cerinthe are starting to turn the amazing shade of indigo.

Zinnias, these remind me of my grandmother because she grew them.

Japanese Bloodgrass.

Glads.

This rose was a volunteer transplanted from our old house. It was so tiny for years, I thought is was a miniature rose, but here it is really growing tall...that theory is out the window. Now I'm waiting for a bloom...

A very sparse flowering on the lacecap hydrangea this year. The few blooms we have here are in the shade, maybe I need to move this shrub to a shadier spot.

I just discovered this tiny volunteer rose, it opened it's rainbow colored single blooms in just one day.

I have planted a lavender hedge around a garden bed that has not come together yet. I love this, and I plan to fill in with lots of flowers for cutting.

Lavender, Russian Sage, Verbena Bonariensis and Diablo Ninebarks all volunteered seedlings this summer. I have transplanted them from the gravel path where their roots could do damage, to grow up a bit here & then be transplanted into the garden. Hope they make it!

The garden is growing taller this year.

Burned leaves of a blueberry. I guess I need to water this more than I do.

The new Japanese Maple is hanging in there with our dry hot weather so far.

The tomato plant is taller than me now! Almost reaching 6 feet.

We have Butternut Squash!

Jalepano Peppers, with new flowers, yay.

August blooms

Toadflax.

Lavender Poppy with curly grey green leaves.

Godetia.



Portulaca.



Peace Rose.

Peace Rose, the next day.

Agastache, aka Anise Hyssop. Amazing color combination of peach and lilac...and the foliage smells wonderful.

Cerinthe.

The fire heather turns gold in summer, fire red in fall, and does this nice pink thing in between.

Spotted Beans growing well.

Rise and Shine Rose.

Rainbow Knock out Rose.

Zucchini.

These Glads bloomed on our wedding day last year. A little later this year, but just as pretty.

A true blue flower...we've been searching & breeding for centuries, trying to get a blue flower. But here is a nice one in the vegetable garden on a humble lettuce!

Drumstick Allium.

Monarda.

Autumn Joy Sedum.

Cape Blanco Sedum.

The Lacecap Hydrangea, still slow to bloom this year. Maybe next year I will fertilize.

A volunteer Rose! Such a nice thing when an emerging weed turns up to be a Rose! Nice color too...looks like Joseph's Coat.

Drangon's Blood Sedum in flower.

Phlox.

Dark Red Sweet Peas.

Angel's Fishing Rods.