SUMMER blooms!

Lisianthus,I love that plant...Ill be planting more next year

did I say over planted...sunflowers ,cleome,malva,Monarda ,holly Hock...no blooms yet ..all my shade

I should save a few for later...I love summer blooms

Oh Hugger beautiful pictures. I really really like them....... Don't you just though? Summer blooms are the bestest.

Just had a really big rain storm, Thunder, lightening, lots of rain and lots and lots of wind. Knocked over a few of my big brug pots again. Broke one off so I salvaged that and stuck in water.

There goes the sirens for the firetrucks. Every storm.......they go screaming by here on their way to who knows where. Never in the paper any more .

Oooooooh that was quite the thunder. Shook the house almost. Think its time to shut this down till its really really over.

toodles..............

Cece - I know "7-Mile Fair" and have been there, but it's been years since I was there last. It sounds like you were just in "the-right-place-at-the-right-time". Amazing deal!

Huggergirl - Your Rock Garden is lovely. I love the way the Lamium is growing all around the rocks. How shady is the area where you have your Monarda? My Jacob Cline that I just planted last Spring has been blooming for a while in about half Sun/half Shade, but I had another type in more shade that bloomed well too, just a little later. I eventually removed that variety cause it was so prone to mildew it was a hassle.

I think you should keep the potting chairs. They look very pretty with plants sitting on them. The Lisianthus is a gorgeous color.

Cece - It's been raining here, too, all morning. About 7:30 it got pitch dark & the wind started blowing like mad. Then it started pouring & the power went off for a few minutes about 7:45, then went on and off repeatedly for a while. Once it stayed on for a bit I decided it was safe to turn the computer back on, but we'll see. Well...we can certainly use the rain. It's getting pretty dry here.

yep was pretty dry here. Both my rainbarrels were completely empty.. They each hold about 150 gallons so yeah we needed the rain. Just wish the wind would leave my brugmansia alone. I've been out 3 times this morning getting drenched standing these big pots back up. And they are blooming for me too. Broke a stem off one of the noids that is new to me and broke off a blooming stem off of one of the yellow noids. :( those blooms were pretty...

The rain was very welcome. And I think the A/C is going off tomorrow....

Finally finished my front garden - it only took 6 weeks. I still have more daylilies to transfer in there, but some are blooming and I didn't want to move them yet. I still have a telescoping flagpole to pop in there somewhere too.

But my camera is outside in the car, so I will post the photos tomorrow.

I transplanted some of those old cottage dayliles several years ago, and last year they finally bloomed. 2 reds and a bi-color. The reds were pretty last year, with clear color. This year, the reds are muddy-ugly. Ewwww, The bicolor looks better, but I am disappointed in those reds. I am hoping that they improve as both have lots of scapes. Are others having problems with bloom color this year? ~Jan

nuts ,you have great eyes..I do have lamium growing everywhere,I mean everywhere...
i have monarda growing in 3 spots,dont know if its Jacob cline??but 1 spot is too shady needs moved.The end of the garden gets sun from 10:00 then all day,so far so good, its so over planted,I got 3 bunches in a couple of trades,i just stuck it in here and there,seeing where best it will grow.The lombada gets sun 10 :oo all day,it is not as showy as the other.im really bad about keeping track of what I get...i have a basket full of tags..LOL... OH well a winter project there..monarda lombada starting to bloom

Getting closer to finished..well closer

hugger - After seeing pics of your lot a while back, I was wondering how you dealt with the hillside and planting beds. Looks like you've found a great solution. Did you have all of the rock on your property or did you have to bring it in?
With the current talk about Monarda, does anyone have a trick for keeping it contained? I only have one - 'Mahogany' - and it seems to roam quite a bit. I'm never quite sure where it's going to come up and bloom from year to year.

I've been out of the loop for over a week, but here's a shot of my delphs from a week or two back. Somehow the photo doesn't do them justice. Aside from hostas, I think they're my favorite perennial, even though the bloom period is short. And mine grow in quite a bit of shade (note the astilbe to the right), but flower nicely nonetheless.

I will MIA for a few days. Hubby and I are going *drum roll, please* to Nashville TN for the honeymoon I never got......:) "Grand Ole Opry here I come..................

We're driving down, we leave 6 a.m. tomorrow and won't be back until early evening on Sunday. So very excited.

There is only 3 places on my bucket list of places to see. Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry, Florida Keys and Ireland.

Monday I can cross Nashville off my list.

cece - If you're driving I65 in KY, check ahead for road construction! DH and I came back through there a week ago and they had only one lane in each direction open. We got off on to a state road which unfortunately was also down to one lane from two for road construction and it was packed with all of the traffic that got off of I65. We lost an hour to go 10 miles. TN is also scorching hot right now. DD lives in Columbia (south of Nashville) and humidity is way high as well. Are you staying at the Opryland Hotel? It's beautiful there.

Wow!! A big CONGRATS to you, cece!
Have a wonderful time & don't forget to tell us all about it when you return.

Oh, I almost forgot . . .your *Drum Roll*...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t925JwYXhVA

This message was edited Jul 12, 2011 2:47 PM

Woohoo! Have fun on the honeymoon, you two! ;)

You can tell us about it, but skip the, um...details. >:)

Awesome drum roll, thanks. I know it is hot hot hot, brother-in-law informed me of that but hey like he said all the honky tonks are air-conditioned. ha.

We're staying at the Millileman(sp) Maxwell house. Its a bout a mile from Music Row but also has a shuttle to get you there and back.

Just spoke with my brother who was there in April and said I definitely HAVE to see the Opryland hotel as plant nuts as I am so I will see it.

Thanks for the heads up Cindy on the construction in Ky. Forewarned is ALWAYS better than a crabby husband. If he knows it ahead of time he'll handle it better.

Am all packed. Well was packed by 8 this morning. lol Can you tell I'm excited? First vacation since 2003 when we went to Vegas. That was my first vacation since 1975. I don't get out much.

I have been to the Grand Ol' Opry, it is great. Have fun!!

My Monarda, so far, isn't spreading. I think I am going to stick it in a big pot anyways this fall, instead of leaving it in the corner veggie garden where it is now. Maybe I will replant the pot....

By the way, the Keys are REALLY fun. You have to be accepting of the alternative, and also, they are on "island" time there. But scootering around Key West was a highlight with my adult kids a few years ago. Best breakfast: Blue Heaven, off the beaten path.

Ireland and/or Scotland is also on my bucket list. Problem is, I keep getting sidetracked with things NOT on my bucket list.... ~Jan

Yeah me too, usually, Jan.................This is like heaven for me. I cannot wait to walk into the Grand Ole Opry. When i was a kid, we used to watch on t.v. every Saturday night down home in Texas. I grew up listening to all the stars of the 50's and 60's and never lost track of my country roots. I was happier listening to Webb Pierce, Ernst Tubb, Kitty Wells, Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn than most of my friends were listening to the British invasion bands, Mamas and the Papas, or Everly Brothers, Jerry Lee and the like.

To me being able to have the chance to walk in Reimen Theater is heaven on earth.

My husband is SO GOOD to me.

Karen - I love the color of your Delphs!

This is my first year growing Delphs and I definitely plan to buy more. I bought one plant for $2.00 at Menard's last Spring just to try it. Mine is in about half sun/half shade & it seems really happy . . .course I've never grown any others so I wouldn't know the difference.

DD worked at the Ryman for a while. She got us free tickets to see The Chieftains. Even got to go backstage but turned speechless when face to face with one of them. Do see the Opryland Hotel. I saw it before the "big flood" and it was gorgeous then.

Have fun cece,I love Tennessee

cindy,we bought 3 truck loads of field stone 32 tons $ 180.00 in 1980..Had them dumped at the top of the hill,wheel barrow load after wheel barrow load,we moved them,then I got a tractor an cart.The boulders came in the last load,he thought it was funny,we were thirlled more than a dozen 300-400lb ones,in the last load worked out perfectly,as you can see we are still flopping them around...LOL..so I terraced all the way around the house with some RR ties andd stone,Our house is a walk out basement so to speak,the back 1/2 of the house is 8ft in the ground,down to 4ft then wood framed.We have 17 steps down to the entry to the house.

Im going to have a bummper crop of seed from my Electric blue delphinium,im going to save...I just this year planted Beebalm,so I will find out how far it will spread by next summer,Im not worried,just more to share..Kaley I love your delph color too

huggergirl - That's a great deal you got on the stone . . .of course you'd never get a price like that today. How did you guys manage to lift those huge ones ...or did you just roll them where you wanted them?

Your 'Electric Blue' Delphinium is gorgeous! I wonder how that variety would do in my partial shade? Maybe I need to make some room in my Sun bed for one of those or a type like Kayly has.

Those colors would look beautiful with my 'Grand Parade' Monarda which is a smaller variety in a Purple-Fuchsia color (see my post from July 6). In only its first full year it got literally covered with blooms!

Hugger - seems like you made an excellent purchase of the field stone. Definitely a good investment. Love the blues of the Delphs.
nuts - I think that color combo would be a knockout!
Is it my imagination or is this a good year for flowers? Seems like there are more than the previous year. Even the Hostas are putting on a good show with their flowers. Maybe the cool wet spring we had helped? Gotta look for the bright side of that miserable season.

Cindy - I really hope it is your imagination! I'd hate to think this was a one-time deal and that next year won't be as good. But you're right about the cool, wet Spring. It had to have helped to give all the plants a good solid start before everything dried out.

I'm never able to do as much watering as I'd like to. We have restrictions where I live once it gets into summer. We have even-odd watering days, plus if our water use exceeds a certain amount, the cost of our entire bill gets tripled!

We just got one 50-gallon rain barrel last Autumn, but next year we might want to get one or two more.

Sorry about the water restrictions. I don't think I've ever seen one here in 20+ years. But I do have 3 rain barrels. Two are linked together. I have emptied all of them twice so far so they have come in handy. One of them contained a liquid soap and the other two actually contained olives - all were free except for the fittings. I could do more on one corner of the house (hid from the front) but I don't know if DH would have the patience to do more. Seems like we're now getting into that time of year when it will take an all-day rain to resaturate the soil. The heat sure causes some serious evaporation.

My Co-worker and I took a trip to The Flower Factory today. Told everyone at work we had a "meeting".

It was a beautiful day to wander around there. I am actually pleased that I did not spend too much money, so I am happy.

I came away with 2 (only 2!) daylilies. A coneflower called Hot Papaya, and something new to me, a Sea Holly. It looks almost similar to a thistle in a way, and when blooming, actually glows with an almost light neon purpley color. Haven't a clue where to plant the coneflower & sea holly - yet. So they are in temporary spots in the middle of my daylilies. Will post some photos in the next couple of days ~Jan

Yes those silly rocks cost a small fortune now,I read an ad in the paper last year $100.00 a ton,and thats for normal size rocks,Boulders are more than that.The guy we bought them from in 1980 i think he thought we were nuts and he was un loading 3 truck loads of rock on us and making money.

the boulders we roll them if possible,at least its down hill....we use a spud bar lift and put a rock under the boulder,till we can flop it over..A little at a time....

Id love to have rain barrels such a great Idea...jealous...as I ran 2 hoses all day on sunday..then it rained monday..But that was good...

Thanks for posting the pic. A garden the size of yours on that slope is definitely a labor of love.
I think I might end up emptying the rain barrels today on the garden beds before the heat wave hits. According to TWC this morning, there's no rain in the forecast for the next week so I may resort to the sprinkler.

I found this invader making Swiss cheese out of my echinaceas. He was quickly dispatched with insecticidal soap, but now I'll have to keep an eye out for his friends. Grrrrr. Stupid Japanese beetles.

Seems to me that the JBs came late this year and I don't have as many. I've put down milky spore twice so far this year, more to stop the raccoons tearing up the lawn looking for grubs, but don't think that would affect the darned bugs from flying in from outside of the yard. They tend to go for my porcelain berry vine above most everything else so some of it's leaves are sacrificed but it can handle it.

My co-worker and I had a discussion during our drive to the Flower Factory about Japanese Beetles. She is taking a Master Gardener class, and said that they had only been around since the 1990's. Yet I remember growing up with them in northern Ohio. We used to put coffee cans of gasoline around (yikes!) to kill them.

In fact, I had completely forgotten about the pest, until the last couple of years, when I saw some for the first time around here. I did prove to her that I HAD been around JP's as a kid, but that they have been slowly moving westward over the last decades, and it was only recently that they made their way to our area. Hopefully I am just far enough north, that they 'miss' my garden..... ~Jan

Jan - you are one lucky gardener not to have to do the yearly battle.

Cindy - shhhhh, don't let the little buggers know- OK?

This is my new front garden "eagle" bed. It took me 3 times longer, and cost 3 times more than I planned, but I am really happy with it. I have mostly diploid daylilies in it. Many haven't been moved yet, because they are getting ready to bloom and I am planning on transplanting them later on. I also have a telescoping flagpole to install somewhere in there yet.

Hot Papaya coneflower

The 'glowing' Sea Holly it is in a temporary bed right now. I need to build the iris bed, then move the TB's, then move this one where the iris used to be....

One of my favorites - Stemless Evening Primrose. It is a true nocturnal, and for some reason, this years photos are not very good quality. They truly are the bright yellow color ~Jan

'Hot Papaya' is SO cool! My mom has one. Once I get a sunnier bed cleared out (lots of work, that. LOTS.) I'll get them. Of course, I'll have to fence them off so the dogs won't get into them. *grumble*

Hot Papaya was one of my acquisitions from the Flower Factory on Wednesday.... ;)

im trying to get cherry brandy ruds going ,love the new colors..hot papaya is hot...Jan nice new bed,looks great already.

Ive been smashing a few JB hope thats all...seems to me Ive been battling them for -EVER,more than 10 years ...i dont have a lot of trouble,have though..Dont Ever use JB traps...put them in your neibors yard 2 miles away....lOL

cindy if I worked full time i would not have all the flower gardens,Im soo glad I dont work full time...I love diggin in the dirt