Summer is about to begin.. show those blooms!

Lovely blooms, CountryGardens and your kitties certainly look to be enjoying themselves!

CG... the curve of the garden in the last picture of the first set seems a great place for a half-hidden concrete statue or other yard art.

Flowers wearing down , weeds getting the better of me..

and;

and that's all for today ...

Well, what you have is really pretty! I can't stay on top of the weeds, either. Apparently they love this weather as well as the empty spots where "more desirable" plants have died.

I do have a few new things blooming, but the humidity is so bad it kept fogging up the lens on my camera so I gave up trying to take pictures today.

Only venturing outside this week to do multiple daily battle with JBs and to water early in the day before the hot sun hits. Ugh. You'd think with this heat that the tomatoes would hurry up a little and ripen. Still all green as can be.
I am having fun with growing new sun-lovers though - zinnias, dahlias and snapdragons. They're doing well in a formerly shady bed. Must say that the sun-lovers sure know how to fill up space that the shade-loving impatiens never did.

I think that I have decided to give up the battle for JB on the weeping cherry- unfortunately it's by the front door- in order to spare the rest of the landscape. So far, knock wood, they seem to be leaving other things pretty much alone.

Hmmm- if you don't opt for the systemic, you could try experimenting with a piece of row cover - lightweight spun fabric. Not pretty though.

One of mine , made from plant cells in a tube(small bottle really) I made two three or four years ago , mine is a little darker than the pic , love the ruffle personally.


4 is the red volunteer still blooming

Whoa - love that striking orange color! And the two-tone colors is very eye-catching. Well done!

Starts blooming as the Ditch lily fade Has the new type larger bloom . heavy foliage , medium height..
I enjoy the ruffle with that brighter ,darker, Ditch lily color . Seems to blom nicely in this heat , I will get see another example tomorrow . if true ..
If the foliage does not get ratty ,, a good one it is
Cindy A super thank you for the compliment!!! That's very nice of you !!!
You can sure see the Hyperion and ditch lilly in the parentage , for sure.. Only much larger bloom ..

TODAY FOR MID JULY ;

and; another five

I agree with Cindy. Love that bright Orange!! You have a lot of Lilies and Daylilies blooming...gorgeous variety of colors! Like the Coneflowers a lot, too.

I have two varieties of Coneflower. One is that Rose one that I forgot the name of and the other is Called 'Ruby Star', one of my Menard's plants from a few years ago.

The info on the Ruby Star says ht. of 36" and that's about what it has been until this year. It has spread some (yay!) and the tallest stems are now about 5-ft which is amazing!. I'm seeing more and more buds although none have opened yet. Also the flowers are quite large (larger than my other Coneflower) and it's not even in full sun!

Cindy and Stu, sorry about all your JB problems. Hopefully next year will be better.

pardon I had to .. (the pics) red sugars already got ate ..

Me too about feeling for you all , with a bad case of the JB's when I lost the red maple to them , years ago . it not a world changing event or anything .. only the time ,patience , and the wait of hopes for the plants while were doing other things is really dashed by that .. The evil weevil congregation has come calling!!
belle starr
juane flamme
currant
the sugar lumps are gone ,, ate ..

nuts - I don't think the JBs will get better over the years but this is my second year dealing with them and I'm rather pessimistic. Not only are they chomping on my porcelain berry vine and azalea - they've also discovered that they like the taste of Boston ferns as well.
Stu - Yeah - I might have to learn from DD how to do fried green tomatoes. I was already wondering at what time to snip the top of the tomato plants so that they put more energy into developing existing fruit.
Looking forward to cooler weather over the weekend so that I can actually get outside to do some garden work. Had to break out the sprinkler today for the front lawn even though there's a 50% chance of rain.

Lots of ripe tomatoes here, but in high tunnels. Some we planted outside are already blighted!
First meal of local sweet corn this evening, going back for more! Flavor is suburb!

I've got 4 great looking plants this year, babied them through this past week of no rain and high temps. Still no rain but maybe tomorrow night. No local corn here yet.
Balloon flowers are doing their thing now. And a couple of the roses are getting buds for a second round of blooms. Clematis integrifolia is still blooming as is Geranium 'Sweet Heidi' - so far the best (IMHO) of the hardy geraniums. 4 o'clocks started blooming but they open up at night after the JBs are asleep. Not sure how these are supposed to help with these pests.

Yummy-looking tomatoes, juhur!!

Cindy & Stu, I wonder if killing the grubs in the grass would make a difference for the JB in future years.

You know, I've been reading where different insects, like aphids and grasshoppers are affected by sprinkling common baking flour on the plants. Supposedly you leave it on for a few days then hose it off.

I wonder if it would do anything to JB's. With aphids it supposedly constipates them and with grasshoppers they said it gums up their mouth parts. It's certainly worth a try...at least on one or two plants that they've been eating...just to see if it works. But I'd probably try to keep it off any blooms so it doesn't harm the bees, hummers, butterflies and other friendly critters.

Too bad about the blighted tomatoes CG. Your corn sounds fabulous, though. You're making me hungry!

Cindy, you've got quite a few plants blooming. That is odd, though, about the 4 o'clocks, unless it's something to do with the scent of the plant.

I'm going to try moving the 4 o'clock a little closer to the garden in an attempt to divert the JBs. They are pretty close now but they're not attracting them. We did put down milky spore for 2 years in attempt to reduce grubs attractive to raccoons who like digging up our lawn. My garden is so close to the street with a sunny western exposure and I think those guys are flying right in from the neighborhood. Rarely see them flying in from the shaded east or south exposure. Thanks for the dusting suggestion. I'll check into it. Maybe kaolin clay?

My favorite weed; bull thistle

and Cindy ; Guess what likes the blooms ,, ? you ...know ,, initially .....lol

Hmm - sorry - no room for thistles in my JB bed. :)
Darn - missed out on rain again last night. Can always keep my fingers crossed that we'll get some over the next day or so.
Discovered yesterday that I lost my Aconitum 'Royal Blue'. Had it for many years but it didn't come back this year - probably a result of last year's horrible summer. Still have A. 'Ivorine' but not blooming yet.

I finally found the traps for the JB this weekend. Got the replacement bags and two stands at the Menard's sale this weekend, but everyone except HD were out of the traps. Let me tell you how to NOT set up the traps. I sat on the front proch and opended the trap and put it together, then unsealed the bait to attach it to the trap, then began to set up the pole and attach the bag. BIG mistake. Out of the corner of my I I saw hundreds of JB rise and then swarm towards where I was sitting. They engulfed me, were itting the side of the building, the window.......
Needless to say that I moved quickly to place the set-up in the yard. Setting up the second trap, I saved the bait for last. the bait smelled wonderful... like honeysuckle.... and I found out the hard way, really attracts the JBs. The original bag was already a quarter filled within a couple of hours. My poor weeping cherry will recover, but the outer leaves look so pitifull. Now I know to get the traps out at the end of June next season. Learning curve well noted.

I don't really enjoy the odor of Japanese beetle bait and I use the traps on and off different years , I like the beetles less .
Cindy I would send you the ran if I could ,Today is a cloudy drizzle day .
Stu; those cherry trees have some resilient toughness to them.,My plum tree survived the assaults the past couple years ,As before, a red maple didn't survive , neither did a few others ,, darn critters ...
I seem to have a lot of parasitic wasps and other predators this year, my biggest invader of the unwanted is red spotted or milkweed beetles , controllable , but not fun ,
Some bugs have no manners !!! and;I Don't Like Them!!!

Stu - I was so tempted to purchase some traps but didn't have enough space in that area of the yard. Putting it at the end of the driveway would have been questionable. Glad to know though that they do work (unlike my 4 o'clocks). It seems that the JBs have slowed down over the past couple of days. It's been almost 4 weeks here since they first started to arrive. Usually I can catch about 50 per day by hand (excluding the ones I can't reach that are sprayed with Neem) but have managed only half that the last few days. I doubt they're smart enough to catch on to my patrolling methods.

Went home yesterday and the one trap is already half filled. Cindy, i put it in the bedding in front of the house away from the weeping cherry. Not all find their way to the trap, but it has caught a heck of a lot.

few from today , still hoping for those of you with "the Beetles"

Stu - your full trap makes me wonder how many of the JBs I don't see.
juhur - Beautiful tomatoes! I have my first 'Wisconsin 55' turning orange. Maybe red by the end of the week???
A big cool-down here. Wind coming out of the north and in the low 70's at the moment with no humidity. It feels wonderful. DH (the heat-lover) complaining that it's cold but I'm just happy not to break out in a sweat when I step outside.

This past weekend Gardens on the Prarie got in the rose bushes I requested and the weather cooperated. I started a new bed using three wrought iron beds we brought up from our Florida gardens and our 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Statue we also brought up. It's a start.

3- Putting it together
2 - View of 'Yellow Brick Road' from one street
1 - View of the Coral bush rose from the other street.
4 - The Rose Beds as they are seen from the house
5 - The beds and statue as they are seen by the intersection.



This message was edited Jul 24, 2013 9:10 PM

2 - Our friends from Chicago gave use this miniature rose this past September as a house warming gift and I was amazingly able to keep it alive during winter. I cut it back and planted it by the front door in spring. Here are its first blooms.

1 - The Rubekia is still going strong and should self seed, hopefully.

This message was edited Jul 24, 2013 9:11 PM

FLStu; Awesome !!! beautiful setting !!!

Love the statue!

Stu - that rose bed will be fabulous! Nice going with the miniature rose. You may have to protect it over the winter though.
juhur - nice yellow lily. And butterfly! I've got a swallowtail or two that visit and what looks to be a very young monarch caterpillar in residence in my big pot of carrots.
Louise - lots of colorful blooms! I think this has been a good year for flowers, at least compared to last year.

Thanks Cindy. According to the label and reading up on DG and google, the several plants in the group from this line (don't remember what it was right now as I don't have my log, but is a series like the 'Knock Out' series) is good to zone 5. May keep the clay pot that's supporting the pot of annuals behind the rose over the rose once it goes dormant. Not thinking that I'll need one of those cone things to put over it. It is not supposed to be grafted.

A few blooms this afternoon . I am trying to register my orange Daylly Testing my silly pride I guess , Only I would like my name with something I would like , hoping ..

first Hibiscus bloom and a couple of daylily.

another from the garden today ,

juhur - hope all goes well with the registering! And the Hibiscus is striking! And more ripe tomatoes - I'm jealous.

Lovely pics, everyone! I've been sneaking looks, but haven't had a chance to post.

Juhur, as always, your blooms are gorgeous! Tomatoes look great, too. I won't pretend to know what the reason for "Registering" a bloom is all about, but it sounds impressive. Nice you have Butterflies. I wish we'd get some. All of my Butterfly's plants are blooming and fading, but still only Cabbage Whites.

Cindy, glad to hear your JB's have dwindled some. Thank goodness! I, also had plants that didn't come back. Some have been slowly disappearing (guess they weren't in a "happy" location, but space in my other beds is limited) and some drowned in this year's Spring Monsoon.

lavender4ever, Very pretty pics! Love the colors.

Stu, your new flower bed looks beautiful! Very unique idea with the beds. What a horrid experience with the JB trap! I have to apologize, though. I couldn't help laughing as I read your post. I visualized myself running through the yard screeeming with hundreds of JB's in pursuit! Glad the traps are working so well.

Here are some recent blooms and some just starting.

1) Annual Tall Red Salvia

2 & 3) Liatris 'Kobold' (Blazing Star, Gayfeather)

4) Rudbeckia

5) Early stages of some Hosta blooms