Monday, June 27, 2011

Miscellaneous Monday

So much is going on in the garden right now I don't hardly know where to start. Today has been a mix of summer weather. Thunderstorms and lightening this morning with the sun playing peek a boo before the next round is supposed to begin again. We got 5/8inch of rain this morning not so bad. The night before there was a worse storm.You can see as you walk down the gravel path that the 3.5inches of rain that came all at once washed the mulch out of the beds into the path.
Even worse was that my poor potting bench is on higher ground than the other side of the garden where the gravel path is and it had mulch piled onto the shelf that is 9 inches above ground. Geez.

I am hoping that the little House wrens don't decide to come out this afternoon. The young are beginning to become impatient awaiting food. They would fair better waiting until after this next storm.
Mom is still feeding as fast as she possibly can.  It won't be long before they are out though. 
I was delighted to get out between storms to see what all was happeningin the garden. Of course I had to pull weeds while the ground was so soft. The wheel barrow is full needless to say. I did find a new blossom in the garden.
My very first Lucifer Crocosmia is blooming. Thank you Randy. What a beauty it is.
Luna often comes to where I am photographing wondering what it is that grabs my attention. It seems she knows when something is special.
Not that she is nosey or anything.
She often grins like she knows she is in the way.
"Oh no Mom. I don't want to be in the way. I just want to help". 
Back to flowers, I was sort of distracted. The daylily that I have named FIL (father-in-law)  is blooming . 
It was interesting to find the wild strawberries ripe. They dot the lawn.
It doesn't take long for a critter to find them. 
Mushrooms are loving this wet weather.
All sorts of them are popping up in the mulch. 
Sorry about this long winded post. It's just that I got tired of sloshing around in the garden and thought I would come in to visit awhile. Have a great week.


Monday, June 20, 2011

Jubilation in the Garden

What can make this gardener jubilant you ask?  Going out to casually walk around the garden and seeing what I think might be a miracle. Let me tell you a little back story on this sweet little bloom.
I have tried for several years to get some Hardy Cyclamen started in my garden. Firstly I have had difficulty purchasing the corms. They always seem to be out of them by the time I order them. Then this winter when I went to the Chicago Flower Show I found a vendor selling the corms. I figured if they were selling them there they should survive in my garden.

I didn't know just when to plant them so I waited until a little later in the year. Early spring I couldn't wait any longer.  I planted them. All I read is that they needed really well drained soil and they liked it under a mature tree. Well I have well drained soil under a mature tree so that is where I planted them then my garden was inundated with 11inches of rain. Record making rain.  Then a short drought occured.

I haven't seen one speck of green as in a leaf. I figured I could write off another try to get these little beauties started. Then this morning, there they were. Three little blooms just sitting there looking darling, waiting for me to find them. 
I had planted a left over coleus in this spot thinking it would cover this bare spot under the tree. Ha.. Had I been patient the cyclamen would have filled in. Well, maybe not filled in but when I planted that coleus I knew it was close to where I had put the cyclamen. I couldn't remember exactly where they were but I didn't get any corm when I dug the little hole for it.   
I sure hope that these little beauties take. I would have thought that the three big corms I planted would produce more blooms than these. I am not complaining mind you. I don't want to throw them into a pout so please don't tell them I was having an itty bitty whine.  I wonder when the foliage appears?  Have any of you grown these plants? 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Nature's Happenings In the Sky

We were out in the later evening hours this week. A brief thunderstorm blew through leaving a double rainbow in its wake. I didn't have presence of mind to snap the picture until they were about to fade.
The main rainbow stayed a bit longer. Even though I know what makes rainbows the child-like wonder of these beautiful works of art never fails to amaze me.
Not to be outdone the sun put on another show at sunset... 
Despite the clouds. 
 
Happy Sky Watch Friday.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - June 2011

 This Garden Bloggers Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Garden is surely a lush one here at Greenbow. Despite a sweltering 9day run of 90F heat and drought we had had so much rain before the drought that most things are blooming in stride with the weather.

The hydrangeas are beginning to set blooms. This Niko Blue is even showing a bit of blue without my interference of adding some Aluminum Sulfate to the surrounds.

The Oakleaf hydrangea is in full swing too.  It pays no mind to the weather vagaries.
There are still some astilbe blooming.
The Goose neck Loosestrife are beginning to stick out their necks.
The ever dependable day lilies like Litte Grapette are blooming.

The Hostas are living up to their predecessors nick names of Plaintain Lilies. 'Love Pat' has these beautiful clusters of small lilies hoisted up above those cupped blue rumpled leaves just begging you to take a whiff.
We have all sizes of hostas in the garden. Dogs too for that matter. This little toy poodle named Oly  belongs to a friend and is visiting us here in Greenbow.  He belongs to a friend of mine and while she goes out East to visit he stays here. He is dwarfed by the big  hosta 'Blue Angel'. In the planter right behind them is a minature hosta 'Mouse Ears' blooming. You can see the size difference.
Here by the fairy garden you can see up close a larger clump of Mouse Ears. It is tiny delight hugging close its small lily-like blooms. 
Another lilliputin bloomer is this tiny sedum with its tiny bloom. You really need a macro lens to fully appreciate this tiny bloom.
On the other end of the spectrum a little spash of sunshine yellow hosta even has a flower or two.
And we don't want to forget those beautiful white lilies that people often throw out after Easter. It is much more fun to stick them into your garden and see them bloom the next year around this time. They will be even more beautiful on a warm summer evening shining in the dusky light while throwing that lovely lily scent into the air.
To the wilder side of the garden the butterfly weed is blooming nicely.
What is blooming in your garden today?  Join us at Carol's May Dreams Garden and show us.

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Sweet relief

We are have a beautiful morning going here today. A great way to begin the weekend. We are receiving some much needed rain. I woke to find a good half inch of rain in the gauge. The rain paused long enough for us to take Luna for a nice long walk. The poor girl hasn't been able to walk very far due to the temps not being below 90 most of the day. When we got out to walk it was a lovely 68F. Aaaahhhh
In the garden the Asiatic lilies are blooming.
The above and below lilies were a mixed bag of 'Tango Blend' These were the only two colors that came up. I did want the yellow one too. Too bad it did show its face.  I like the dark one best. I am drawn to dark lilies. 
This dark maroon one looks almost like chocolate. Yummmm.
This dark orange one is marvelous too.
Of course I like the lighter side of lilies such as this 'Grand Cru' .
The daylilies are beginning to bloom too. This swathe of Song Sparrow are singing out loud.
This daylily below is one of my bird series. I am not sure if it is Screech Owl, Baltimore Oriole or something totally different. If anyone could enlighten me I would be most happy. 
This one is Big Bird  Tetrina's Daughter. It is sort of small because of how dry it has been. My poor garden has been assaulted by the weather this year. Spring was long wet and cool. Lately it has been hot and dry. I hope with this rain it sort of evens out.
The smaller daylilies are beginning to bloom too.  This one is a small double named Bubbly.
This one is so old I have lost it's name. I brought it here from my previous garden 16 years ago.
This small one I bought many years ago too. I guess I was into those  small yellow daylilies then. I am doing a little editing of this post as I found the names of a couple of these daylilies. The one below it June Bug. Cute name for a small daylily. My birthday is in June so this is probably why I bought this.
Isn't it interesting how our tastes in garden plants change over the years?  I haven't bought a new daylily in several years.  I am leaning toward upkeep now. My small suburban garden if fairly full. Now I have to edit to add. It seems that more shrubs are creeping into the mix. How is your garden evolving?

New Blogger, Old Blogger

     All I can say it is difficult to deal with change. This new Blogger format is not as user friendly in my opinion. I guess I will get us...