Manic Monday

This morning was a typical beginning to a hot summer's day. I got out early to pull weeds out front and lowandbehold I found the small crepe myrtle bush blooming. I was wondering what kind of bush it was. I had forgotten that I had it. I almost pulled it out early this spring. I am glad I didn't. A friend of mine gave me a couple of starts. I put one out front and one in back. This is the sole survivor.

I was so pleasantly surprised. I am probably the only person you know that could forget about a bush being planted.  I have had an Almond bush in this spot before. It didn't survive. I guess I just didn't expect much.

I have never had luck with crepe myrtles before. Looking at these blooms up close makes me appreciate it even more. So delicate. Almost like tissue paper. That lovely yellow center really pops.

I stayed out until it heated up then headed in to clean up and cool off. Unfortunately the day took a turn for the worse in the garden. A terrible thunder storm with high winds swept through. It doused the garden with a shot of water. It turned the daturas inside out. Quite a feat since they are so tough.

The worst part is that it broke a big limb off of the apple tree. The little family of House wrens had quite the ride no doubt. Their little abode was askew. They must have survived alright because I saw one of the parents taking a fecal sack out of the nest.

I know what I will be doing tomorrow. We will have to get that limb up off the plants all the while trying not to disturb the wrens too much.

Luna won't be able to make her usual rounds until we get the limb off the pathway. We are lucky though since it didn't damage the fence.  I hope you all are safe and sound after all the storms running across country.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - July 2010

Here it is the 15th of July and it is time to make an assessment of what is blooming here at Greenbow. Carol has us keeping track of our gardens in this way. A great way to compare years and blooms.

I am happy to note a new clematis I planted this summer is blooming despite the heat and droughty conditions.  It is Viticella Venosa Violacea. The flowers aren't as big as they will be when it gets established but I like that it seems to be a tough clematis and will take hold where I want it to grow up one of the arches.

The datura is blooming at night now.  It seems that many things are drying up sooner than they normally would have. They have been blooming for some time now.

The Susan's never fail to bloom. They appear a little ahead of schedule this year. I still have some bubble gum pink mondara blooming. After seeing the posts of monarda with those big lilies coming up through them I know what I am going to plant where as soon as I can get a hold of some of those lilies.

I hope you all have your list up so we can see what is blooming in your garden.

Other plants blooming here are: Tall garden phlox, Cranesbill, hosta, gooseneck loosestrife, annuals.

Happy Garden Bloggers Bloom Day to you all.

Bon Voyage

I want to wish everyone going to the Garden Bloggers Buffalo 10 gathering a great time. Several have asked if I was going this year. NO, I am unable to attend. I will be here at Greenbow anxiously awaiting all the posts that will take me there vicariously.

I want to encourage everyone that goes to take copious notes and photos so I can ooo and ahhhh over all the gorgeous gardens that you will see. I want to see all the participants too. Again, have a great time.

Blue Potatoes

Yes, you read the title right. BLUE potatoes. I went to the Farmers Market today. I saw these blue potatoes. I just had to try them. I had some fresh green beans so I peeled the potatoes and threw them into a pot with the green beans. I don't think I would have had to peel the potatoes because their skins were so thin but I don't really like potato skins so I did peel them.

I also threw in a vidalia onion.

Oh my gosh. They are wonderful tasting. They keep their color when cooked. It was really a tastey potato. It has a different texture. A mildly nutty flavor. I will be going back for more. If you would like something different to grow in your potato patch you should try these.

I hope everyone has a great 4th of July.

Friday Flowers

While the hydrangeas pout about the weather I have tried not to complain. They are doing a good job of complaining for me. They appear as I feel in this record setting heat we have been having.

The daylilies on the other hand have not sucumb to the elements.

They put on their cheerful faces.

Bloom their little hearts out.

Not one complaint is heard from them.

Even though their foliage doesn't add a lot to the overall look of the garden, I can't deny that their cheerful blooms put a smile on my face.

Even the small ones that flirt with the gazing ball.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay cool. Enjoy all those smiling faces in your garden.

Hydrangea Heaven

At this time this year it seems to be hydrangea heaven.  I believe it is the best year I have ever had for my hydrangeas. I attribute this to no late spring freeze this year. Now I don't have any of the new fancy hydrangeas with the bicolor blooms but I have a variety of lacecap and mopheads that I just dearly love. Come stroll through the hydrangea path with me.

Here on the left are some of the lacecaps. You can see their blooms are a lavender. They are supposed to be blue but you know how hydrangeas are.  They color up by the nutrients in the soil. Here we have sandy clay so there isn't much to make them blue. I just can't get over how many blooms these plants have. To be truthful they have been a disapointment for some years. They used to have varigated, white/green, foliage. They even lost that for the most part but at least they still have their lacy caps.

Just past them is a nice sized Oakleaf Hydrangea. It also is full of blooms. You can see the Nikko Blue mopheads peeking around the Oakleaf hydrangea. I have been giving them a bit of Azalea food and they have responded well.

Across from this hydrangea is the climbing hydrangea. It is full of blooms at the bottom of the plant. It is just now beginning to climb the arch that was built for it.

After we leave the hydrangea walk and walk around to the front of the yard barn you can see the small pink hydrangeas blooming.  The poor little things have almost been swallowed up by the big old fashioned hostas behind them.

Out front one of my favorite hydrangeas is blooming the best ever. I can't remember the name of this hydrangea but it has varigated yellow and green leaves.  It isn't known for its blooms but for this varigated foliage. Of course in this soil it is losing its varigation as it is going to some white and green leaves but if it continues to bloom like this I won't mind much. The delicate blue hue has not been altered by any additives. It just is.

If you haven't had your fill of hydrangeas here you can pop over to Phillip's blog Dirt Therapy and see what he has blooming. He has some fancy ones. He also has a lovely garden to wonder and admire.  Do you have hydrangeas blooming this year?

Squirrels Viewpoint

Elizabeth wrote a post here about her garden as she sees it from her second story window. I don't have a second story window but I liked the idea of looking at my garden from that high. So my DB got the extention ladder out so I could take a few photos before the sun got too high the other day. I thought I would show you around from a squirrels viewpoint.  I must warn you this is picture heavy and not a lot of narration. Don't get dizzy and fall off the ladder.  You can see here how the knot garden was revamped after I lost so many bushes last summer.  It still needs work of course.  Don't worry I am working on it, or at least thinking about it.

As you have noticed I have made many flower beds as circles so the Mowerman doesn't complain too much about having to stop, back up etc. Luna is under the apple tree.

When I first started taking these photos Luna was wondering what in the world was going on. Here she is looking towards the east side gate where my DB has stepped out of the photo.

Looking straight down from where the ladder was standing you can see a little pathway off the patio toward the east side gate.

If you look off to the west of here you can see the length of the patio.

 

Straight out from the ladder is a half round at the E end of the patio.

Excuse me, I need to move the ladder. Here I am looking back toward the east.

Now we are going to look straight out from the west end of the patio.

Another look just a bit Westerly.

At the West end of the patio there is the path that leads out toward the Casa if you take the left fork or toward the West gate if you take the right fork.

The pathway.

Excuse me again. I must move the ladder. I took it out under the Locust tree to show you the back side of the garden. Looking East you can see that the sun is getting up. You can see the back side of the knot. Luna is now thinking that this game isn't much fun and it is getting hot out here.

Here we are looking back toward the house. You can see the back side of Lincoln and where the new Tricolor Beech is planted.

When you look West you can see the path that takes you to the Casa.

This is the path that runs behind the blackberries. Sort of a no mans land. Poop patrol is ran here regularly as Luna thinks that no one sees her back here doing her duty. She is right of course because the shrubs and blackberries are growing thick here.

Excuse me while I get off this ladder.  I can't photograph this last part becasue of the trees hanging over the path. This wide open area is in front of the yard barn and the big back gate. I have visions as to projects that could go in here but my Mowerman starts shaking his head no and turning purple at the mention.  However I don't give up easily. 

I hope you enjoyed the Squirrels viewpoint of my garden.  Do you have a squirrels viewpoint of your garden? I would love to see it.  Be careful if you get up on that ladder.