A Second Look--June 11, 2014

Official summer is just around the corner and the flowers in the yard are starting to look summery--meaning many of the spring flowers are fading while many of the summer flowers are blooming. The bees and other insects seem happy with these developments as I am seeing more bees and other insects than ever before.

And speaking of seeing things, I saw a box turtle today hiding in the grass. When I saw it, I realized that I don't think I've seen a box turtle for the 15+ years we've lived here. I always saw them in the woods when I was a kid, but not so much any more. I don't know where the turtle came from and where it was going, but it was in no hurry to get there. :)

Here are some things I saw this week

 during a Second Look.

Stella Dora Day Lily--This variety is supposed to keep blooming all summer long. We'll see if that happens this year in its new location with more sun. For the last 3 years, we've only gotten one set of blooms from them.

Pansies--A few of the pansies are still blooming nicely but most are done. Soon, I'm going to trade them out for summer annuals. Soon--meaning any day now for the last month.

Astilbe--The name of that bug escapes me right now.

Iris--These have spread in a bed that had been overgrown with weeds. We got that bed cleaned out this spring and found them. Before that, the bed had mostly bearded iris. Not sure what kind these are.

We've been having a fair amount of rain--mostly in the form of thunderstorms. As a consequence, mushrooms are starting to pop up.

Hottuynia--This plant is known to grow invasively (aka-groundcover), so I planted it in a small space surrounded by concrete on all sides. However, this year it's finding a way to escape. Gonna have to keep it pulled.

Geranium--Rozanne

Blue Jay

Box turtle