Because of the heat, I'm not spending much time outside, so I have some very impressive weeds. (No pictures, maybe next week.) It's amazing how big some of them can get despite the fact that the weather is hostile to many other plants.
Here are a few things I saw this week
during a Second Look.
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| Black-eyed Susan, BTW, this is Maryland's state flower. |
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| The squirrels continue to amuse and frustrate us at the same time. |
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| Amazingly, we still have a couple pansies blooming. A rare thing this time of year with the heat. |
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| Balloon flowers (Platycodon) |
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| I'm not sure what this bird is, but my best guess is a juvenile sparrow of some sort. |
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| Tiger lily |
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| Swallowtail butterfly |
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| Zinnia |
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| Young rabbit |
Your pictures reflect the time of year! A hot and humid July is happening in many places, it seems. I can't believe you still have pansies in this heat!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe I have pansies either. Last year, I dug them up and put them in pots for the summer. I kept them in shade and kept them watered. I was hoping they would be ready to plant again in the fall. However, they didn't make it.
DeleteLovely pictures as always. Even though I secretly hate squirrels they can be cute to watch for a few minutes. I love how well lantana responds to the heat and humidity. I am not sure it can get too hot for it. Until this morning I have been waking to the cool arid air in the PNW. What a difference a day and a plane ride makes! Insanely hot liquid air! I feel your pain about staying inside. I have zinnias that beg to be cut, but it is s hot I don't even want to anything other than poking my head out the door.
ReplyDeleteI remember when we lived on the Gulf Coast, lantana always did well. I've planted it here this year and it's doing okay, but does not compare to the large bushes of lantana we got in Houston. I was going to put a picture of it in this week, but the ones I took were out of focus. Maybe another week.
DeleteI will try to take a picture of mine. I think it is about ready to take over the neighborhood!
DeleteYep. That's the lantana I remember. The one I have here is about 8" high and 6" wide. I'd love to see a picture of yours.
DeleteYou're so good in picture taking? I love watching squirrels. Yes, it is hot and humid. But the pop up rain storms are crazy with thunder and lightning. Stay cool in the house :)
ReplyDeleteI remember when I lived in New Orleans, we had a thunderstorm every afternoon. They always seemed to be when I was walking to the bus to go home.:(
DeleteLove all the pictures of the wildlife, even those that can be destructive and mostly because they're not in my own garden, lol. I wouldn't mind seeing a little bunny once in a while. Greg said there's a large armadillo nesting under our neighbor's shed. They can make a lot of damage too and you can't handle them because they carry the plague (ewww). So far it doesn't seem to have ventured near my vegetable garden, though. It's probably too hot for it to come out of his cool spot under the shed too often.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of heat, I hope you're keeping cool enough, I heard the heatwave that's afflicting the midwest is on the move to the Eastern part of the country. Do you have AC in your house?
I have been running errands all afternoon and am pretty hot. But now I am in my air conditioned house starting to cool off. The weekend looks like more very hot weather, so there probably won't be manly outdoor activities. There is a farm tour of area farms I'd like to do, but probably won't because of the heat. Maybe next year.
DeleteLovely. Jealous of your butterfly. There's a real lack of them around here despite our butterfly bush just coming into flower.
ReplyDeleteThe butterfly population is down a lot from a few years ago. I don't know why. I read once that the butterfly bush is considered an invasive plant in England. Is that true?
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