We've recently had some hot and humid days, along with the stormy weather they often bring. Luckily, we didn't get the worst of them. Friends not that far away had 2" hail at their house, while we only had rain. Today is going to be a pleasant day with moderate temperatures, so I will be taking advantage of that with some puttering around the yard, probably focusing on more planting.
In the meantime, here are some things I've seen recently in the yard.
 |
| Siberian iris. |
 |
| One of the storms had a rainbow at the end. It was hard to see through the clouds, but it was there. |
 |
| Impatiens. These are planted in front of Ward's shop in a planter his dad made from an old hot water heater. |
 |
| This lettuce didn't come up last fall when planted, but did this spring. |
 |
| The peas are blooming. |
 |
| Another rhododendron is in full bloom. |
 |
| It's kind of hard to see, but this little bee on one of the rhododendron blooms was more loaded with pollen than I have seen any other bee carry at once. Notice the pollen sacs on either side; the back was covered like that, too. |
 |
| One day, I planted 12 zinnia plants, and the next day, they all looked like this. So disappointing. But I guess all of God's creatures gotta eat. |
 |
The first Stella Dora day lily has bloomed.
|
 |
| Purple sage. |
 |
| Our soil is very rocky, and I've been collecting the rocks we dig up. Bless, asked to see my rock pile, so here it is, Bless. It's several inches thick. What looks like dirt are pine needles on top. |
 |
| Not all rocks make it into the pile. |
 |
| We just discovered that a woodpecker has been at work on an evergreen tree behind Ward's workshop. Woodpeckers destroyed a maple tree at our old house. I hope this one doesn't meet the same fate. |
 |
| Also, behind the shop, we encountered this juvenile blue jay. (Debris is in the background from the neighbor's garage, which is under construction.) |
Until next time...
Even young jays look fierce. I love all the flower pictures. We are into full on hydrangea blooming season here.
ReplyDeleteThe hydrangeas are budding and will be in full bloom soon here.
DeleteOoh, that is one nice rock pile you've got there! Is it possible to have rock pile envy? :D I like your use of some of the larger rocks as an edging. I recently watched a gardening video where all the planting beds had rock edgings. It looked wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking great, too, with lots of different plants flowering. But the poor zinnia plants!
That young blue jay looks grumpy; maybe it didn't like having its picture taken. :D
You can rock pile envy, but you wouldn't envy how hard they make even the littlest digging job. :) The blue jay was very still, almost like he was playing possum like his mother had taught him that when danger is around. Sometimes baby birds are taught to be quiet in the nest when they are alone so as not to attract predators, but this one was out of the nest, but only recently.
DeleteI have azalea envy. Much prettier than rocky soil. Your flowering plants look lovely (as usual). And how funny that your lettuce came up this spring! My husband's lettuce in the cold frame over-wintered, and we enjoyed lettuce in April.
ReplyDeleteOops, I misspoke. Those aren't azaleas. Those are rhododendrons, although the two bushes are related, and both produce stunning blooms. All of the azalea blooms are gone. The rock pile is very different than the blooms, but I quite like it. Maybe it's my geologist training. :)
DeleteThat's funny. I thought they looked like rhododendron but I was deferring to your greater knowledge. I also like rocks, but I like flowers better. ;)
DeleteGosh, that daylily is beautiful! Your flowers are all just so amazing! Sure hope the tree survives the woodpecker. Those little devils can sure destroy a tree!
ReplyDeleteDay lilies have such pretty blooms that come in many colors and grow easily. However, my only complaint is when the weather gets hotter, all of their leaves turn brown and that part is not so pretty.
DeleteThe scrub jays nest in the tree right behind my place on the neighbors property then dive bomb my cat through the cat yard wire and by this time of year, drive off most other birds too.
ReplyDeleteThe blue jays we have here are different than the ones you have in the west, but they are also aggressive. They are in the same family as crows and act similarly from my experience.
Delete