ORNATE PISTIL

arisaema fargesii nuzzlling...irresistible echinacea 'tiki torch'
southern magnolia with petals like a magnetic field around the ornate pistil... worth a closer look?
the back of the cuddling arisaemas...
the potager... so far a great year for the tomato plants, i hope it holds up... corn is small yet in the foreground, i just planted cabbages & parsnips in the upper left corner where the spinach was. everything is going pretty well so far... and the deer haven't made too many visits to the rest of the garden.
the champagne currants look ripe under their net, but have not sweetened at all... they should be good by july 4th...
this one in the 'cat bird seat' is watching me photograph the arisaema from the dogwood in the front shade garden...

JUNGUST

last summer was cool, rainy and tomato blight ruled. this summer is a scorcher. we're having august dog days in june. well, the toms are happy, while the rest of us are sweating. this is rose 'dainty bess.'baby grasshopper perches on dainty bess.
i'm pretty happy with this white iris photo, but i don't even know how i got so much contrast. the light was really nice, though.
the potager
clematis 'm julia correvon' really likes her digs in the potager.
more potager... later i pulled up the bolting spinach in the back left bed to replace it with cabbages, and, because i'm truly a garden fool, (difficult for me) parsnips.
i like the color combination of the outside (pink) and the inside (orange) of echinacea 'tiki torch' petals. the flower is orange.
foxglove leans to beckon...
i bought a nicotania seed mix, and this is my favorite color of the bunch.

MEMORIAL DAY AT GF

azalea kurame 'dogwood variegated' blooming...the flowers have large variation...
on a small shrub, sitting right on the curb, so this azalea has survived much salt...
the potager is coming along, though many pests are making growing difficult... not the foxglove my brother gave me last year blooming in the upper right hand corner...
yesterday, i harvested a cabbage from last year, which had finally formed a head. it was delicious!
rose 'heritage' with dew...
allium 'schubertii' is fully globular...
fireworks for memorial day!
clematis 'roguchi' looks prim and proper in comparison...

STILL BRIEFLY MAY

flowers everywhere. peony...inside iris...
montana daisy unopened...
variegated deutzia...
species hosta bud... smaller than a q-tip, but delicately colored...
columbine 'nora barlow' red
allium schubertii...
i'm really happy with the square garden this year...

BRIEFLY MAY

may is zipping by so quickly and i've been a bit under the weather, so i can't keep up. here is an osteospermum on the deck...the potager entrance garden is coming along nicely...
the azalea on the left was here when we bought the house... the flowers are like a painting...
more entrance garden with sage, thyme, deutzia, veronica 'water perry' and salvia.
rose bud "heritage" also in the entrance garden...

the square garden, above, has baptisia, pinks, iris and columbine blooming...
bird's eye of the potager... i have planted everything i'm going to plant already...
a really nice enkianthus i bought a few years back...
the wild north garden...
with montana daisies...
this little path is on the south side of our house. the azalea you can see in the distance is in the potager entrance garden.
a close up of the mountain laurel 'pinwheel'...

POLYPHEMUS MOTHS

today hubs found two polyphemus moths on our driveway. they looked battered; i like to think due to a night of trysting, rather than due to the storm we had... this is the male...the female at left and the male on the right...
to give you an idea of the size of these moths, here's the male in my hand... neither moth could walk or fly... it didn't look like the female had laid her eggs yet...
here's a last shot of the afternoon sun lighting the potager afire before the big storm undid most of the tulips...
some close ups... veronica 'water perry'... the flower is about the size of a lentil.
allium 'silver spring' about to pop...
camassia...
broom...
a container in the asian square garden with alliums and thrift...
i finally put my deck pots together and i really like this one. i can't wait till the spikes fill in a bit more and i hope the s african daisy continues to bloom... i've not had one before...
on the deck, always ready to mock me!
spring is so grand! i've been under the weather this week, and will have to catch up on blogging!