It’s been a month since I last did a This Week in the Garden post and I’ve been busy! I spent a lot of time in the garden over the last month, minus one week in California visiting my sister. I tried to get a lot of time in just before I left to pull weeds- and I came back to more weeds. But it was neat to have a little break and come back to some (minor) changes.
The crape myrtles have really started to explode with color.
Crape Myrtle and more
The white flowering bush is the white hibiscus that started blooming well over a month ago, and the yellow flowers under the crape myrtle are rudbeckia. I’m astounded that these flowering plants are well over six feet tall.
Rudbeckia
A much shorter member of the same family are nearby.
Black Eyed Susan
Aside from the crape myrtle trees, I have a few dwarf varieties as well. I think they are wonderful and just provide so much color.
Detail of Dwarf Crape Myrtle
I thought I had a giant sunflower coming up in the lower garden, but it started blooming this week- and it turns out to be a hibiscus. It is also at least six feet tall.
Hibiscus
Also in the lower garden, another new daylily started blooming.
Daylily
I love the colors of that lily–such a pretty purple.
Some of the cardinal flowers that get the most amount of sunlight started blooming as well- good news for the hummingbirds. Their blooms are so red, they really stand out.
Cardinal Flower
Out of the hundreds of hardy begonia seedlings coming up, I have one that started to bloom this week.
Hardy Begonia
Up close to the house, the garden phlox are just getting started- this is pale pinkish purple variety.
Garden Phlox
And the Lords and Ladies plant had the seeds ripen to a bright shade of red, which were then quite quickly eaten by the local wildlife. I’m glad I managed to get a picture before they were stripped.
Lords and Ladies seed head
Right now I’m not all that happy with how the garden looks, and I’m still not exactly sure what I want to do about it. I do know that I still want to wait a full year before making any major changes, and will probably spend a lot of time this winter making plans. As we head into mid-Summer, I’m anxious to see what else comes up. In two months we will have been here a full year, and a lot can come up in that time.
And even though it’s not from my garden, I did want to include this picture taken at our local farmers market of sunflowers.
Sunflowers at Farmers Market
I thought the colors were so vibrant and brilliant. We’ve been going to the West End farmers market and like it best so far- mostly because it’s closest and easy to get to, no traffic, and they sell local eggs! There is quite a bit to choose from, and even though the produce isn’t the cheapest in the area, they have a great selection. The only trouble we have is getting up early enough to get there before the vendors sell out. :)
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