More Curb Bed and Blooms

I haven't figured out yet whether this post is going to be my Flaunt your Flowers Friday yet.  I'm putting a link to Tootsie's blog just in case, then, will decide if I'm linking this, or another post with more blooms in it.  There are more blooms opening every day.  Yippee!  I do need to get myself out to the garden soon. (Tootsie, I hope your arm heals soon, and you don't get any more snow.)

I am so excited, because I work for a school, and, while I love my job, I love being home in the summer.  Tomorrow is my last day of work until August 13ish.  Weeds, look out!

This is the first area of the curb bed that was planted.  When it was extended farther west, I dug out the 'Fireworks' goldenrod that was behind the Jupiter's Beard, and now, am waiting for the plants to grow larger to see if I need to plant anything else there.  

I put pots over areas where flowers from bulbs have faded, or near plants that are not fully grown.

I've been harvesting lavender to dry.  I need to get out and finish up before the buds fully open.

I am continuing to enjoy this perennial geranium.  I may have written its name in another post. 

A neighbor down the street said for anyone to dig plants from her curb area so the plants would have new homes instead of being destroyed when the new curbs were put in.  Most of them were sedums.  This is one from her yard, mingling with geum, 'Prairie Smoke' seedheads.

Stokes asters are getting ready to bloom.  They are larger than the newly planted ones down the way.  The arum foliage is fading back like it does every year after blooming.  Red berries will form where the flowers were. It will probably grow new foliage in the fall.

We've been moving from west to east, and are now on the east, facing northwest.  The summer savory continues to grow.  Soon, it will have white blooms.  I should pick some to dry soon.

Now, we're facing southwest.  The maroon flowers are knautia, 'Mars Midget'.  That's an aster, I believe, a New England one, to the right of the knautia.  I thinned the 2 on either side of the sidewalk way back this year, digging more than half of each out.  I am also trimming them back in hopes that the stems don't get diseased and turn dark.  The baby's breath, which has buds on it, needs to be tied up. 

Knautia

Sea holly is about to bloom.

I have a number of kinds of liatris.  These will be blooming soon.

Here is the volunteer stand of milkweed that had at least one monarch butterfly visit it a couple weeks or so ago.

I counted 3 or 4 caterpillars today, but the one on the right was not one of them, so there are either 4 or 5.  There are also spiders hanging out on the plant.  I called around to see if anyone local sold protective covers so predators couldn't get to them.  I don't want to bring them in, and I don't think there is enough milkweed to feed all caterpillars that may hatch, though.  There are still some eggs, so I'll have to go to the Monarch Watch site and see what they have.  If you have any experience in this area, let me know.  I know Cameron, had a great post on monarchs awhile back that I meant to put a link to, and didn't.

I planted a couple coneflowers, an ironweed, and a butterfly milkweed in the area on the other side of the light colored pot.  This is the area where the 'Fireworks' goldenrod was.  I still have some on each end of the whole area.  The bulbs I planted on a diagonal from the pot area, going to the stone steps, some kind of iris, I decided, were "so whats".  They didn't bloom in early spring when color would have been nice, then, the bloom time was so short, that I'd rather the space be used by something else.  The daylilies were some of the $5.00 gallons that I got last summer.

This is the view from the other side of the dianthus, 'Spooky' row.

Have a great weekend!  I have more critters to post for Saturday, too.  Hopefully, there will be some larger caterpillars to post photos of.

(An addition to the post: I just got in from gardening.  A week or so out of the veggie garden, and over an inch of rain make for a garden full of weeds.  I always recommend verbena bonariensis for butterflies and bees, and for filling in between other flowers.  If things tend to run wild in your garden, and you don't keep them in check, you will end up with tons of this plant!  I pulled and hoed clumps of seedlings from all over the garden.  I'm trying to get it going in the flower beds, and do get some self sowing, but it LOVES my vegetable garden.  I do let some grow there, but think I'll do some deadheading this year.)