Every once in awhile, I like to stand on the porch and take some photos. It's fun to see the changes over the season.
I trimmed back the joe pye weed last week because the ends were drooping in the heat of the afternoons, and so it will take up as much room over the sidewalk. I've had to tie up a number of plants due to how tall and floppy they are getting due to all of the rain we've had. The meadow rue plants were falling down before I tied a string around them.
The wild quinine blooms are outlasting the golden alexanders. Soon, the mountain mint and liatris will be blooming.
I dug out quite a few purple coneflowers this year. Some of them have been getting aster yellows, so I didn't want as many as there were last year. The pale purple coneflowers are looking good, but rabbits have eaten some of them down, and reduced the amount of blooms. Purple prairie clover is one of my favorites, and one of the favorites of rabbits, so I have them caged.
I cut some of the stems off of the cup plant so it can't droop over the sidewalk. Rabbits ate some of the Illinois bundleflower foliage. I'm glad they didn't get it all.
When I planted this mallow, I didn't realize it was a taller kind. The white blooms on the other side of the chair are another mallow cultivar.
Gray-headed coneflowers are about to bloom. The wild senna foliage is looking awesome, and the rudbeckia maxima is blooming shorter than usual.
I had to tie up the fleabane the other day, because it was falling over. I also have been tying up the lanceleaf coreopsis plants. The blooms under the bench are the native purple poppy mallows.
The clematis pitcheri on the trelllis has needed to be cut back since it has run out of support. For some reason, the younger one is blooming before this one. That's yarrow near the grass, a switchgrass cultivar I'm not remembering the name of.
I think these are outhouse flowers. They are going to have to come out this fall, though, because we are getting water into our basement from this raised flower box that was there, I think, when the house was built. I am not sure what his plan is, but I think it involves cement.
Even though we've had way more rain than normal this
season, the heat the last few days has dried out the vegetable garden
and the pots. I heard there were some bad storms east of us today. I
hope all of you are safe and sound, getting some gardening it. My
efforts at working across the street today were met with aggressive
mosquitoes. I don't have the stamina for the heat as much as I used to, but I will keep at it.
I trimmed back the joe pye weed last week because the ends were drooping in the heat of the afternoons, and so it will take up as much room over the sidewalk. I've had to tie up a number of plants due to how tall and floppy they are getting due to all of the rain we've had. The meadow rue plants were falling down before I tied a string around them.
The wild quinine blooms are outlasting the golden alexanders. Soon, the mountain mint and liatris will be blooming.
I dug out quite a few purple coneflowers this year. Some of them have been getting aster yellows, so I didn't want as many as there were last year. The pale purple coneflowers are looking good, but rabbits have eaten some of them down, and reduced the amount of blooms. Purple prairie clover is one of my favorites, and one of the favorites of rabbits, so I have them caged.
I cut some of the stems off of the cup plant so it can't droop over the sidewalk. Rabbits ate some of the Illinois bundleflower foliage. I'm glad they didn't get it all.
When I planted this mallow, I didn't realize it was a taller kind. The white blooms on the other side of the chair are another mallow cultivar.
Gray-headed coneflowers are about to bloom. The wild senna foliage is looking awesome, and the rudbeckia maxima is blooming shorter than usual.
I had to tie up the fleabane the other day, because it was falling over. I also have been tying up the lanceleaf coreopsis plants. The blooms under the bench are the native purple poppy mallows.
The clematis pitcheri on the trelllis has needed to be cut back since it has run out of support. For some reason, the younger one is blooming before this one. That's yarrow near the grass, a switchgrass cultivar I'm not remembering the name of.
I think these are outhouse flowers. They are going to have to come out this fall, though, because we are getting water into our basement from this raised flower box that was there, I think, when the house was built. I am not sure what his plan is, but I think it involves cement.
I really enjoy the variety that grows in your front yard - and admire your familiarity with their names! I'm just positive I've pulled out some of these flowers growing wild (is that possible?) in my flower beds. I need more patience. Things HAVE been growing like crazy here. SO much rain - so little time in between to stay on top of the weeding!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we've addressed a water-in-the-cellar problem just this past week. And it DID involve cement. I'm waiting for the dirt to settle before re-planting the bed that occupied the space before they dug deep down along-side the wall. ( It's been a real mess - especially since it was so rainy while they were doing it.)
Just had another inch of rain over night...seems like all the rain is kicking plants wanted and unwanted into high gear....Sue your garden always looks so lush and inviting.
ReplyDeleteSue, this has been a record year for rain on the Nebraska west bank of the Missouri river. I'm spending so much extra time just with weed control this year that it seems that's all I'm doing. The wild life does seem to be more active as well. I keep seeing deer tracks in my garden and plants disappearing because of it. Strawberries were eaten right down to the ground. Green berries, ripe berries, leaves every thing was gone in one night. The plants will survive but the berry harvest will have to wait for next year. My backyard raised beds have visits from the mid town rabbit raiders at night. My only savior for the lettuce has been the clover in the yard. They seem to like that even better than the tender lettuce shoots. They nibbled on my cabbage a time or two but are now leaving it alone. I have tomatoes in the five gallon bucket early started experimental method the size of plums and covered with blooms for future harvests. Potatoes are almost done blooming which is way early for that to be happening. Radishes were kind of a bust this year. With all the rain, the tops were great but the radish was small. I find it interesting how different each year can be in the garden.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day outside in the flower garden.
Everything looks so lush! Its amazing to me that you have so many rabbits in the city - I guess they have adapted to urban life. What is the beautiful fern-like plant behind the cedar chair in photo #5? I would love to introduce that type of leaf to my garden if it will thrive in Texas. Happy gardening, Sue.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne, that is Illinois bundleflower. I'm not sure what its range is, but it is native in Nebraska. The flowers are white, and short lived, but the seedheads are cool, and turn brown in the fall.
DeleteHi Sue, I love the first picture from the porch. Your garden is so green and lush from the rain.....now the sun will make all the buds pop and it will be amazing. Purple Prairie Clover is beautiful.....I haven't seen any growing around here but did some research and it said they should grow ok here....I plan to try them. I know what you mean about the heat......I only garden in the morning when the shade is still on the garden.....even then, it can be hard because of the heat! Happy gardening!
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, I love your header photo; everything looks so lush! And Heidi is adorable as ever! I have had aster yellows in my coneflowers in the past as well, but I have so many that I still have lots even after pulling many. Are the pale purple coneflowers "immune" to aster yellows? I have a couple of them too but could surely do more. I like the purple poppy mallow and the purple prairie clover although I don't have either one in my garden. I like yours! I don't have tolerance for heat like I used to either, and certainly no tolerance for mosquitoes! They've been awful this year; we've had a fair amount of rain so I know that is a reason why.
ReplyDeleteIt's all looking green and lush.. I live in one of the driest parts of the UK and desperately need some rain.. we are watering sometimes twice a day but the garden still looks dry.
ReplyDeleteYour garden is looking super green and lush. I can understand the plants getting too tall and flopping. I have flopping problems too, especially Coreopsis lanceolata and the usual Crocosmia lucifer. I'm trying to figure out better supports, maybe some kind of rings or even tomato cages. I see so many flowers in your garden that I have tried to grow unsuccessfully in the past. It's frustrating because they are east-coast wildflowers so I feel like maybe conditions just aren't right out here. I'm surprised the Purple Prairie clover is so tall. I planted little seedlings out and never saw them again. Perhaps it was rabbits. I have a lot of trouble keeping rabbits from eating my beans but finally got a row of chicken wire completely around my big front garden bed fence and now I think I can grow beans safely again. I don't like the heat either so I get up early and garden until it is hot, then here it cools off in the evening so I am back out again until dark. After our early and hot spring I'm expecting record heat this summer, I hope not.
ReplyDeleteVisiting relatives in Alabama and listening to the rain fall outside. I'd planned to walk around and look at some of the wildflowers blooming in the area, but the rain put a stop to that idea. It's not all bad. Instead, it's given me the opportunity to look at the beautiful yard and flowers you have. Thanks for taking the time to post the pic's/info. It's made a rain filled morning, very enjoyable.
ReplyDelete