Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Early July Yard and Gardens

Today I spent a long time out in the gardens, watering everything nice and deep, and generally inspecting things to see how thing are going.   I was happy to find the flowers and vegetables mostly in top shape, thanks to my neighbors and my husband, who together did the watering duties while I was gone.



The front entry is doing well, with the bright pink vinca and petunias stealing the spotlight.




The front lawn looks great, and the foundation shrubs are hanging in there despite the intense heat.


I'm happy with the purple verbena in this spot - next year it will be even fuller and will be a great foil against the golden hue of the variegated shrub.


Over by the garage, the knock out roses that I put in this year in front of the boxwoods are being overshadowed by the pink dahlias that the previous owner had planted.  The dahlias look great, and I'm pleased as punch that the colors are all shades of light and dark pinks - my favorites!


Next to the driveway and gate tot he back yard, the flowers that I installed this spring have all come into their own.   Check out that huge dahlia on the right!  She's a rock star, at least 4ft high!  The bee balm is going gangbusters, and the lantana is coming along with shades of yellow and pink on the same flowers.   Considering that these plants were all put in just two months ago, I'm really happy with how they're filling in.


The back yard foundation bed is flowering freely with lots of impatiens.   The hostas all are blooming, drawing lots of bees.  The hydrangeas are flopping over with heavy blooms, nearly finished.  I've got a few new pots of plants waiting to be put in the ground over by the porch stairs (what else is new?).  


This little bed is struggling along in the intense sun that it gets all day long.  The bird feeder weeds keep  popping up - and just for fun, I've let one volunteer sunflower get three feet high!  It's almost ready to bloom.  


The Sweet Pepper Bushes (Clethra) are just starting to bloom.  Their fragrance was what made me buy them for this spot under the porch screens.   So far, you can catch their scent if you're right up next to them, but not enough are blooming yet to really have a strong fragrance from the porch.  Fingers crossed!


Tomatoes and peppers are fully productive - we've harvest five or six banana peppers, and three tomatoes so far, with about a dozen more which are going to be ripening soon (hopefully).


I really should pull the lettuce out - it's really bitter now, and not very tasty for salads.  The leaning tower of cucumber vine has produce four really long, very tasty cucumbers.  No new ones growing right now, but I'm hoping that the few blooms that it's putting out might grow us one or two more.  Definitely happy with this experiment, and will repeat the fun next year.   (I'm not showing the failed zucchini and yellow squash plants - their containers were too small, and they've protested by turning yellow and floppy and dying.)


The bird feeder bed is going great, with a cheery patch of shasta daisy 'Becky" going gangbusters.  I had to move the birdbath over to this flower bed, so that the squirrels would leave the bird feeders alone over by the porch stairs.   I am enjoying the pink phlox, and the daisies, and the vinca.  The blue hummingbird mint plant is growing and blooming really well, I'm very happy with that plant. 


Here's a panorama of the back yard - all in all, a great summer with good looking lawn, and gardens filling in slowly but surely.   

How about you? How's summer going in your yard?   Leave me a comment and show me the way to your blog, I'd love to see!

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Linking to:  

Creative Country Mom's Gardens:  Home Sweet Garden Party
Fishtail Cottage:  Garden Party
A Delightsome Life:  Home and Garden Thursday
Lavendar Garden Cottage:   Cottage Style Party

13 comments:

  1. It's late tonight but I just had to sneak a peek to see if you were home from your trip. I am happy to see that you had a wonderful time and are now happy to be home. There is no place like home. I loved wandering around your gardens looking at all your flowers and vegetable gardens. What a lovely place you have! Verbena are just my all time favorite flower. Hostas are also a favorite. I must come back when I have more time and look again. I guess you can tell by now that I love landscaping design, flowers and gardening. I just can't do it any more so I live my life through others who still get to enjoy it.

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    1. Well, thanks for stopping by! You are welcome any time, and I hope you'll return soon. :-)

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  2. Your flower beds are lovely....I am loving the mix of annuals and perennials you used!

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  3. Everything looks so pretty! Your bed with impatiens and hostas caught my attention because here in Texas they would definitely have to be in the shade. I can tell you aren't anywhere near here though. :)

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    1. Thank you Stacey! The hostas are getting a lot more sun than they should -- their leaves are getting bleached by the sun -- but I keep them pretty well watered (by hand - ugh!), and they are surviving. The impatiens are also well watered, and they seem to be enjoying the sun they're getting. We live in Raleigh, where the temps have been over 95 degrees for weeks at a time so far this summer - whew!!!

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  4. Love your little birdbath garden! I bet the birds love it too.

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    1. Thanks, yes the birds do enjoy it. I have trouble keeping it clean, but it does attract the birds and gives me some entertainment when the birds bathe there.

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  5. Everything looks so beautiful! Love all the pink in your garden!

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    1. Thank you! I love pink, it's my favorite color (obviously!), followed closely by purple and white. You won't find much yellow or red, or heaven help me, orange in my garden (though sometimes things appear out of nowhere that interrupt that preferred color scheme. I have to force myself to put things in that are something other than pink, or it would be so monotonous!!!

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  6. Thanks Brooke! I'm honored! I did link up, and I loved all your gorgeous photos! Coincidentally, I also had a photo-heavy post on an overcast day. :-) Happy Monday!

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  7. I'm glad you found your garden in great shape on the return of your trip -always a concern of mine - you have a lovely garden! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
    Kathy

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    1. Thanks Kathy for hosting the party and for stopping by. :-)

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