Monday In Bloom

I was talking with the ladies in the office earlier this week.  One of them has made an adorable little fairy garden for her office. I told her I was going to sneak in and steal it one night after she left for the day.  She found the cutest butterfly plant stand, and has all kinds of little ferns and figurines in there.  Serious indoor plant envy! Anyway, she commented how her garden just isn’t doing as well this year as in previous years either, so we came to the conclusion that the weather has something to do with it.  It has been much hotter this year than last, and we think the plants just aren’t liking all the extra heat.  So, that problem is solved.  See what happens when a couple of women put their heads together?    lol

It was warm when I went out to take my pictures Sunday. The humidity was fair so it wasn’t as horrible as it’s been the rest of the week prior.  So hot!

One day it was so hot, and when I looked out the window I could see the plants gasping for water.  I don’t know how many trips I made, just pitcher after pitcher.  I gave every pot at least 1-2 gallons, and did all the in-ground plants, as well.  I was going to make doggone good and sure that my plants were not going to die of thirst.

And of course, it rained that night.

But the next day, I swear, lush-city!  Everything just seemed to explode.

Naturally, as I was trying to water one of my hanging plants, the pot got too heavy for the twine holding it and “blam” it hit the ground.  Fortunately nothing broke or spilled out of the pot.  Now my hook is lopsided.  I need some weather resistant hanging cord. 

See how full everything is?  And this is with everything a tad on the droopy side because I took pictures before I watered.

The pink-polka dot plants are just taking off.  Reach for the stars!

And the snapdragons are blooming again, yay!

This is what I love to see!  All that sweet alyssum just oozing over the sides of the pots, like my cup runneth over. 

You can barely see the soil in the pots, the leaves are so full.

Still my happy pot. 

Nice to see the marigolds are thriving in the heat we’ve been having.  Sturdy little things!

For now, my broken no-longer-hanging hanging pot sits on the outside table.  But, at least it’s thriving!

As is the asparagus fern and sweet alyssum in the pot by the front door.  *happysigh*

The lavender seems to be doing pretty well, too.  Please please please survive the Winter, little lavender!

The sage I got earlier this Spring has finally decided to bloom, too!  I was worried it wasn’t going to make it. 

One lonely lily left, the last … wait, what’s that?

Buds!  Eight more buds!  I guess you could call this its encore. 

And that’s how my garden’s growing this week!  How’s yours doing?

cross-posted on my daily blog 

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To see all my pictures from the garden this week, you can click either the link or the image below. Thanks for looking! 2016 Garden Weekly 15 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Monday In Bloom

It was the kind of day we’d call “fair to middlin’.”  Warm, but not terrible unless you stayed in the sun too long.  Which, of course, I didn’t.  My son hung out with me while I got a bit of deadheading and watering done Sunday, so that was nice.   

The lilies have practically stopped blooming now.  I cut off the dead stalks that had no more buds on them.  What a show they put on this year!

Looks like the ivy and sweet alyssum have finally decided to join the garden.  I was getting concerned at how slow and spindly they looked but they seem to be spreading out now.  Whew!

I think the Artemisia likes it in the garden.  Yay!

Even though the daisy flowers are gone, the shrub is still providing a great lush backdrop. 

Hi sweet alyssum!  I’ve been wondering where you were, how nice to see you!

I’ve really come to love these pink salvia.  I’ve never seen pink ones before, so these were a nice treat.  The color is so muted, it reminds me of an oldtimey Victorian card or something. 

Never thought I’d say it, but thank goodness for marigolds, lol.  They’ve really kept things looking halfway decent while I’ve struggled with the pansies in the other long pots.

These pansies are going gangbusters!  I am so relieved.  They’re the only ones that haven’t given me a fit of one kind or another this season.

That’s how my garden is growing this week!  How’s yours doing?  Is the Summer heat making things hard for yours, too?

cross-posted on my daily blog 

To see all my pictures from the garden this week, you can click either the link or the image below. Thanks for looking!   2016 Garden Weekly 14 | Flickr   //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Monday In Bloom

A bit of a break in the heat snap.  At least, it didn’t feel too badly out there.  I was out for a while Sunday, so I got plenty hot.  It was nice to touch my plants though!

One of the neighbors likes my fence.  “Darling!” she called it, lol.  She said she only had one pot on her patio, so I encouraged her to get more.  “The complex needs more pots!” I told her. 

While I’ve lost yet another few pansies, the remaining ones seem to be fairly strong, but for one.  Everything else is too, it seems, although the lilies are slowing down.  There are only a handful of blooms left to go. 

The pink polka dot plants have really responded well to the shift in spots.  I wish I had some way to bring these indoors over Winter! 

I can’t believe how huge the coleus are getting!  And so colorful!  They had really long flower spikes on them, so I cut those off when I was deadheading, to encourage the plants to get bushier. 

The remains of some of my pansies.  One of these pots had only 2 plants left, so I took some from a neighboring pot to balance things out a bit. 

Just look at that potato vine go!  It’s really taken off now!  Hopefully I’ll get some trailing shoots over the edge of the pot before the season ends.

Even though I’ve lost a couple of plants from this pot, the ones remaining seem to be pretty healthy.  That’s partly why I think I got a bad pack at the store.  If there was a disease or virus or pest in the pot, all the plants would be impacted, and they’re not.

The lavender replacement I got seems to be thriving, also.  I’m so happy!  I’m thinking about moving it to another spot next Spring though, a bit closer to the door.  If it survives the Winter, that is. 

That’s how my garden is growing this week.  How’s yours coming along?

Wow, it’s August now!

cross posted on my daily blog

To see all my pictures from the garden this week, you can click either the link or the image below. Thanks for looking! 2016 Garden Weekly 13  //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js