Monday In Bloom

I couldn’t get a screenshot of the temperature as I was on the phone with my friend when I went out to take pictures, but it was in the low-mid 70s, and the humidity was decent.  It was a bright, sunny day and not uncomfortable to be out.  We haven’t gotten as much rain this week as last, so things have been a bit on the dry side.  I’ll probably be out there Monday morning watering away. 

Overall, things are still looking pretty good.  The landscapers shaved a bit too close with the weed whacker so the grass edge around my little fence is all dead.  It’s actually a little trench that was originally landscaped in, and sometimes I think I’d like to fill it with smooth rocks or something. 

Do you notice what’s missing?

Still looking bright and lush!

In case you didn’t know, coleus is mostly a shade plant.  My little garden patches face East, South East.  So we get some morning sun, and in the afternoon the front section gets some, but everything else is pretty much in the shade by then.  So, clearly the coleus have been a good choice, and they really seem to love this corner, which also happens to be the shadiest.
 

Every time I see this pot, I think of a wedding gown.

These mums are finally blooming.  They are indeed more of a rusty color and not the burgundy I was hoping for.  Oh well, at least it’s a pretty plant. 

For Ryan, at Stormbound Treehouse, this is what I was talking about last week when I said this plant matched the marigolds better than it matches the coleus. 

Speaking of coleus (again!), can you believe how huge this thing is?! 

The potato vine has lots of flower buds on it.  I’ve never seen it have so many!  I’m thinking it likes the shade more than the full sun I’ve been giving it each year when I buy it.  It’s vine-y, so I hung it, and the little tag thingy said it liked sun, but I’m thinking it only likes partial sun at best. 

In case you didn’t notice what was missing in the first picture, here it is!  The hanging pot of sweet alyssum is no longer hanging.  The hanger rope broke when I was watering a couple days ago, just like its neighbor pot of potato vine did a few weeks ago.  So I guess I’m going to have to find a better hanging solution for these pots, or give up on the idea of hanging pots all together.  Yeah, I don’t like that last idea either!

Still some lilies left on the plant!

The lavender seems to be doing great.  I can’t recall how big they got last year (and seriously Vanessa, why do you take the pictures then?)  Okay just went to look back at last year’s pics, and the lavender, one of them anyway, did pretty well.  It made it through Winter but died in early Spring.  It was almost as big as this one, but that was in Week 28.  So, for all intents and purposes, this one seems to be doing better.  *fingerscrossed*

Annnnd Autumn is fast approaching.  Thursday, at 9:21 AM CDT! 

More snaps, yay!

I simply adore this combination of the silvery Dusty Miller with the purple Sweet Alyssum.  It seems every pot that has one, also has the other.  While I was on the phone with my friend I just started snapping all of them.  I guess you could call it … Study in Silver and Sweet. 

So grows my garden this week!  How’s yours doing?  Are you getting ready for Autumn?

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 20 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Monday In Bloom

It was actually a pretty nice day Sunday!  My Beloved and I went for a walk in the late afternoon, and I didn’t do any gardening at all.  We’ve had a bit of rain this week, temperatures have cooled some, and the garden has kind of been on auto-pilot for a couple days.  And, we might even see daytime temps in the 60s for a couple days this week!  Woohoo! 

Except for my Creeping Phlox, I’m pretty happy with the state of things.  The rain and cooler weather has really been a nice change of pace and the garden has really enjoyed it, too. 

I love how these pink polka dots look like they’re raising their little stemmy arms in praise and shouting, “Woohoo!”

It just looks so lush and full and thriving, and that makes me so happy!  If you could see baby laughter, it would look like this.

Since turning this pot around, the stuff in the back can breathe now! 

I think these are going to be a little more on the rusty side than I anticipated when I bought them last week.  I thought they’d match the coleus, but it looks like they’ll accent the marigolds a little better instead. 

Fresh little pops of color on the globe amaranth, along with cascades of sweet alyssum!

The creamy, vanilla mums have revealed a bit of yellow, so now it looks like a scoop of lemony ice cream.

This Artemisia is definitely going to take over the garden, lol.  It’s about 6 times bigger now than it was when first planted it in May. 

The lilies are still blooming!  Every week I think it’s the last week for them, and each time I see more buds hiding in the leaves.  What a bonus!

This sage has so surprised me!  For weeks after I planted it, I thought for sure it wasn’t going to make it.  I guess it just needed some time to decided whether or not it was going to hang around. 

The corner.  After seeing one of the other resident’s gardens, I am so jealous!  They’ve wrapped around their entire patio with mulch and plants and lights, and now I am plotting.  I even saw her hang a bird feeder over the weekend!  This corner has annoyed me for ages because it’s got nothing, and I wasn’t sure I would be permitted to do more with the garden area than what was originally landscaped.  But now … *rubshandstogether* it’s on.  This is how I “landscape.”  I stare and stare at a space until I “see” it finished, then I know what I need to get it done.  Corner, I’m looking at you! 

So that’s how my garden’s growing!  How’s yours coming along?

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 19 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js

Monday In Bloom

Not a terribly hot day, but once I came back inside, I felt overly warm.  Weird.  I was glad to finally be able to get out there and get some deadheading done though!  It’s been kind of hot this week and I haven’t had much opportunity.  We have some really hot days coming up again this week, too.  The kids are on vacation though, so yay! 

Things sure feel quiet in this spot.  Now that the lilies are pretty much done and the daisies are long over, it’s just pretty much green.  I cut back the pansies quite a bit so hopefully that will bring on some massive end-of-season blooms.  *fingerscrossed*

Things are pretty colorful and lush over here, though! 

After I took this picture of my urn pot …

I decided it looked funny.  Can you even tell there are more plants in the back of it?  So I rotated it.  Now the larger plants are in the back and those Dusty Miller and Sweet Alyssum can get a bit more sun. 

Yes, I got more blue pots.  Because … blue pots! 

I consolidated all the burgundy pansies into one pot, because …

New addition!  Burgundy mums!  Should be pretty for Autumn. 

Along with the burgundy mums, I picked up these creamy vanilla ones.  The last surviving pansy that was in this pot finally gave it up, so I had a naked pot.  With Autumn around the corner, mums seemed like an obvious choice. 

And look what was hiding in my lilies!  Even more buds!

Just look at that color!  Isn’t it dreamy?  *happysigh*  I love yellow. 

The vernoica seems nice and bushy. 

So does the lavender and sage.  Please please please survive Winter!

I put something in our storage over the weekend, and was hit with a case of garden envy on the walk over.  I didn’t have my camera on me at the time, so I snuck this one in with my zoom when I was taking my garden pictures.  They’ve tricked out their whole little plot, along the entire walkway and around their whole patio area.  They even put in some stepping stones!  And they have really nice solar lights, too!  And they put little trees up along their side patch on either side of their window.  *envioussigh*  I could tell they only recently did this as there were telltale mulch droppings on the sidewalk.  I feel so inadequate now!  I see I have my Spring work cut out for me! 

And that’s how my garden’s growing!  How’s yours doing?  Have you started any kind of Autumn stuff?

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 18 | Flickr //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js