I have friends, friends who don't garden, who ask me, "What's new? What have you been up to?" and the honest truth is that I haven't been doing much. I wander out into my front garden and I stare at bees. It's too hot and dry to do any real gardening but I find I like deadheading perennials almost as much as I like having my hair shampooed (which is a lot). It's very relaxing. And I can squat and gawp at one plant that is crawling with bees, making my neighbors wonder if I've had a stroke or something.
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| Agastache 'Blue Blazes' |
The kids from three doors down wander by and I mutter, "Look at how the bumbles keep to the agastache while the honeybees feed on the sedum. And I don't even know what these tiny guys are on the tithonia." They no longer like talking to me because they are teenagers now and also, I'm rambling about bees.
This year has been a banner year for pollinators in my garden. It could be that they were always there and I never noticed or maybe they really are flourishing because I gave them so many blooms. On the flip side I have no butterflies, save the cabbage whites. I don't even have skippers. I whine about the yard wondering aloud, "Where are you? I gave you muddy drinking stations." My neighbors think I'm insane.
If we're being honest, I hate August. I'm sick of the heat and I find myself thinking, "I miss eating soup. I want ragout and pasta!" while simultaneously seeing mums at the grocery store and despairing because, what the hell, summer just started! It's that annoying time of year where I can't enjoy my successes because I'm already plotting how things will be better next year. I'm grumpy and I suspect I'm unpleasant to be around.
I planted
Eryngium partitum two years ago and it promptly fell over. The seeds waited two years to germinate but they had the good sense to do it in a patch of Rose Campion, which holds them aloft. Good job!
The heathers that I planted last fall survived our terrible winter and bloom in shades of lavender that I hate. But I'm thrilled they're alive.
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| Calluna vulgaris 'Fraser's Old Gold' |
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| Calluna vulgaris 'Easter Bonfire' |
Sedum 'Blade Runner' shocked me by blooming from the top, as well as the stalk.
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| Rudbeckia hirta (I think) and Helenium 'Mardi Gras' |
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| Crocosmia x crocosmiflora 'Solfatare' |
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| Crocosmia 'Golden Fleece' |
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| Shut your bloom hole, Leycesteria formosa. You're so pretty. |
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| Sedum telephium 'Hab Gray' |
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| Joe Pye, you're a bee whore and I love you. (Eutrochium purpureum) |
Potentilla gelida needs to stop blooming because I planted it for its foliage and the way it mingles with brown grasses. Brown + silver 4-EVER.
Happy bloom day, from my cranky garden to yours! Thank you,
Carol, for hosting us.
