Friday, August 5, 2011

Friday Sights and Sounds in the Garden

 

August has brought with it the sounds of insects in the yard that are droning out all other noises from their constant  calls.

PrayingMantis2

The birds have grown silent and are staying in the woods more from the hot dog days that are upon us.

Bluebids_Feedings
All except these busy Bluebird parents who have had a second clutch of constantly chirping babies with  hungry pecks to feed. Poppa has a nice bug and Momma a tasty worm.

Bluebird_House

In the woods the Woodland Sunflowers are in bloom.

Woodland_Sunflowers2
While along the side of the highways Joe Pye Weed, Queen Annes Lace, Black Eyed Susan’s, Ironweed, Milkweed, Golden Rod  and
CornFlowers 
Cornflowers are blooming.

Blueberry_Parfait_Hydrangea In the garden ‘Blueberry Parfait’ hydrangea is blooming sparsely this year.

Hydrangea_RoyalRed_July1 
And ‘Royal Red’ is not looking so red.

Hydrangea_DwarfForeverPink

And the early blooming Dwarf ‘Forever Pink’ hydrangea has been trimmed back. Sorry about the shady picture.

Hydrangea_SB
‘Summer Beauty’ hydrangea is blooming also.

Wirral_Crysanthemum “Wirral Pride’ Chrysanthemums are still blooming.

RaspberryWine_Monarda_Closeup The ‘Raspberry Wine’ monarda and others have been deadheaded to get some more blooms from them

BellaRosa The roses are growing well and getting ready for another flush of blooms. Keeping the Japanese Beetles at bay from this ‘Bella Roma’ has been a chore.

BlueBird_Delphinium 
The ‘Bluebird’ Delphiniums are getting a few more smaller blooms after they were cut back.

Cosmos_TetraVersaillesRed 
A few ‘Tetra Versailles’ cosmos have reseeded and are in bloom.

CrapeMyrtle_Bush
The Crepe or Crape Myrtle (whichever) is loaded in blooms.

 RT_Echinacea
‘Raspberry Truffle’ Echinacea is looking a little better since the caterpillars have stopped chomping on it. I love this new Echinacea and I wish I could get a true picture of its wonderful pink-rose color.

PWWB 
On the other hand ‘Pow Wow Wild Berry’ is looking just terrible and nothing like I thought it would be. I will give it another year and it will be moved to the Woodland bed where all the misfits go. LOL!

SummerGloxonia 
The ‘Summer Gloxinia’ is still in bloom.

These are a few of the sights in the garden today.
I will be joining with our Glenda (aka Tootsie) and others for Fertilizer Friday. Join us in Flaunting your Blooms.

Fertilizer_Friday
Everyone Have a wonderful weekend and try to stay cool.
Some prayers for rain in our dry states would be appreciated I am sure.

Happy Gardening,
Lona

 

 

23 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

Everything is still looking wonderful Lona considering this heat. I know I am fortunate to have any blooms. It's just been too long.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Janet, The Queen of Seaford said...

That roadside photo is my favorite, love the wild self-seeded blooms.
We were at the Food Lion yesterday and when we got inside and went to the cart area we saw a Praying Mantis on the front window....had to have been about 5- 6 inches.

Bangchik and Kakdah said...

Lovely pictures. Nice to see such happy Mom and Dad bringing home tasty food to the kids. I heard some birds leave the chore to Mom, only Mom!

Helen said...

You still have a lot of beautiful flowers booming. Most of them around here have already gone. Helen

A Garden of Threads said...

Hi Lona, Wow your garden looks fantastic. My Raspberry Wine bee balm has died, cool spring and hot, hot summer was too much for it. Maybe it will return next spring. Have a great weekend.

Serenity Cove said...

Oh I wish I could grow Crape Myrtle up here. Tried twice and it never came back so I decided to quit wasting my money.I saw them in Tn. and they are just beautiful!
Wish they came up with a hardier one!!

Diana LaMarre said...

How fortunate you are to have bluebirds. We have them in our area, but almost never see them in our yard. It's always a big thrill when we see one!

VW said...

So nice to see your hydrangeas. Mine are still without any buds, even, so I might not get any blooms again this year. My climate just isn't the best for them, I guess, even though I have the Endless Summer type that are supposed to bloom in colder climates. Maybe next year? . . .

BernieH said...

Loved the shot of Mum and Dad Bluebird. They do look like they're having a busy day. It's great to see so many beautiful flowers and Bella Roma looks lovely despite the evidence of nibbling. Loving 'Summer Beauty' and 'Blueberry Parfait' Hydrangeas. The beginning of Autumn still looks like a wonderful time in your garden.

Anonymous said...

Blueberry Parfait is a pretty hydrangea and one I never have seen.

Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said...

I love those roadside wildflowers! I've been busy deadheading here too hoping for some more flowers. I love your 'Raspberry Truffle', I haven't seen that one before. Coneflowers are just starting to bloom here.

Masha said...

Superb close-up photography and really great bird pictures. Thank you for posting.

Rebecca @ In The Garden said...

Your blue hydrangea is lovely, but the stunning praying mantis steals the show. I haven't seen one in many years, but wish they would visit.

Rose said...

What a beautiful collection of hydrangeas you have! What you call cornflowers, we call chicory. The farmers call them weeds, but I think they're lovely. Our roadsides are full of it right now, too.

Great shot of the mantis! I've seen some tiny ones in my garden, but no large ones yet this year.

Gatsbys Gardens said...

Hi Lona,

Those hydrangeas are beautiful, especially that unusual blue colored one. I have had trouble with Pow Wow also, mine looks black and rotted. Kim's Knee High is a must prettier plant.

Eileen

pogonip said...

I love your photos--especially the busy parents. And the roadside garden. August does feel like a wind-down with the heat beating the garden down. You still have so many lovely flowers though.

greggo said...

very nice post...my wife loves the roses.

Anonymous said...

I sure do love the roadside blooms this time of year, as pretty as any garden.

Rosie Gan said...

Those cornflowers are so pretty and I envy you your hydrangeas...mine are all dormant.Happy gardening to you too, Lona.
Rosie

Jennifer said...

Jennifer@threedogsinagarden
Hi Lona, What an amazing array of blooms you have. I also love your picture of the wildflowers along the road and the bluebirds. They are such a handsome couple of bluebirds.
P.S. Thanks for your tips on the Japanese Beetles. I know that you have been fighting them off for some time.

Andrea said...

Outstanding photos as usual, lovely blooms too.

GRACE PETERSON said...

Hi Lona, Your blooms are lovely. I wonder what happened to 'Pow Wow' though. Mine looks pretty good, better than some of my other Echinaceas. :) I especially love your hydrangeas.

Karen said...

Hi Lona, so good to stroll your gardens with you today. Wow, you have a lot of containers to water, much more than I have, and I get to thinking as I'm straggling through the garden with the watering can, "Why do I plant all this stuff??" but then you see your beautiful flowers and you know why, right?

I was lucky on overwintering some geraniums too; yours are so gorgeous. No luck with caladiums, though I adore them. And the echinaceas are giving me a headache this year, so many oddly deformed flowers on the expensive ones I bought (someone said it's a type of 'aster wilt' or something. Ack, always another thing to worry about, think I'll stick to the ol' tried and true ones.

The chicory is really pretty, though my father hated it with a passion, used to grouse about it when we hauled milk to the factory. Have you ever tried to pick some for the vase? It wilts almost instantly, just faints dead away (sort of like me on a hot day!)

So nice to visit, Lona, thank you!