A Vacation from the Vacation

 

 

Will we made it back Sunday from our vacation week in the beautiful state of Virginia.
A posting was delayed because I needed a few days vacation from being on vacation. LOL! This old girl cannot take it like she use to.
Running the whole week wore me out.
And I had to take a day just to sort out all of the pictures.
We had a lovely time and saw many interesting points of interest and gardens in Virginia.

I came home and went straight out to the gardens to check them out and water a few plants that were in containers.
The roses were all but finished blooming.

The exception being that the new ‘Ketchup & Mustard’
Floribunda rose was putting on some blooms.

The red with yellow undersides on the petals makes a striking combination.

The achillea ‘Oretel’s Rose’ yarrow was blooming and hiding the Little Miss sitting on the wall.

The succulents that were planted in the basket were enjoying the heat and dry weather.

The Astrantia blooms were also starting to fade since I had left.

But the pink…

 
.. and red astilbes were now  blooming.

The irises were also finished and the blooms all dried out except for this Siberian Purple Iris.

The ‘Blue Hill’ salvia just had a few blooms remaining so I cut it back yesterday so it could grow back and give me more blooms later.

The ‘Crimson Star’ clematis was in full bloom and looking lovely.

Now is the time for the campanula and bellflowers to take their turn to bloom and this ‘Blue Chip’ is looking pretty now.

Along with the ‘Purple Clustered’ bellflowers.

And the ‘Alba’ Clustered bellflower returned. It sprang up last year from amongst the purple ones for the first time.

The clematis ‘Florida Seiboldii’ was still looking just as lovely even with a few nips from a wandering bug or two from its petals.

These are first blooms from the variegated ‘Alexander’s’ loosestrife.

The ‘Crazy’ daisies started to bloom in my absence.

And so did the first of the Echinacea. This one is ‘Razza Matazz’ coneflower.

‘Bluebird’ delphiniums have been made the home for a spider it appears.

The perennial ‘Yellow Foxgloves’ are also blooming now in the shade garden.

The Feverfew is also in bloom but falling over so it will have to be moved to a better spot this fall.

What really grabbed my attention was all of the blue blooms on the ‘Nikko’ hydrangea. After such a dismal display last year it has certainly made up for it this year. It is just loaded with big blue balls of blooms.

And the ‘Forever Pink’ dwarf hydrangea is showing tinges of pink in the blooms. It will change colors several times over the summer.

‘Stella de Oro’ looked as if it had been blooming the whole week we were gone.

And it was quite a surprise to see this volunteer poppy blooming. Those of you who have read my blog over the years have heard about my frustration in getting poppy seeds to start for me in the garden. Believe me I have tried and tried and wasted more seed.
So I decided to just buy a poppy and give up on the seeds. So what happens? This one pops up from out of the blue. LOL! Isn’t that always the way of things.

So I am going to enjoy this lovely poppy that decided to bloom in the garden.

Even the first ever blooms from Linda’s Rose Companion seeds  that were sown just made my day. If Linda only knew that her flowers that she shared were growing on and were so appreciated.

 
I thought about the garden many times while we were on vacation last week. Wondering what was blooming and if number one son had watered the containers. Oh, like you don’t. LOL! Gardeners and their gardens. But it went on without me finishing the blooms of most of the roses and irises but many more to take their place had started blooming without me. How rude! LOL!
After spending a little time yesterday dead heading the roses and a few other plants, pulling some weeds, tying up the tomato plants, tidying up in general, and watering the containers I felt much better and rested from the vacation week.
Everyone have a wonderful week and..
Happy Gardening!
Lona