The garden is full of flowers. No caterpillars or big butterflies yet, though.
Jul 15: sunflowers and coneflowers
Category: summer
Jul 11: garden status
I planted sunflowers this year, and they’re blooming ♥️.
June 25: garden status
Last week was rain, rain, every day. On Friday, the skies didn’t clear, but the rain did stop, and I was able to sneak in a mow before the rain began again. Saturday, it finally cleared. I spent the morning pulling weeds and clearing the jungle of rhubarb that grew between our wild, gangly forsythia and our neighbor’s fence. Then I got out my camera and snapped some shots. My new passionflower is blooming, and coneflowers are beginning to open up. The milkweed I planted from seed two years ago is brilliant orange and thriving. We’ve got bees galore right now. No caterpillars yet.
Sep 16: chrysalises galore (and swallowtail caterpillars)
I counted at least six monarch chrysalises in the garden today and about a dozen swallowtail caterpillars on the rue.
Sep 10: flowers and caterpillars in the garden
Lots of stuff isn’t looking so great in the garden right now, but lots of stuff is. The zinnias are taking over, the sedums are pinking, and the goldenrod and monarch caterpillars are peaking. I counted more than a dozen caterpillars in the milkweed, and found a few swallowtail caterpillars on the rue as well.
Aug 21: garden status
The late summer flowers are in bloom — rudbeckia, echinacea, goldenrod — and zinnias are flowering where I let their seeds fall out back last year. The lavender in front never really recovered this year; I think I’ll replace it with mums.
Aug 6: flowers and butterflies in the garden
Aug 3: garden status
We’re in peak summer flower season: the rudbeckia, shasta daisies, echinacea, white hydrangea, Russian sage, blanket flowers, and butterfly bush are all gorgeous. The Joe Pye weed, autumn joy sedum, goldenrod, and mums are getting ready to flourish. The yarrow, roses, and salvias are done, though, and I need to cut them back to clean things up a bit.
When I watch the garden from my office window, I often see large swallowtails out there now, and I found a couple of fat caterpillars on the rue. The rabbits are getting my milkweed (and liatris) out back; I hope there will be enough for the monarchs. The back beds need another year to fill in after I moved so much stuff around this winter.
Jul 9: garden status
Jul 7: playing with my camera in the garden
This time of year is always fun for photography. The flowers are still fresh and most of the plants are still green; stuff hasn’t started getting leggy or dried out yet.
Jun 28: bunny in the garden
I’ve learned to coexist with the bunnies; I just try to plant stuff that won’t upset me if they eat it.
Andrea's Gardening Blog 