I planted sunflowers this year, and they’re blooming ♥️.
Jul 11: garden status
Tag: garden
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 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.
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.
May 23: first caterpillar of the season
I’ve been checking the rue for swallowtail caterpillars, and I saw my first one of 2022 this morning.
I’ve been checking the swamp milkweeds to see if they’d come back. I was getting nervous because they seemed to take longer this year than in previous years. Three of the five have finally re-emerged; I’ll need to replace the other two so the monarch caterpillars don’t run out of food.
The fescue and scabiosa are blooming, and as is the norm these days, I saw a bunny in the bed, nibbling away at the goldenrod.
May 6: what’s blooming (and about to bloom)
Apr 6: rhodies and the beginnings of redbud and dogwood blooms
Mar 12: snowy day
Feb 23: bees, sedum leaves, volunteer feverfew, and first vinca flower
May 15: new bed is planted! And scabiosa and verbena are blooming
I killed grass back in February to create a new flower bed. I wanted to fill it with lots of nectar and host plants for butterflies, plus some herbs and peppers for eating. I mulched the bed in the end of March, and in May, I’ve planted it:
- 5 Mexican sunflowers (nectar)
- 8-10 dill (host plant for swallowtails, plus herb for us)
- 4 orange milkweed (host plant for monarchs)
- A big patch of zinnia seeds (nectar)
- Red salvia annuals (nectar)
- Parsley (host plant for swallowtails, plus herb for us)
- Cilantro (herb for us)
- Jalapeño (pepper for us)
- Basil (herb for us)
It doesn’t look like much for now, which is why I wanted to photograph it, as a before picture. The wire cages are to keep the rabbits away from the milkweed seedlings. The’ve eaten fresh milkweed in the past, and I don’t want them eating these seeds I’ve carefully cultivated for 10 weeks.
Andrea's Gardening Blog 