Tag Archives: flowers

flowers, garden, Illinois

Well Worth the Wait…

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Finally, the tomatoes are starting to ripen!
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom, Vintage Wine, Cuore De Toro, Martino’s Roma
Despite my garden’s late start- end of June-
all the extra nurturing and care 
(and the new dog proof fence) is finally starting to pay off!
Here’s today’s bounty. In a few days there will be more. 
These are heirloom and open pollinated. Very sweet and yummy~
though a little cracked here and there but that was due to the hot dry weather and
 my uneven watering.
And here’s the second crop of red raspberries.
heritage raspberries ~ everberring
And my August Lily Hosta is right on cue
and my Zinnias are in full bloom~ this is the first time I’ve planted Zinnias from plants from the Garden Center and not seed. Not bad I think.
and finally, Daisy, waiting for me to drop some more grapes and raspberries.
No… I’m not begging….
flowers, garden

Lazy Sunday

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I’m going to be lazy today and just post some blooms and plants without too many comments. 
We finally got the rain we were waiting for
and it has cooled off a bit, 
so rather than sit here and do a lot of writing, 
I’m going to go out and enjoy the rest of the day….
Self sown Echinacea or Coneflower

Blackberry Lily finally bloomed

 More self sown coneflowers ( I’ve got these everywhere)

Diablo Ninebark ~ Physocarpus opulifolius ~ newer leaves on stem tips

older leaves

Gazania Daisy

Blanket Flower ~ Gaillardia

new buds on blanket flower

Portulaca grandiflora

Honeysuckle reblooming ~ Dropmore Scarlet

 Wormwood ~ Artemisia absinthum

ARTEMISIA ‘SILVER BROCADE’

Lambs ear doing well

second round on the Kmart rose
Wha’cha doing mom?
container gardening, deer, flowers, garden

Torenia aka Wishbone Flower

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 When I first met this little flower, I was introduced to it as the “wishbone” Flower.
Torenia fournieri ~ If you look closely, you will see a ‘wishbone’ just above the yellow. It’s also been dubbed ‘Clown Flower’. If you look at it for a bit, you’ll see a silly smiling face!
I wasn’t very impressed. They were featured in hanging baskets in the normal Peat mixture, which if you didn’t water it daily, dried out quickly resulting in burned and crispy plants.
I did my best to keep them watered and presentable but like me, most of the customers passed them by. 
Last year, I was looking for an annual to 
put in my deck rail basket that would tolerate shade most of the day.
I looked at my options but didn’t really want to do Impatiens again. 
I remembered that the Torenia liked shade and decided to give it a try. 
 
I put three little white flowered plants in the basket along with my special mix of potting soil and kept it well watered all summer. Once it got established, it grew like crazy.
Well, I was very happy with it. 
 
This year I bought eight plants of the purple and planted the basket right away.
It filled in quickly and the heat hasn’t fazed it one bit. 
It’s defiantly my new favorite!
Unopened flower buds
 and it blooms nonstop until frost.
 Here’s some features~
 
Light:Part Sun,Shade
Soil: Average to Moist
Plant Type:Annual
Plant Height:8 to 12 inches tall, depending on type
Plant Width:6-9 inches wide, depending on type
Landscape Uses:Containers,Beds & Borders
 
Special Features:Flowers,   ~ Deer Resistant! ~
flowers, garden, hostas, Illinois

"Gimmie More Flowers!"

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Here’s the latest round of summer blooms
Tall Phlox ~ can’t remember the name right now… of course!

close up of Phlox flowers

Penstemon ‘Lilac Frost’ ~ Did you know there was an American Penstemon Society? I didn’t.  Here’s a link to that too ~> http://www.apsdev.org/

close up of Annabell Hydrangea

lots of blooms this year~ they really love this rainy weather!

Yellow Sunset climbing rose is still going

The hosta I can’t remember the name of is now blooming

such clear white flowers on short stalks~ I wish I could remember how big it’s supposed to get!

As much as they are over done, you still can’t beat a sunny orange marigold!

My favorite Salvia- the annual ‘Victoria’

Okay, no blooms here and only a weed, but I’m still fond of this little guy~ though mistakenly called a clover by many, this is actually a yellow woodsorrel ( Oxalis stricta ).  It’s completely eatable~ One of my neighbors (now passed) told me he used to eat them as a kid to settle a sick stomach.  I just loved the exploding seedpods when I was a kid!  Here’s a link ~> http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/weeds/plants/yl_sorrel.htm

Vinca Major close up

I have these in a window basket on my deck railing
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flowers, Illinois

Bee Tree in Bloom

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My Little Leaf Linden tree (aka Bee Tree, Basswood or otherwise known as Tilia cordata)
is in full bloom today and smells just like honeysuckle! My Husband and I just love this tree! 
It was a Wal-Mart rescue about ten years ago, and I had brought it home in the back of my van.
It is now over twenty five feet tall!

One of my favorite trees!
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flowers, garden, Illinois

Summer Flowers, Grapes & Labrador Proofing

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The first day of summer is almost upon us 
and the flowers continue to bloom in my garden…
……as I spend all my time in the Garden Center! (sigh…)
I don’t care what anybody says about spirea! I love my little spirea!  It blooms with abandon in almost dense shade and does very well in the dry sandy soil against my house…

A closeup

and a little sunlight

Another itsy bitsy spider… Very hard to get the auto focus on the camera to fix on this. I think it took about ten minutes to get this shot!

Dappled light on the Pachysandra

 

A perennial Geranium called “Splish Splash”

Also a mail order plant of several years ago….

More Blooms on my dark pink clematis

The House Bunn’s veggie barrel ~ celery, Kale, oakleaf lettuce & seedlings, Cos lettuce, tiny thumbelina carrot sprouts on the left (very tiny right now) and red and white Swiss Chard sprouts on the right (also very tiny).  Our Bunns are very spoiled rabbits….

Butterfly weed or asclepias tuberosa ~ also started from seed a long time ago. It’s almost ready to bloom.

A Heliopsis or False Sunflower I planted from seed several years ago,,, from this one planting in my front yard, is has reseeded itself all over my backyard…. But I love it and so do the yellow finches!
A metal butterfly I painted and attached to my arbor….
 And in the vegetable garden….
GRAPES! I have grapes! Yay!  This is one of two grape vines on my back fence. This one here is a seedless Red Reliance

And this one is a green seedless~ I will have to go out and look at the tag on it because I can’t remember the variety at this moment… Both of these came from Dan & Jerry’s Green house five years ago… Last year was the first year it had grapes and I’m glad to see them producing again.
 ….and finally, the Labrador proofing!
I got my garden in ‘very’ late this year (I’m so embarrassed!)  because every day off I had, it was pouring down rain! So last week it was finally nice enough to get out and till, compost and plant! The chicken wire is to keep my black Lab, Annie out because she ate the entire garden last year! Yes, everything! Even the strawberry plants! This dog’s number one hobby is eating!
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Sure… She’s all sweet and  innocent now~ but as soon as your back is turned….
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flowers, Illinois, Starved Rock State Park, wild flowers

Wild Penstemon & Spiderwort

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Today on our usual drive through Starved Rock
(to see the flooding~ again), 
we see these white and purple flowers along the roadside…
Upon closer inspection, I’m surprised to see this familiar Spiderwort!
And this is Penstemon~ botanical name for the wild species unknown to me as of yet….
Cool….
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container gardening, flowers, Illinois

Container Gardening

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As promised, here are some pics of my latest project.
I have been growing Herbs, Veggies and a few Perennials in a container for a few years now, and love it.
You’ll have to excuse the weeds. I’ve been very busy this year and have neglected my “home” garden

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Left is Four Banana Peppers & Right is one Martino’s Roma Tomato (I love using galvanized buckets)
My Hens and Chicks Container with a little “Blue Spruce” Sedum tucked in the center….
Did you know Hens & Chicks flower? I’ve had a few flower on me before.
Here’s an update on the “White & Fuzzy” washtub in an earlier post.
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flowers, garden, Illinois

Tigers & Lilacs

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 A rare visitor came to my Lilac tree this afternoon.
I don’t usually see these butterflies in my garden. 
Tiger Swallowtail butterfly sipping Nectar from my Japanese Lilac Tree

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Bleeding heart, flowers, garden

Violets, Bishops & Iced Tea

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Temps still in the 90’s today
So here’s a few shady pictures for ya….
Violets and bishops weed in the shade of a white birch
Another clematis I forgot the name of that’s growing on the trellis on the shady side of my house. I really need to write down the name of the plants in a note book or something!

here’s another shot of my beard’s tongue

A self sown seedling of my white bleeding heart
My K-Mart climbing rose is still hanging on. It’s 15 years old now. I call it this because this is another one I don’t remember the name of……
Okay, I had to throw a few sunny ones in here too!
This is flowers from a Red Japanese Mustard I planted in the garden four years ago. I still to this day find stray seedlings in the strangest places. This one is in my hosta bed, 15 feet away from the garden!

Tick Seed Coreopsis with a tiny wasp

Okay, I’m sorry, but here’s another shot of my beard’s tongue in the sun. It’s really blooming now and I just love this plant!

Japanese Tree Lilac read to pop!

Really huge panicals on this one.
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Today was my first day off since spring began that it wasn’t raining, storming or just too cold~
so dispite the heat, I spent the day getting dirty and filling my planters with veggies, strawberries, herbs & flowers…. 
Of course by the time I finished it was time to start dinner so I didn’t get any pictures of the finished projects!
I will post them by the weekend…..
So to hold ya’ll til then,
here’s a glass of cold tea on a shady porch…..
there’s my strawberries I planted today in the back. The green tray is lettuce I started early that got out of control because I couldn’t get out to plant it, so we are just going to feed it to the house bunns.  And my poor Aloe hates coming outside for the summer at first. It always turns brown until it gets used to the bright sunlight.  Little pots are new starts of Swedish Ivy and plain ivy.

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