Summer flowers

I have been watching the transformation of my yard over the last six months.  I was so sad when those trees came down, my old friends.  I knew almost immediately that I had full sun now in my front yard, but I don't think I quite realized just that meant.  Not only do I have more vibrant flowers, but the ground dries out much more quickly and the weeds flourish along side the flowers.  I am making plans now about what to move when the weather turns.  Always a work in progress...

 

These are the cone flowers that bloomed.  I had planted three groupings of them, but only one plant made it, I think.  There is a late bloomer in the garden that may be cone flower as well.  Lupine and pineapple sage are in the background.  This was part of the bird sanctuary garden that I planted in the early spring.  Goldfinches supposedly like cone flower when they go to seed.  I think they are interesting looking.

 

 




This is Pineapple Sage.  The hummingbirds really like it, which surprises me since the blooms are so small.  Fuscias are so flashy, I always find it odd when the birds choose small blooms like on my raspberry bushes from which to feed.

 
 These are the African Daisies I planted in the spring.  All the other plants that were blooming at that time have since died or lost their blooms.  I love this color.  I thought they were perennials, but recently read they are annuals.  If all annuals lasted this long, I would be more inclined to plant them.  In the background is a beautiful Dahlia that continues to bloom these fabulous magenta flowers with dark purple leaves.  These may survive the winter if I mulch them heavily.  It is my front yard, so I will need to find an attractive mulch.  My mom said she mulched with leaves and sticks, but I don't think I can do that so close to the road.  My HOA will send me nasty letters I think.

 
 This is one of two high bush cranberry.  They have both done very well this summer.  There is some discoloration on some leaves that I don't know what is causing it.  Looks a bit like a fungus.  I don't use fungicide very often since I am trying to attract birds and other wildlife, but I don't want to lose my tree.  I am waiting to see what comes of it at this point, because I don't know what it is really.

 
 I have a three different types of crocosmia in my yard.  This yellow one is shorter than the other two.  It is doing well.  I moved it in the spring and I am glad to say all clusters are doing well.  I can't see those by the apple tree because the red ones are so tall.  But I am sure it looks nice from the road, which is important too.  I love this solar light I bought for myself this spring.  It lights up at night and changes color.  I find it so peaceful.

This is the purple clematis that has grown nicely, but won't bloom.  I was discussing my yard with a woman at my job and she asked if I fertilized it.  "No."  "That might be why it isn't blooming."  Oh.  Go figure.  I did put some fish fertilizer on it in the spring, and I did top dress it with compost, so that is fertilizing, isn't it?

 
 I love these purple flowers.  They look like small carnations, but I don't know what they are for certain.  They have been blooming consistently for months.  The stargazer lily shown is old and has weak blooms.  I often break them off when I am weeding in the spring.  I guess it is time to replant them.

 
 This is almost the same view, but it shows a columbine that continues to bloom even though every other columbine has been done for months now.  There is also a delphinium that looks to be getting ready to bloom again as well.  Don't they know it is mid August?

 I picked up this Black and Blue Salvia from Fred Meyer about a month ago.  I love it.  I hope it comes back next year.  Maybe if I mulch it will.

 Notice how there are two blooms on one stem on this Bee Balm.  Weird.

 
 I love Bee Balm.  It looks ratty like it has terrible bed head, but I love it.  It always has bees, especially the big Bumble Bees, which I love.  The hummingbirds seem to like it too.

 
 The lone canna from the 16 bulbs I planted has arrived.  I hope it lasts into the fall.

 These two pictures show the front of the house.  The monks hood still hasn't bloomed, but I love the tall stalks.  These iris bloomed in early spring along with tons of other things.  The stargazer lilies look awful.  I may move them or just replant some new ones.  I like the tree lilies and I have a number of them around the yard, but they are all looking a little peaked.

 

 
 In between the hydrangea and the vine maple, I planted this little silver fern.  It is so small right now, but it should grow into something fabulous eventually.  If it doesn't, I will move it.

 
 I know this is not a lovely photo, but I wanted to show a couple of things.  First, the weedy looking mess at the bottom is a bunch of day lilies.  They didn't have a great bloom this year, perhaps because they are so old.  The other is a lovely tree lily that is as tall as I am.  But the bloom only lasts about 10 days.  I love lilies, but I am not sure I want to replace them all. I planted these at least 5 years ago.  They do okay in the shadier parts of my yard, but none of them did all that well this year.  Maybe it is time to move them, thin them or replace them.

 
 Here are the iris greens that grow beneath the vine maple tree.  They have never bloomed, so I intend to move them this fall.

 
 This wall of green is made of the red crocosmia.  I had planted a spiky bush behind them this spring that has been completely overwhelmed by them, at least from the house view.

 
 The yellow crocosmia can be seen, but only if you peek over the top of the red ones.  There are a million and seven apples that I didn't harvest under all these greens.  I did harvest a number of apples this summer (yellow transparents) and made loads of applesauce.  It was wonderful, but I haven't picked up all the windfalls yet.

 
 I think this is corn that was planted by a squirrel.

 I love this grass.  I pulled it out from under an azalea.  I had no idea it was this huge.  I hope it survives ok in the barrel.  The tree is the other high bush cranberry.  It should have wonderful fall color in another month or so.