The Echinacea are Coming

I've been reading a lot lately about Echinacea in other gardens and have been patiently waiting for mine to bloom...well they are an their way. Above is the start of a white variety and a couple different purple types below...



I thought I would also do a little Wednesday garden tour...there's always so much in the garden to interest me and I try to show it all. I have noticed lots of yellow and pink.

Here is another type of "funny flower"...


This yellow daylily always looks nice...even if it is pretty common these days.


The morning glories have such a glow in the later morning hours.


I like how the tall onion scapes provide a clean vertical shape.


The rose mallows dance in the breeze wind...


These little Coreopsis sure have a great fire-cracker effect...


I just love the many shades the leaves and blooms have on this Heuchera.


These pansies and violas sure look cute tucked into their own spot of this bed...they've been going strong this summer.


The lettuce going to seed has its own look...I really like how the red leaf variety looks.


Finally our happy Rudbeckia.

Independence Day - July

Happy Independence Day, United States! So...when is this 4th-of-July?
To start, I give you a red, white, and blue theme.

Okay on to a look at our garden at the start of this month. I've noticed some transition in the garden now. The plants of spring have faded and are going to seed...



Summer crops are coming in...Potatoes have buds, kohlrabi is finally forming bulbs - hope they turn out (I think they're late), and spaghetti squash is starting to take off.



Nasturtium are blooming now.


Some lilies are blooming...these have tall flower stems.



Common evening primrose...these seem to be pretty prolific. I don't know where they came from, but last year we had them. Sources say moths pollinate the flowers and last year I did catch a Sphinx moth in the fall.


Heuchera in bloom.


These started to bloom. I haven't taken time to figure out what they are, but I like them. The foliage has some interest, especially before the plant started to bloom.

Pea Flowers

My biggest news this post is peas! I am happy to see many blooms on the 'Strike' shelling peas and a couple of days later on the 'Sugar Ann' snap peas. So that means peas to eat soon. It is also interesting that the original Sugar Snap peas I planted at the same time are doing fine, but since they are a tall vine variety they will be 2-3 weeks later.

A couple of pea blossoms.


The farthest along Sugar Snaps.


I couldn't resist a morning dew picture. It's challenging to get this one because the sun was behind me.


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I figured it's also past time to take some shots of some of our garden spots. Not that we have many yet.

Here's a corner by the house. I think it's shaping up to be a dill forest this year (just wait).


Here's a couple of shots by the strawberries including a side angle of that bed.


The formerly all weedy spot by the garage. Do you like our wonderful bird bath?


A bit closer to the corner. I like how the ferns are filling in. We need to add some mulch and rocks there.


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Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple' or coral bells. These two have done well in there spots and have been pretty hardy both to the winter and summer.


Large hostas on the south side. We are trying to decide what to do with the open spots between plants.


The chives have started blooming.


And the Allium 'gladiator'. I may have to move some of these since most have not flowered since the first year.


One last plant picture, I still have to find the tag for this one. (Update: I think this is Ligularia)