Summer Flowers and Projects

Summertime and the livin is easy! – the enduring classic by Ella Fitzgerald resonates at my home. Work projects are less intense as the heat of the day encourages me to stop early and enjoy the pool in the afternoon or stroll around the yard to observe summer blooms and new growth. Here are a few photos.

Shasta daisies were in profusion in July. I grew these all from seed. They are quite simple to grow and it is one of the few things the deer have not been eating this year. I like their tall, upright form and the neatness of the white flowers against the dark green foliage.

Daisies and yellow coreopsis at the entrance to the old picnic area.

The old picnic area is also the site of hundreds of zinnia plants and a grouping of butterfly bush (Buddleja). On sunny days, butterflies flit back and forth from the zinnias to the butterfly bush.

I tried growing a special variety of zinnia this year. The Zinderella Series of zinnias have fully double blossoms. They are beautiful, but the number of fully double blossoms, versus the semi-double and single blossoms is very small (only 3 flowers so far).

Hydrangeas are a delight. The flowers, clustered together forming tidy balls are some of my favorites. Unfortunately, the deer love to eat them. In the past they have not bothered the one close to the front door, but this year they have ventured right up to the door to eat not only from the hydrangea, but also from the geraniums on the steps.

Balloon flowers were prolific this year. Last year some of the seeds spread resulting in balloon flowers popping up in many new locations.

The vegetable garden fence is loaded with purple morning glory vines. In the morning the flowers open to an intense velvety color.

Our thoughtful and kind friend Jamie arranged for his mother to send us dahlia rhizomes from her garden in the Dakotas. Most of them have not bloomed yet.

Hostas are beloved by deer, so we can only grow them by the pool. Hopefully the deer do not decide to hop the fence.

I admire wild flowers that just spring up on their own.

Birds are a such welcome part of the garden. They flit around the yard and are fun to watch as they explore their habitat. The song birds are in abundance and provide a garden symphony of sounds. To encourage even more birds, Andrew and I built more bird houses.

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Rains, earlier in July, caused parts of the paths in the woodland garden to wash out. As this is the first year to see the ground in the woodland garden, I am still learning about where water comes from and where it goes. To avoid further wash outs the paths have been altered.

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Summer is a beautiful, relaxing time of year. Yes, there is heat and humidity, there are some bugs, but the pleasure of being outside surrounded by nature makes up for any negatives. I hope you are enjoying summer too!