Baby Birds, Blooms, and Bugs?

Envious of all the beautiful bird photography out there in blog land, I tried my hand with these shots of fledgling robins. Okay, I'll not win any awards, but I enjoyed taking them. And the little guys were so cute. Mama was nearby keeping an eye on them and I am sure she was still feeding them as well. They were fairly cooperative in posing for me, although I think they were more interested in the coming of food. Not really knowing much about birds of this age...how long will it be before they can fly? Don't they have to have some tail feathers first?

Remember the lightening rods we saved when we had the new roof put on?

I planted a 'Moon-flower Vine', Ipomoea Alba, a couple of weeks ago. I wrapped a small tendril around one of the bottom braces hoping it would climb the rod. Well, it did! All the way to the top, round and round, and there are several tendrils now. I am so pleased and will be even more so when it blooms.

Now, I have a problem and am hoping someone out there can help. Something is eating the petals off my coneflowers. Mostly, I have noticed the bud starting to turn color and then the petals are gone before they have had a chance to fully open.

Or, they leave one or two. I have checked the eaten buds and see nothing. They aren't getting them all, it would take an army to eat all the buds that are in the garden! Any ideas?

Admittedly, this is not a great picture, but I was so excited to see these little flowers. These are from seeds I started indoors and are from some that Cheryl sent me. They are 'Cerinthe', major purpurascens. They look a little like our bluebells and are supposed to flower all summer reaching a height of 12"-15". A little bit of England growing in my garden!

As promised, the planter that fits around my patio table umbrella. It is planted with 'blush' impatiens, 'pride' coleus, and pinks. It is starting to fill in and soon will be overflowing -I hope.

One more picture of these Asiatic lilies. This stalk has 12 blooms and buds on it. I have had to put a stake by it to help keep it upright. This one stalk repeatedly has performed like this. Have I said, I am amazed!?

I have a couple of the granddaughters tomorrow and Friday and I am taking them swimming. They will swim, I'll be reading a book. Saturday, Rose and I are going on a 'Master Gardeners' garden walk. I am really excited about this. Next week, I hope to have lots of beautiful garden photos to share. And the great thing is the weather here has moderated. We are back to June weather-highs of near 80, lows in the upper 50's and low humidity. Thank goodness! It's a joy to be outside again.

I hope the rest of your week and the weekend are good gardening weather for you!

*Just a quick note to those of you who feed Zick Dough to your birds. Please read Julie's post about this.