They're Back!!

It's only June-aren't they early this year?! The earliest I could find mention of them on my blog last year was July 7th. That's almost 2 weeks away yet. Not fair!

I am thinking of trying to find some fine mesh bags to tie over my rose buds in an effort to save some of them this year, but have way too many cone flowers for that. So...I will try to pick them off and drop them in a bucket of soapy water when I see them destroying any blooms. Uhg! The scourge of summer!

On a happier note, I was finally able to get a photo of a dragonfly. Admittedly it is not of the quality I have seen on other blogs, but the dragonfly photo has become my humming bird quest. Surely with all I have seen flying around so far this year I will be able to get a better one. For now, though, it makes me smile.

The Asiatic lilies are in full bloom and I have several colors. All of these are unknown varieties and some of them are DIPTs. (Did I Plant These)

I have them in small groupings in most of the beds. They add a bright spot of color to the green and their height takes your eye up and away from the weeds. :)

This is probably my favorite. I love the freckles!

Heavenly Blue has bloomed! I grew this one from seed and planted it at the bottom of the taller part of the deck. I used to have a climbing rose here-in fact have tried 2 years in a row to get one to grow, so there are still wires for it to grow up and along the railing. It has made it to the top and is starting to run along the rail, but this first bloom in near the bottom. I am hoping for great things from this morning glory again this year. I checked back and found I didn't get a bloom last year til the middle of Aug. Of course that one was bound and determined to do nothing but vine for a couple of months while I waited in great anticipation for my first 'moon flower' bloom.

The butterfly weed has come back this year and is blooming joyously. I am so pleased as I have had trouble getting these to grow in my gardens. I was a little doubtful it would survive the winter, but 3 have and I am hoping they are happy enough to stay around for a few years. Last year with only a few blooms it served as a tidbit for several caterpillars. This year I am sure they will enjoy a buffet!

The day lilies have just started to bloom. Stella, a week or so ago and now this unknown. This was the first one I planted a few years back. I love the way the petals are different colors.




And of course, I couldn't do a post with out showing you the latest Martha Stewart Heritage Rose just after a rain.

Summer has come to Central Illinois! Along with all the rain and humidity we are having high 80's and into the 90's temps. The combination makes for some very uncomfortable conditions, and we are under a Heat Advisory until Wednesday eve. Needless to say, I am not out in the garden much-even in the evenings- when the weather is like this. I don't do heat and humidity well. :) But if you are having such weather, be sure to take it easy, drink lots of fluids and keep and eye on the elderly.

Happy gardening! (or air conditioning!)

A Pity Party!

It's been a week since I last posted and although I have been reading all of yours and leaving comments, I have felt I have little to share. Sometimes the fingers are willing to do the typing, but the mind just won't engage. I have sat with my laptop at the ready, pictures loaded, and .... little comes. So many of you are writing about your fall gardening chores and how much you have accomplished. Most are showing pictures of still blooming fall beauties and you are sharing some of the last sightings of butterflies. And here I still sit.


Before you feel too sorry for me or think I am whining-which I am, I know a lot of my blahs have to do with still not resting very well and this darn rash. Yes, it is getting better. But I can see now it is going to take weeks for it to heal. The Prednisone is helping but at the same time makes my skin feel like it is crawling and I am sure it is making me grumpy. That's the polite term my husband is using for my temperament these days. I am peeling yet and then the part that peels is peeling again. The rash was deep and many layers of skin have to come off-gross!!
The good part is, my face is almost done peeling and I can wear a little makeup now so I don't look quite the hideous monster of a week ago. I do want to thank everyone for all their care and concern. It has helped!



So fall is here, we've had some rain, the ground is workable and I should be outside happy as a lark working in my long neglected gardens. I have bulbs to plant and lots of clean up to do. Maybe in a few days.

A bright spot yet is 'heavenly blue'. Still putting out gorgeous blooms everyday with no help from me. I see a little lessening of buds and some of the blooms aren't as big, but she still make me smile.

I promise to work on my attitude and try to find my muse. And I promise to try and have a more upbeat post next time.

Hope you are having a great fall.

A Correction! and Some of This and a Little of That

Another busy week since I last posted and there has been precious little time to spend in the gardens. Fall is here and can be seen in the fading flowers, in the leaves turning and falling from the trees, and felt in the wonderfully cool nights. So much needs to be done outside and inside, as my house has suffered from massive neglect. I am sure, though, that many of you feel the same time constraints-I empathize with you. Somehow we will get it all done, we are super women after all, and what doesn't will wait for us.

Thank you to all you wished me Happy Birthday. I was really touched and it made the turning of another year older much more bearable. Rose took me to a long lunch and we sat outside in glorious weather catching up on family and of course gardening and blogging. Life long friends, we have shared much over the years and now find it so wonderful to share the world of blogging as well! My hint worked,(I can be shameless at times!) and she gave me a beautifully illustrated guide to 'Butterflies and Moths', by Paul Opler. It is a great size to carry when on a butterfly safari. Actually, the granddaughters were here this weekend and we were able to identify several from the book. They(and I) were amazed.





Now, for some clarification. In my last post, I identified this as a butterfly chrysalis and wondered what would come out of such an unusual looking cocoon. Thanks to Lisa who was the first to correctly identify it. It is a BAG WORM chrysalis. If you see one. throw it into the trash! Here I thought I was becoming somewhat knowledgeable about the world of butterflies. Nope-it's back to Butterfly 99 class! (99 is a class for people who are not up to speed in a certain subject) And yes, there is a picture of the moth and the chrysalis in my new book.

Back to my birthday for a minute-this is a bouquet my daughter and her girls gave me. It has been lovely to have it where I can see and smell these glorious roses. Now, a week later, they are still pretty and not one of them is drooping. Thank you girls for giving me such a long lasting taste of the flowers I would love to be able to grow.

There are a few new blooms at Dragonfly Corner. A different morning glory has started blooming in the wildflower patch I planted. I like this almost-pink-but-just-a-shade-darker-maybe-mauve color. It certainly brightens up the edge of the dismally gray deck.

This is the area where I planted several packets of zinnia and wildflower seeds. My thought was that they would brighten the area. Of course when I planted them the tree nearby didn't have it's leaves yet and I planted in what I thought was a sunny area. Another error in judgement in the garden. It is a shady spot only getting very late afternoon sun. They have grown like little troopers though and have bloomed in spite of my mistake. If you look at the upper right corner, you will see Thomas the cat standing on a rock inspecting the flowers. He is the town cat who graces us with his presence a few times a week. Of course if you happen to have a little extra cat food, he doesn't mind taking it off your hands. Thomas does show his appreciation now. He will let us pet him and he loves to have his head scratched.

We had been dry for more than a week when I found a few of these in our back yard. Different than I have ever seen, they are the purest white and have a very rough looking skin- most mushrooms have such smooth skin.

Twins!

And what would a post from me be without the 'Heavenly Blue' morning glory? Still blooming! I checked back and the first blooms appeared on Aug. 26. Everyday it blooms and by noon the blooms close up and die. The next morning there are dozens more taking their place. The number of blooms from this one plant must be in the hundreds! The buds just keep forming and the vine is still reaching out and entwining itself on more of the dead sunflowers. See the ornamental plum tree in the background? I fully expect to find the vines growing up that tree in a few days!

For all the complaining I did about it not being a moon flower, it has surpassed anything I have ever grown in my gardens. Well done Morning Glory! Well done!

I hope you all have a wonderful week of gardening!

****** Updated Sept. 24-8:30 pm

After some good natured coercing :) I have decided to save some 'heavenly blue' seed. This is what I found when I googled collecting seed....

Bag seedheads to capture ripening seed; collect seedhead/pod when flowers fade; allow to dry; Allow pods to dry on plant; break open to collect seeds; remove and collect seeds; properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored .

If you would like some, I have set up an email for this blog and you can reach me by using it.