Garden rewards.

I had a day of garden rewards yesterday.  It was hot again, and by hot I mean by Pacific Northwest standards.  That means it was over 85 again!  I've been doing a lot of watering and still doing some planting.  The kids fill up the kiddie pool and bring out the Princess tent and we have picnics and try to stay cool.  As I looked around I was happy to see that some of the hard work I've been doing is paying off.  Combinations are looking nice, new plants are showing signs of growth and not too many are wilting.  Several plants are now in their "leap year" and making the wait worth it.  Definitely rewarding to see.

Here are some things that felt like rewards for all the hard work.

Echinacea 'Magnus' is blooming!  These always say summer to me.

Larkspur that I started by winter sowing this year.  I tried to capture the salvia and silvery poppy seed heads as well.  It just doesn't show as well in a picture, but in person it's beautiful.  A Cabbage White butterfly was fluttering all around while I was taking this picture.

One of the many Phlox that I have.  I've lost track of which is which and just enjoy them for what they are, not who they are.

Cupid's Dart (catananche caerulea) decided to flop down onto the driveway, it probably needs staking.  It's in full sun so I'm not sure why it decided to fall over, but it made me happy anyway.  It survives without almost any help from me.

'Abraham Darby' has been my favorite purchase this year.  The flowers and the scent make it worth finding a spot for.  Knock on wood, it hasn't shown any signs of disease.

'Julia Child' is one of the roses I bought at the Antique Rose Farm a few days ago.  It's supposed to be disease resistant and "easy".  It has a wonderful scent and it's yellow flowers fade to light pink.  I tried taking a picture of the bed it's in, but the light was just too bright.  I'll share one another day.

Cape Fuchsia (Phygelius) 'Yellow Sovereign' is a neighbor of 'Julia Child'.  I've mostly got yellow bloomers or plants with variegated foliage here.  I'm really liking how it looks.  This is one bed I haven't named, maybe when I show a picture of the whole bed I can get some suggestions.

I finally changed the blog header.  This is what it looks like as of yesterday.  I thought I'd try to take a picture of that area every couple of weeks during the summer to show how it's looking.  You might be able to tell that the lilies are very close to blooming.

I hope you have a day of garden rewards; like a new flower blooming, a butterfly or a new bird visiting.  These are the things that make it all worth it!