"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Looking for some sun...

Another week has gone by since I last posted.  Things are changing quickly in my garden and yet I've had such a hard time staying in the mood to go out and enjoy it.  School for the kids wrapped up today, sports are done for awhile and other that the Littlest Gardener's ballet recital this weekend, the schedule is finally clear.  Being really busy along with having the worst allergies I've had in years, have made garden time and blog time almost non-existent.  The weather continues to be mostly gray and cool, although we did have sun yesterday.  All this combined has left me feeling like this hummingbird looked this morning.

Not very energetic

and lazy.  This little guy must have been hoping that the sun would come out and perk him up, but it never did and he finally flew away.

So, trying to get myself motivated I decided to take a walk around the garden even if it was gray and probably too late in the day to get very good pictures.  I hadn't taken the time to notice that the Catmint was in full bloom and spilling out over the gravel path.  The bees are very busy on it.

Awhile ago I moved Green Man to the fence and I love how he looks behind all the volunteer Foxgloves.

Waterlilies are starting to bloom!  This is 'Sioux'.

In the front yard I've been admiring this little corner from the living room window.  More Penstemons are blooming now, but 'Catherine de la Mar' is by far the most showy.  I saw a Swallowtail butterfly on the Verbena in the big blue planter yesterday.  That was pretty exciting since they haven't been around yet this year.

Veronicas are starting to bloom too now!  I finally have found places that they like and they are taller and fuller than ever.  The 'Iceberg' rose has begun to bloom too.

Another new flower in bloom is the Baptisia.  The orange Geum and Red Valerian have been blooming for awhile.

The Lilies have started to bloom, I have no idea which is which anymore, but this is such a pretty pink one.

Rose 'Honey Perfume' has it's first blooms.  I love the color of this one.

And over in the driveway garden I found that 'Lady Emma Hamilton' had an open flower, it was so heavy it was laying on the ground.

In another part of the driveway garden are the Canterbury Bells and Oriental Poppy 'Princess Victoria Louise' blooming together.  I started the Canterbury Bells from seed last year.

I'm not sure that I have very high hopes for tomatoes or peppers this summer.  It looks like it will be cool and cloudy for another week.  The big joke around Seattle is that summer officially starts July 5th, and since we never really had a spring I'm hoping that our summer will make up for it.  Sun and blue skies are what this gardener needs!
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress. Pin It

42 comments:

  1. Your garden is in it's glory and putting on a colourful show.
    I love the dense plantings it is very much the cottage garden look. Gertrude Jeykll would be impressed!

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  2. Catherine,

    Things look really good even though the weather has not been great. That rose is wonderful. We have been having heat and storms, looks like this is a repeat of last year.

    Eileen

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  3. Your yard is looking so beautiful! You have a lovely colour combination in the arrangement of flowering plants.

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  4. Your garden is so lovely with its deep, rich green background. The plants look so healthy. I love the photo of with the Green Man face. And the color of the Honey Perfume Rose is heavenly. The row of catmints spilling onto the path makes me want to take a stroll there. My lone catmint's blooms are spent and need to be sheared. Just got to psych myself to go work outdoors in our non-stop 100+ heat wave.

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  5. Love all the flowers. It's nice to see some bright colors. We have been having rain for days here in northern Wisconsin. Everything seems to be behind here. I managed to take a few photos in between raindrops and posted them on my blog. Thanks so much for sharing.
    Becky at Ginger Creme Hollow

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  6. Everything is beautiful! You have a good garden eye. I am so in love with your Honey Perfume rose. Your garden guy does look great behind the Foxgloves. I also like the little purple flower pot upsidedown on the stick! Thanks for the tour. Hope you and the hummingbird get some sun!

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  7. Catherine,
    Your garden looks great and the lighting was better than if you had sun. Got to 100 degree here today, we are watering like crazy, still 1/2 cracks in amended soil even. Trade you some of our heat wave?

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  8. I am so sorry your allergies are attacking. I experienced this in March. Your gardens are beautiful. I am so jealous!

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  9. Surely you feel better after touring the garden. I know I do! What a gorgeous place!

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  10. Your garden is looking really wonderful, so colorful! I love the green man on the fence behind the foxgloves, that's a perfect spot for him. And is that a blue and white Lupine in the bed behind the pots? My catmint is growing like crazy too, it sprawls so much, it just takes over the bed it's in.

    We had nothing but gray skies here too today, but right now there is a little sun, just in time for it to go down. Maybe there will be some blue sky tomorrow. I have flowers on my tomatoes, but no fruit yet. I will keep hoping.

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  11. Catherine, I've got way too much sun and heat, so I'm sending truckloads your way. So sorry about your allergies and that lethargic hummingbird. I've never seen one sitting still. I thought they were like sharks and had to keep moving. LOL

    Your garden is so lovely. Try not to miss the beauty of it and thanks for sharing it. It always perks ME up. Maybe take a pill. :))

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  12. Thank you all for stopping by and your nice comments! The sun did come out a bit here too, around 7pm! But I'll take it :) I'm feeling better now :)

    Alison - That is a blue and white Lupine, it is such a neat one. I keep meaning to take a close up of it because it's so different. I wonder if it would come true from seed? If so I should save some.

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  13. Hey Catherine, it really has been a bummer year weather wise. La Nina is not our friend. You do however, have beautiful blooms in your garden! All that gorgeous blue catmint, lilies and roses. Glad the sun came out for a bit tonight :)

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  14. I'm sorry your allergies are so bad. I know what you mean about the weather. One nice day and then we're back to clouds again. If it's any consolation, your garden looks fabulous. Feel better soon.

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  15. Your garden just gets prettier and prettier by the week! It's looking so beautiful right now...what a pity you've been feeling so off-colour with your allergies. Perhaps now that the school year has wound down to an end, things will start to improve! I certainly do hope so, as all this beauty needs to be enjoyed, fully!

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  16. I'm so very envious of your beautiful Foxglove. Mine have not grown (tall) this year-I have no idea what the problem is. It's funny to see, because they have blooms---but the plant is only 6" tall. A gal at one of the local nurseries said this might be because of the nearly non-existant spring this year. Anyway, your garden is fantastic. I'm so glad we get a "peek" into it!

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  17. Oh Catherine, I'm sorry you haven't felt good and that your weather hasn't been so sunny....BUT please don't let us miss this beautiful garden of yours! Everything looks so healthy and vibrant. What conditions are you growing your Geum in? I have three that are new to me this year and am not entirely sure of it's light needs.

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  18. Dear Catherine ~ Sorry your allergies are making you feel miserable. I hope you are feeling much better soon.

    What a wonderful treat to walk through your lovely flower filled gardens this morning. I loved the catmint photo. The blue color behind and the rock path in front, just wonderful.

    Happy Gardening ~ FlowerLady

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  19. I hope you've had a bit more sunshine by now! What a rare treat to see a hummingbird so still!

    Your gardens look fabulous in spite of the lack of sunny weather...I especially love the lilies - both the pink one (gorgeous!) and the water lily - so lovely!

    Green Man looks terrific with the foxgloves - a great choice.

    It's been such a strange year weather-wise everywhere it seems. I do hope you get some sun and heat to make those tomatoes and peppers grow!

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  20. What a spectacular garden! I'd love to sit with a cold drink and listen to the birds.

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  21. Catherine, I must tell you that your garden is really looking great. Wonderful colors and combinations. Very healthy indeed. Having some of the same plants as you do it always amazes me to see how much further along some gardens are than mine. Here is hoping for the day when I get all you have! By the way, glad you and your husband enjoyed the orange sunset photos I posted here at Garden at Waters East. They were dramatic I will admit. I have lots more but I tty to "restrain" myself when I post photos. Don't want to over do it (well maybe not way over do it!) Jack

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  22. Your garden just amazes me, it is so beautiful!
    I'm sorry about your sunshine. I thought for sure once we arrived in Seattle we would have brought the sunshine from Vegas with us. Hope your weather spirits brighten. :-)
    I can't wait to get out in this drizzle today...makes my hair curly! :-)

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  23. Catherine your garden is lovely as usual. I like the "Honey perfume rose, and the Canterbury Bells. I'm going through the same issues with weather. It's cool and rainy here too. I'm hoping that July will bring us both more sun and warmth. Weather like this drives me Insane!

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  24. I enjoyed the walk through your garden! We too, in Alaska, are having many grey days. Your flowers are spectacular - I especially love the foxglove. What does it mean to say they are volunteer? Self-seeded? I posted some beautiful blue poppies on my blog. Would love for you to take a look!

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  25. OMG! Now I want to go give my flowers a talking to. Your flowers are beautiful. thanks for sharing

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  26. Catherine, It looks as though your flowers don't mind the rain. They're looking beautiful! But it's not such great weather for the humans. I sympathize; we had a cool, wet spring and early summer in 2009, and I didn't enjoy my morning tours of the garden at all. Going out into the garden that June required full rain gear (including rain pants and boots), and since I seemed to be the only warm-blooded thing around, my progress through the garden was plagued by very hungry mosquitoes. Not a happy memory. I hope you get sunshine and warmth soon. -Jean

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  27. That catmint is simply stunning! I love it!! I hope your allergies get better soon. That's no fun.

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  28. Breathtaking! Hope you get feeling better soon.

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  29. Sorry to hear you are still so dreary Catherine. I certainly can relate to how gray skies can affect ones mood. It totally depresses me. I hope things switch around soon. We've finally started another warm up. We've been doing this back & forth thing with the weather. I'm hoping this time the heat is here to stay!

    Your Canterbury Bells are making me miss mine. This is my "off" year so I'm not expecting any blooms although they've seeded all around.
    I'm so jealous of those volunteer foxgloves too. Every year I add a few to my garden hoping for a display like yours. I'm having a little more luck but still not the big show I'd love. I also have had zero luck getting water lilies to bloom. I think my pond gets too much shade? 'Sioux' is just beautiful.
    ps I can see why you're admiring that corner of your front garden ~ it's gorgeous. Hang in there ~ summer HAS to show up soon!

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  30. Lovely plants in your garden!! must be a little heaven ! grtz Jasmin

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  31. You found a lot of sunshine in plant form :) ..... Amazing bloom time for you! Such a beautiful walk about - thank ou for sharing! I hope life settles into a more restful and gentle pattern now that school is out. That's what I look forward to!!

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  32. Sorry to hear about your allergies, Catherine. I hope you're feeling better and that you get some lovely sunshine.

    I love the phrase 'volunteer foxgloves'! I like to scatter the seeds all over the garden and see where they come up. They look really effective next to your green man sculpture.I always think they have a restful meditative feel.

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  33. Not much energy... you need some vitamin D, Catherine. Oh, you get that from the sun! Funny how these things work.

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  34. Everything is so pretty! I haven't worked in my yard lately either and I need to get some weeding done!

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  35. I wish I had foxgloves. I had some last year, but they don't tend to do well for me.
    Brenda

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  36. Your catmint looks fabulous even though the sun hasn't been shining, I'm still waiting for mine to fill in like that. I love your purple lupine too, such a rich shade! I hope the sun comes out soon and helps to re-energize the hummingbirds in your garden.

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  37. Gosh if I would live under your conditions I could need some sun,too. Hope the weather is getting a little bit more like summer for you soon.
    Despite the lack of sun your garden is looking so lush and beautiful. I love the catmint spilling over its bed edge. The pics of the hummer are great!
    Christina

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  38. I'm with you. The extended PNW gloom has exceeded my ability to "chin up," and I have about as much enthusiasm for gardening as I do in January (and about as much blooming). Your garden is gorgeous, though. Only a few more days until July 5. I'm counting the seconds.

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  39. This is my first visit and I know I am glad you took your camera. Your photography is great but lets face it with a garden filled with so much wonder and beauty it does make your job easier. By the looks of your garden the photography is the easiest part.
    The catmint is fabulous. Thanks for sharing. Kathy

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  40. Now, now Catherine, when you live in the Pacific NW, I don't suppose you can expect much sun! I couldn't do it, I crave sunlight. But gray skies are the order of the day here all winter long, so I understand your pain.

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  41. The garden looks fabulous! the flower freshly blooming is very relaxing. I know that you are enjoying it.

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