Some of the July garden

 It's hard to believe we're already this far into July!  It has been a fun and busy summer, seems like there's barely been a day without something going on.   The temperatures finally warmed up in July and the watering has begun, nothing like what many of you other gardeners are going through though.  We've had quite a bit of thunder and lightening, not very usual for our summers.  It's kind of fun listening to the thunder rumbling while the doors are open.  It's also finally been warm enough to sit outside in the evenings.  Recently we heard an owl up in a tree right by us.  I knew there were owls around, but we've never heard one here.  We also found a small fire pit for the front yard and had fun roasting marshmallows and making s'mores.

Here are some pictures of what's been happening in our garden:

 Asiatic Lilies have already bloomed, at least the ones the squirrels didn't steal the bulbs of.  This one was my favorite.  Purple Canterbury Bells are blooming behind.

 I planted several Astranias last summer, some were on a clearance table for just a couple of dollars.  They are the coolest flowers!  I found a light pink one this year to add to the garden.

 Campanula 'Samantha' is covered in flowers for months.

 The path garden is mostly filled with green this time of year, except for the Hydrangea 'Pia' in the container on the deck.

 This is the back corner behind the pond.  The Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is finally blooming.  To the left of it is a very tall Bugbane (Cimicifulga or Acataea).  It's probably close to 8 feet tall, I had no idea it would get that big.

 Echinacea 'Sunset' or 'Sundown', I can never keep it straight.  It has reseeded and I'm so happy to get more of these flowers!

 The front Butterfly garden which is more full of territorial hummingbirds than butterflies right now.  They are busy fighting over the tall Monarda 'Jacob Cline'.

 Daylily 'Strawberry Candy'

 Gernaium 'Rozanne' is now my go to plant for any area that needs space filled in quickly and something that blooms for months.  I planted this as a gallon plant about a month or so ago, it's huge now!  To me it is worth every penny.  I have some climbing up in and around roses and they looks so pretty, especially the lighter pink roses.

 So many Sweet Peas!!  I planted them months ago and after thinking the first set of seeds rotted, I planted more.  I think both sets germinated and it's so pretty and smells delicious!

 A new Echinacea 'Hula Dancer', I love the skirt.

 Gracie is plotting her next escape here.  Originally we had climbing roses in the blue pots on either side of the gate, they hated being there and were moved elsewhere.  I now have a Clematis in each and they are doing great.  I think they grow a few inches every night.

 Gladiolas are starting to bloom.  The Clematis texensis on the fence has only been there one year.  It has been growing and blooming for months, I love the bell shaped flowers.

 The Hydrangea 'Preziosa' that I moved last year when we did our front garden is looking the best it ever has.  It's difficult to see the flower color here, it's a light lavender that continues to age to a pinkish color.  I think it was in too much sun before and seems to love being under the Dogwood tree.

 Daylily in the backyard.

Sweet Pea with Sunny.  Sunny is a Brown Leghorn and seems to be the only chicken that doesn't mind being picked up.  She is also the one that sneaks into the blueberry bushes every time they are let out.  We are hoping we'll seem some eggs in the next couple of weeks.  They are almost 18 weeks and that is the early side of when they can start laying eggs.  As a new chicken owner I can still say they are so much fun, not much work and really one of the best pets I've ever had, and believe me we've had them all - dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, hermit crabs, hamsters and gerbils.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.

Seeing things in another light.

I've read a few posts recently talking about lighting and best times of the day to take pictures and where the sun should be.  It seems that good lighting and the time I take pictures rarely coincide.  Usually when I have time is when the sun is at it's brightest and really washes out the color.  Last evening I decided to try taking some pictures and see how they look in the evening light.  These were all taken after 7 p.m.

 Rose 'Tamora' was in blazing direct sunlight even at 7 p.m. so I stood in front trying to create my own shade.  I think the color looks very close to true.  This rose was new this year and went from being shorter than the lavender in front to suddenly being quite a bit taller.  It has a very nice scent.

 I love this combination of yellows - Yarrow and Coreopsis both look as bright as the sun blooming together.

 Hydrangea 'Preziosa' is taking on a blue tone this year, the last couple of years it aged to a nice dark pink.  I've done nothing different to the soil.  It was in the shade of the Dogwood tree when I took the picture.

 I've decided this was definitely mislabeled and as a couple of people suggested it's probably Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'.  This is one of the few times I don't mind the mislabel, because it actually looks really pretty with the flowers around it.

 At the end of the flower bed it's still getting a lot of sun even in the evening.  Coreopsis and Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) seem to like all the sun they've gotten lately.

 My Oriental Lilies don't look as good as usual this year.  This is Oriental Lily 'Triumphator'.  Several more lilies will be blooming soon, but I'm really disappointed that the squirrels dug up my very favorites.

 A new Clematis 'Inspiration' that I'm growing on a trellis in the front bed that it was supposed to share with 'Josephine'.  'Josephine' just dried up and withered away.  I've left the roots in the ground for the small chance that it reappears.

Campanula 'Pantaloons' is difficult to photograph no matter what the lighting is.  It is a very soft pink and polka dotted on the inside.  I was happy to notice that the clump is beginning to spread and will probably be able to be divided next Spring.  This year seems to be the year of Campanulas, I've added quite a few this year.

I love the lighting on Hydrangea 'Pia'.  This was the only picture that turned out very well from the backyard.  By late afternoon it's mostly shaded from the house and trees.

We've had such nice weather lately.  After getting off to such a slow start this year we've actually ended up having really nice weather.  It's hard to complain about too much sun while taking pictures, guess I'll just have to keep trying different times of day.

Hydrangea heaven!

Hydrangeas are one of my very favorite flowers.  I'm drawn to them wherever I go and am always trying to figure out where I can squeeze another one in.  Unfortunately for now I'm pretty much out of space for new ones.  I noticed that almost all the Hydrangeas in my yard are blooming right now.  Last year several of them didn't bloom after we had so much snow and cold weather.  You can look out from just about any window in the house and see a Hydrangea blooming.  Best of all those flowers will last for a long time.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Pia' is growing in a large container on the deck.  This shrub stays on the small side and apparently is one of the few that stays pink no matter what the soil is like.

 Another Hydrangea macrophylla, this one was here when we bought the house.  It has good years and not so good years.  This is a good year for it!  The color is a dark purplish-blue.  It grows right under a large Cedar tree.

 Someone left an anonymous comment recently that this could be Hydrangea macrophylla 'Ayesha'.  I can't read the tag anymore, but the name does sound very familiar.  I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

 This is a huge Lacecap Hydrangea that was here when we bought our house.  It gets to be a good 7 feet plus tall.  I didn't prune it very well this year so it didn't bloom as nicely as usual.  It was definitely planted in an area far too small for the size.

 Hyrangea 'Preziosa' is considered a hybrid between H. macrophylla and H. serrata.  This is probably my favorite of all.  It didn't like the heat we had recently, so some of the flowers were burned a bit.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Endless Summer' is doing okay here.  I'm not sure I'd recommend it for at least this area.  I have a friend that is quite the gardener and she's lost two already, my sister says her's isn't doing well either.  The tag says it can take full sun, mine can hardly take part sun without wilting terribly.  I think for around here I'll just stick with the much tougher 'Nikko Blue'.

 Hydrangea macrophylla 'Nikko Blue' is so full of flowers it just flops down.  It grows in mostly shade and gets no special treatment.

 I've shown this one before - a florist's Hydrangea.  These are the kind that are given as a gift in a  fancy pot and then most people throw them away when they finish blooming.  My husband gave me this years ago and of course I couldn't throw it away.  It took a few years to get going, but now it's doing great.

  Oakleaf Hydrangea (quercifolia) 'Snow Queen' is another favorite.  It's probably about 6 feet tall right now.  I also have 'Pee Wee' which gets to be about 4 feet tall.

I'm still waiting for my newest 'Pinky Winky' to finish blooming.  It has done great so far and I'm anxiously watching the buds grow.

I don't do anything special for my Hydrangeas, every so often I may remember to give them a little acid fertilizer, but that's it.  I only ever have to water 'Preziosa' and 'Endless Summer' the rest do fine with whatever rain we get.

Fertilizer Friday morning light.

This is one of the first Fridays I've been able to take my pictures in the morning instead of trying to plan ahead the day before.  That's because the sun is still out and the skies are still blue.  It's been up in the 90's the last couple of days and today is supposed to hit at least 90 again.  Most of the plants don't seem to be phased by the heat.  A few Hydrangeas have looked a bit wilted by the afternoon, but with a little extra water they've bounced back by the morning.  I finally saw a Swallowtail Butterfly in our yard yesterday.  It flew right to me and I almost thought it would land on me.  The Dragonflies are also back with three swooping across our front yard all evening, all signs of Summer to me.

Peony Poppies are blooming.

 Geum is still blooming alongside the Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).

 Hydangea 'Preziosa' has some damaged flowers from the sun, I'm trying to keep this watered because one thing I love so much about this Hydrangea are how the flowers change as they age.

 Rose 'Abraham Darby' is on it's second round of flowers.  The blackspot seems to be getting a little better.

 The Hummingbirds have discovered Monarda 'Jacob Cline' already.  As I went out to take a picture of one last night the battery on the camera died.  Guess we've all had that happen a few times.

 Spiderwort

 A very tiny Balloon Flower.  I don't have much luck with these growing very big, they bloom but the plant stays tiny.

Monarda 'Blue Stocking' has just started to bloom.  This was new last year and I haven't seen it bloom before.

 One of the new Daylilies 'Pandora's Box' started to bloom.  Now maybe that it's getting so hot the slugs won't be as bad and leave the rest of the flowers alone.

While out a few days ago we found a small puddle with tadpoles in it.  With all of the hot weather I was pretty sure that puddle would dry up in a day or two.  Sweet Pea rescued a few tadpoles and put them in our pond.  She wanted to keep one in her room for a few days to watch it develop into a frog.  On her own she did some research and figured out that it was a Pacific treefrog.  She made it a nice little home with pond water, and a stone and a small twig to climb on.  He kept crawling up the side  of the fish bowl and even though there was a lid on she found him in the middle of her bedroom this morning.  So we decided the pond was the best place for him to finish developing.  It immediately  swam to the Water Hyacinth and stayed there.

To see who else is "flaunting their flowers" this Fertilizer Friday visit Tootsie Time.

It may not feel like Spring, but it sure looks like it.

I commented this weekend to my Mom that the weather around here for the last week or so has felt like Groundhog Day (a movie in which a weatherman lives the same day over and over). The temperature has been below average and it's been gray and rainy with a few sun breaks thrown in here and there. Today it's about 10 degrees cooler than average. No, it doesn't feel like Spring that's for sure.

Bearded Irises in the backyard are blooming early. These were given to me by my youngest sister when she and her husband redid their yard. I have no idea what their name is, any ideas? It has a really good scent.

I complained about Clematis 'Nelly Moser' and the dying/yellowing stems the other day. It's such a pretty one, so I'm going to try Tina's suggestions about checking the soil and feeding it.

Rose 'Abraham Darby' doesn't seem to notice how cold it feels. I have noticed quite a bit of blackspot this year. I've been removing the affected areas and have sprayed with an organic rose spray. Even my Flower Carpet rose which never gets blackspot or powdery mildew has it. If it would stop raining I could spray it too.

The pear trees both have what looks like the beginnings of fruit! Last year the flowers all fell off so this looks promising.

Peony 'Festiva Maxima' buds are getting so big the flowers are beginning to show.

My unknown pink rose is already over 5 feet tall.

Hydrangea 'Preziosa' has lots of buds. This is one of my very favorite Hydrangeas (and I have lots to choose from in my yard ☺).

Foxgloves (Digitalis puperea) have buds. Last year for some reason I had no flowers, just lots of seedlings. These have been reseeding in this garden since we moved here and I just love when they bloom. I've moved some to the backyard as well.

There are two types of Clematis here 'Piilu' and 'Alionushka'. Both have big buds close to opening. 'Piilu' has never bloomed for me because I pruned it at the wrong time the year before. Planting these two together was probably not a great idea since they have different pruning needs, but I'll just enjoy them for now.

The forecast looks like mostly more of the same weather for the rest of the week, but they are saying Friday should be a little warmer. I've got seeds to start, seedlings to plant and containers filled with fresh potting soil waiting to be planted, now I just need the weather to cooperate.