What's happening in the garden now...

We have been enjoying some beautiful weather here still.  Since it was so late in coming I've been sure to be outside with my family as much as possible, playing in the yard, going to parks and the beach.  I hate to miss a minute of these nice sunny days.  I've started paying close attention to the plants that seem to have handled the crazy weather we've had and plan to do a post soon of my top performers for this summer.  Anything that can handle lots of rain and cool weather and then keep on going once it gets warm and dries out is my type of plant. 
For now I'll share some of what is happening in the front, it was hard limiting it since there is just so much going on.

 Gladiolas and Agastache blooming.  I love the saying on this little sign I found.

 Geranium 'Rozanne'

 The entry garden where the Geranium above is growing.  This is where the Japanese Maple that died last year was growing.  The upside of the tree being gone is that the Hydrangea 'Nikko' has gotten huge and even more full of flowers than usual.  All of the plants in fact seem to be doing really well here right now.  The Rose 'Harlow Carr' in front of the birdbath is between flushes now.

 It was a bit bright here, but there are Asters, Caryopteris, Hollyhocks and Echinacea blooming.

 One of my top favorite bloomers this year is Agastache 'Apricot Sunrise'.  It has been blooming like this for months.

 The water garden in the old washtub.

 Oriental Lilies are blooming now.  I sure wish they lasted longer, but since they don't I try to go out and smell them at least once a day (and make everyone else too).  The tall one has to be about 6 feet tall.  I wish I knew what one it was so I could buy more.

 Up close and personal.

 A dahlia growing in a raised vegetable bed.

 For some reason I always plant red and yellow flowers in this part of the garden.  Coreopsis blooms by Sedum and Monarda 'Jacob Cline' is right behind.

 A new favorite is the Spanish Poppy (Papaver rupifragum), it has been blooming for months and has a nice scent.

 Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' was a new one last summer.  It seems to be a popular one on blogs right now.

 A couple of new containers from this summer.  The one on the left is full of Sedums and I love how it looks.  The other is a mix of all sorts of plants in an old washtub.

 Yeah for the Butterfly Bush finally blooming.  This is the latest it's ever bloomed.

 Phlox 'David' and a mallow.

 I just love how pure white the flowers are.

 A container my husband put together is so pretty right now.  It's hard to see the golden colored lamium that is also growing in the planter.

 A couple of months ago we bought a new potting bench to put on the front porch.  It just didn't look right to me here, too new or something.  So we traded it with the one from the back porch and they both are perfect in their new spots.  This one is old and it will probably last longer than in the rain while the new one will weather a bit on the back deck.

So, that's just a little of what's happening in the front garden right now.  I'm so happy with how it's looking and how much we've been able to enjoy it lately. 

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

Pond, path and side garden tour.

 I've been enjoying the front garden so much lately that I've hardly taken time to enjoy the rest of the garden this summer.  Our front yard is the sunniest and warmest place to spend the day, and with the lack of sun we'd been having for most of the summer, I chose not to spend the sunny days in the shady backyard.  After lots of sunny days in a row, and more predicted to come, I took some time to clean out the pond and enjoy how pretty it looks in the backyard now.  There are still plants that are behind in their blooming, but I'm hoping they'll just bloom longer into August and September.

 A fairy sitting in a mass of Geranium 'Rozanne' flowers enjoying the view.  I have to echo what everyone else is saying about 'Rozanne', my longest and best blooming perennial in the garden.

 The red Fuchsia magellanica by the waterfall has been spreading and so huge and wide I actually had to cut it back quite a bit.  I had no idea they spread like that, but it must love where it is.  Agastache, Daylilies, Hostas, Oakleaf hydrangea, Hollyhocks, Coneflowers and Clematis are all blooming behind the pond.

 The fish love when I fill the pond with new water, they can reach the edges and find lots of bugs to eat.  There have been fewer waterlilies this year and lots more algae than usual.

 Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is finally starting to bloom, but the flowers are much smaller than usual.

 This time of year the path garden has pretty much finished blooming and isn't at it's best.

Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Snow Queen' is just beginning to bloom.  It's finally starting to get tall.

 Halfway down the path things are a little greener.

 I finally found some plants that like this wine barrel planter.  Lamium, Japanese Forest Grass, Hosta, Cardinal flower and Astillbes are all doing great.

 The corner under the big cedar tree usually looks fuller, but I found that Sawfly larvae have just about completely defoliated the currant bush.  I've never had that happen before and didn't notice until it was too late.

 The side garden was a bit neglected this summer.  The Sunflowers coming up are from a package that spilled there.  Of course the ones I planted did not come up.  Clematis 'Etoille Violette' is blooming on the fence.  The blueberry bushes are loaded and very late in ripening.  We've just started picking them in the last week.

 Most are still green.

 In one of the raised beds the Littlest Gardener and I sprinkled in a Fairy Mix packet of seeds.  Unfortunately all that came up was lots of Candytuft and this one beautiful pink Poppy.  From looking at the seed list on the packet, I think this is a Corn Poppy (Papaver rhoeas).  I will be saving seeds and if I have enough I'll share with whoever else wants some.

Hope everyone is having a beautiful summer and there has been some letup in the heat.  We are finally enjoying some consistent sun here in the Pacific Northwest, and it's amazing how quickly I forgot about the rainy cool weather we'd been having.  Gorgeous blue skies and temperatures in the mid 70's are our reward for months of rain and gray skies and cold temperatures.  It was worth waiting for!

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

Summer's been here!

While most of the country has been suffering with record breaking heat and lack of rain, we've continued to have a very cool and mostly gray summer.  But, we had a great three days of sun here this weekend, feeling like real summer weather.  It's pretty fun to see how the garden responds to some sun and heat.  The garden continues to be behind by about 2 or 3 weeks.  The Butterfly Bush and most Clematises are just some of what are taking their time to bloom.  On the days the sun was out we've realized just how hot our front garden is to sit out in.  So we found a nice table, chairs and umbrella to give some shade for us to enjoy the front yard more.  We spent quite a bit of time out there over the weekend!

 These Hollyhocks behind the pond have got to be at least 6 or 7 feet tall, no rust and growing straight up.  Something I've never had happen in my garden and, they are all self sown.

 A Daylily I planted last year, I don't remember the name but they look very pretty.

 It was very bright in the front yard when I took these pictures, but I wanted to be sure to show a few of mine and the hummingbirds very favorite plants.  Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' the tall flower in the back, Agastache 'Raspberry Summer' on the left and Agastache 'Apricot Sunrise' is right in front.  They have all done so well this year and grown like crazy.  Hummingbirds and bees are at them all day.

 A new Tiger Lily which isn't too tall, but still pretty.

 My first Gladiola bloom EVER!  I planted them on a whim and they are now just opening up.  Why haven't I tried them before?

 Clematis texensis - I finally found one this year after looking all last summer for one.

 Daylily 'Pardon Me'

 Sweet Peas are very late this year, but so worth the wait!  They are doing so well.  Normally they are long finished by now.

 My girls and I went to the local farmers market on Friday where the sweetest older gentleman was selling homemade birdhouses.  I absolutely loved this one.  I dug the hole for the post and my husband poured the concrete - team work!  I love how it looks with the Monarda 'Jacob Cline' by it.  I also planted Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) 'Phantom' in front.  It is a smaller variety that only gets to about 3 feet tall.  The 'Jacob Cline' has been the hummingbirds absolute favorite, and they really are territorial about it.

 Our new little seating area.  The umbrella is a blue stripe pattern and looks perfect against the blue of our house.

I also wanted to thank all of you that left such nice comments on my previous post where I mentioned feeling the urge to possibly quit blogging.  Between such nice things you all said as well as having the pleasure to meet a some of the garden bloggers that were in town for the Garden Bloggers Fling I just know I could never completely stop blogging.  Thank you all again!
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.