First Fertilizer Friday of Summer.

Well, it finally feels as if Summer has arrived here.  The sun has been out for several days and the temperatures have finally made it to the mid 70's.  Perfect gardening weather!  I've been doing some weeding and clean up in different parts of the yard and it really felt good to be out there.  The plants have really responded to the warmer temperatures and are looking great.  I bought more Zinnia seeds to sow since I have a feeling the others may not come up.  I've also noticed the Dahlias are very slow to come up this year.  I dug up some tubers to see what was happening and saw that there is new growth, they just seem to be taking their time.
 

When we first went outside a couple of days ago Sweet Pea was excited to find two of these Dragonflies in our front yard.  We usually see the large Blue Darners here, these ones are a little less common in our yard.  I couldn't figure out what type they were.

 Campanula 'Pantaloons' finally made a comeback.  I planted it two summers ago, last year the slugs wouldn't leave it alone and it never bloomed.  I moved it earlier this Spring and was happy to see it blooming.  The inside is covered in purplish polka dots.

The new David Austin rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' is getting close to opening.

 Oxalis crassipes rosea surprised me in bloom.  It tends to stay closed up on cool overcast days, something we've had a lot of.  The clumps of bright pink flowers really stand out.

 Linaria has just started blooming.  It reseeds quite a bit, but is easy to pull up in unwanted places.

 Veronica spicata

Yarrow (Achillea filipendula) 

 I thought it was interesting to see how similar the center of the annual Breadseed Poppies (Papaver somniferum) are to

the perennial Oriental Poppies (Papaver orientale) 'Princess Victoria Louise'.

To see who else is "flaunting their flowers" this Fertilizer Friday visit Tootsie who hosts it each week.