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.

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.

Fertilizer Friday - September 10th.

I haven't had a chance to join Tootise for Fertilizer Friday in weeks.  So, even though it's later in the day I still wanted to join in.  I thought once school started I would have lots of free time, instead it's busier than ever.  This past week has been busy getting ready for the Littlest Gardener's birthday.  She will be turning 4 on September 12th.  It's amazing how fast time really does fly.  She has big plans for a Little Mermaid party and so we've been busy getting decorations, baking cupcakes and planning out her party.  And part of getting ready was finally getting plants in the ground that have been sitting in the front yard for weeks.  And so as I'm planting things I notice that I better get some weeds pulled.  While weeding I notice a bit of pruning I need to do.  So the pruning starts, and then I think while I'm walking around with the pruners I should cut some seedheads from the Veronica that I want to save seed from.  I then had to avert my eyes from anything else that might cause me to get sidetracked again.

These Asters caught me by surprise.  I had planted them last fall and forgot all about them until I noticed them blooming.

Agastache 'Apricot Sunrise' was one of the plants that had been sitting on the front grass for weeks.  I planted it near some Monarda and Echinacea.  This variety smells so good.

I think this will be 'Gertrude Jekyll's' last bloom this year.  I hope next year will be a better year for it.  Many roses really had a rough summer with blackspot.

The Abelias are covered in flowers and the hummingbirds are all over it.

Campanula 'Pantaloons' is on another round of blooms.

This was probably my biggest surprise of the year.  I thought that this Salvia 'Black and Blue' had died over winter, then it started sending up a few leaves.  Then nothing more until the last couple of weeks when it really took off growing.

Rose 'Julia Child' did so well this summer.  Not bothered by disease and bloomed a lot even in part shade.

One of my new Hydrangeas.  I've heard so many good things about 'Limelight' that I made a spot for it in my backyard.

Fuchsia magellanica 'Aurea' is so pretty in a shady area.  I've noticed that hardy Fuchsias are having a great year.  They are all huge and covered in flowers.

Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphiltica) just started to bloom.

Zucchini 'Jackpot' has been producing pretty well.  These are a bush type and take up far less room.

The big talk amongst many gardeners around here is, "Will the tomatoes ever ripen?"  It seems to be a big topic of conversation since most people have not had one ripe tomato other than grape or cherry tomatoes, which are also very slow.  This is the first year that we haven't been eating them for at least several weeks by now.  Many years we have so many they start rotting on the vine.

And the birthday girl herself, the Littlest Gardener posing in the backyard.  She has already helped to choose Daffodil and Tulip bulbs to plant this fall.

To see what is blooming in other gardeners gardens now visit Tootsie Time.