Fertilizer Friday - Some new color in the garden.

The weeks of summer are flying by fast.  I start losing track of what day is what and before I know it, it's Friday.  Not worrying about the day of the week is nice during summer vacation with the kids, but before long we'll be getting up very early as my oldest daughter starts Junior High in just over a month.  I've been noticing that the days are getting shorter and so we're trying to get the most out of what's left of summer. 
I've noticed other bloggers mentioning that this time of the summer they aren't always very happy with how their gardens are looking, either from heat or just that it's an in between time in the garden.  I've been feeling a bit of that myself now that so many annuals like Poppies and Larkspur that had added so much color are finished, there are some very bare looking places.  And so my plan for the weekend will be to rework the bed behind the pond again trying to give it more structure so that when that there's something going on between bloom times of flowers.

Tiger Lily

I will definitely be adding more of these next year, the yellow ones as well.

 Penstemon 'Red Rocks'

I had moved this one from the backyard earlier this year, it took awhile to recover but is now blooming like crazy.

 Lupine

A Lupine seedling from the white flowered one in my front yard.

 Water Lily 'Sioux'

The water lilies sure were late in getting started this year.  There were two flowers, both smaller than the usual size.  I see at least one more bud coming up.

 Persian Cornflower (Centaurea dealbata)

This is the longest this has ever bloomed.  Normally it blooms for a few weeks then is finished.  It's been a couple of months of flowers so far.

 Monarda 'Coral Reef'

This Monarda is usually the last one to bloom.

Fertilizer Friday is hosted by Tootsie Time every Friday.  To see what flowers she and other gardeners are flaunting this week, or to join in yourself, stop by her blog. 

Happy Friday!

Our own private fireworks.

No special occasion for the fireworks, sometimes you just have to celebrate life! I thought some of these flowers had the look of fireworks in different stages of "exploding" (not sure of the technical word).

"Lazy Gardener" Dahlias 'Arabian Night' just about to pop open.

Monarda, possibly 'Coral Reef'.

Cleome 'Rose Queen'

Persian Cornflower (cenataurea dealbata) and Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'.

Another Peony Poppy, more are still ready to open.

Another Echinacea 'Magnus'. I really think these are my favorite, but don't hold me to it.

Another variety of lazy dahlia. That means I don't dig up the tubers, yet they still come back!

And another favorite, a Zinnia.

I'm hoping to start the area where 'Gertrude Jekyll' will finally get planted. I've been thinking and rethinking starting a new bed, and have decided I'll just expand the existing front bed for now. I did ask "the Muscle" if he would help me with a garden project next weekend. When he asked a little nervously what it was, I told him I hadn't decided yet.