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.

Late Summer blooms...

As others have been noticing, Fall definitely seems to already be in the air here.  After a very short and strange summer it feels like it's already finishing up.  Many of the flowers I normally have blooming at the end of August were no shows.  The Dahlias only had some leaves come up and there are no Zinnias or Sunflowers around.  Luckily there are still quite a few flowers that are hanging on now, although many are looking pretty dried up from the temperatures fluctuating between the 90's for a few days and then down to the 60's the next few.  Even the grass is much greener than usual for this time of year. 

 A view of the front of the house shows that the Black-eyed Susans, Agastache, Abelia, Phlox, Monarda and Lilies are blooming.  You can also see how terrible the Japanese Maple in the background looks.   I've realized the soil in that bed just never dried out, it's that way across the whole front of our house, the other plants don't seem to mind it.  We've decided to leave it in and see what happens with it next Spring, but I'm not feeling too hopeful.  I've noticed that many Maples of different types around here are turning yellow far ahead of the rest of the trees.

 Echinacea 'Green Envy' in it's second year is doing really well.

 Echinacea 'Fragrant Angel' is also in it's second year, but taking it's time to become established.

 More flowers in the butterfly garden are drawing bees and Skippers to them.  I've never seen so many Skippers in our yard ever, they are almost impossible to get a good picture of.  The furthest back plant is Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' and Aster 'Monch' is in front of it.

 Oriental Lilies are blooming.  These white ones are looking the best now and the scent carries around the front yard.

 Campanula rotundifolia 'Olympica' is doing amazingly well.  I hope to find lots more of it next year.  This was found at a local fruit market, all the plants that I bought at the fruit market are doing exceptionally well.

 Towards the end of the summer we have lots and lots of Dragonflies.  I've seen about three different types, this red one is the newest kind to come visiting.  I think this is a Red Darner on the Phlox.

 Phlox 'David' still looks so fresh.  I've noticed in my yard that the Phloxes much prefer to be in part shade, otherwise as soon as any afternoon sun hits them they droop and turn brown.  I even have some growing under a Pine tree that look really good.

Not a flower but our cute little Cookie out enjoying some time in the front grass.  He's been enjoying the tiny carrots that Sweet Pea has been pulling from her garden.  I didn't realize that rabbits could be so social and friendly, maybe he's the exception.

Even though I'm not really ready for summer to end, now feeling the cooler evenings coming I have to say I'm looking a little forward to Fall.  And if that isn't thinking far enough ahead I've read two places now that the Pacific Northwest is predicted to have and cold and very snowy winter.  Okay, I'll quit getting ahead of myself and enjoy the rest of Summer ☀

Fertilizer Friday - new flowers to flaunt.

Another week has passed by so quickly it seems like just yesterday I was doing last Friday's post.  The garden is looking good this week with new blooms and roses on another round of flowers.  I still have quite a few bare spots I'd like to fill and am trying to keep in mind bloom times as I fill them.  I tend to pull up the annuals and then fill all the empty places in with what end up being end of summer bloomers and then once Spring rolls around I feel like nothing blooms until mid July.  Now that I've realized what I'm doing it's easier to make sure there is more year round interest rather than everything blooming at the same time and having to wait a long time for new blooms.  I've also found that I've done far less plant moving this summer than usual.  I think I'm finally getting the right plant in the right place, although it took many years for some of them to get there.

 I'm so happy that Rose 'Gertrude Jekyll' has started blooming again.  I was a bit concerned about how it would end up doing this year.  Both this and 'Abraham Darby' were really hit with black spot pretty bad, but after using an organic spray and some organic rose fertilizer they both look much better.

 I always forget how many Phlox I have until they start blooming.  The plant blends in so well with everything else, then suddenly I'm surprised by all the bright spots of color.  I've lost track of which are which now.

 This one is the reverse coloring of the one above it and also reseeds quite a bit.

 I always remember 'David' since it's the only white one.  It also reseeds like crazy.

 Echinacea 'Double Decker' which is now in it's third year in my garden and also in it's third year of not being a double.  It did have some strange extra petals last year, but nothing like it supposed to look.

 Behind the Echinacea is Aster 'Monch' which I moved last year.  It's in more sun and is growing up instead of reaching sideways for the sun.

 A new Echinacea 'Summer Sky' which is the color of the powdered cheese that comes with macaroni, not that I've ever served any of that to my kids.  ☺  Not sure if I like the color, a little fluorescent, and I'm not sure I would've bought it if it was in bloom at the time.

 By this time of year Dragonflies are constantly swooping over our yards.  I love seeing their shadows float by when I'm outside.  This one seemed to like landing on the warm stones and pavement to rest.

 I've never had Sweet Peas bloom this long, they are usually long done by now.  These are planted by the back door and the scent really carries.  I keep picking little bouquets to put around the house.  Sweet Peas are one flower I do pick regularly, one to prolong the bloom time and two because they smell so good I like them in as many rooms as possible.

I'm so happy the Pear trees are producing pears in their second year.  They each have about 6 pears which seem to be growing quickly now.  Our apple tree still just has one apple, the fig tree is loaded with figs and the Blueberries are ripening and at the tart and juicy stage which is just how I love them.  There has been a baby Robin that loves them as well, almost every time I walk through the area the blueberries are I see him hopping around underneath.  He doesn't even seemed scared of me when I walk by, just looks up and then keeps going.

Tootsie hosts Fertilizer Friday each week.  This week she is sharing garden pictures from non-blogging gardeners so they can get a chance to share their pretty gardens with all of us.