This month has been mild, in my area, for the first month of summer. Most likely it’s because of all the rain we’ve had in the area. Half the week is rainy & the other half is too hot & steamy to go outside. This has made keeping up with weeding a little tedious! It seems like I get things weed free, then it rains, & it all grows back! At least it’s making for some great blooms & veggies in my side gardens. ?
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Out in the Wild
I’ve always liked to observe nature & see what’s going on beyond my garden. It’s interesting to see what’s happening in my yard, which can get a little wild!
I spotted all these aphids in the backyard when I was painting. Luckily, there’s some lady bugs taking care of business! In the bottom corner picture you can see a leaf footed bug {or leptoglossus phyllopus}. He’s okay as long as he stays away from my veggies! Sometimes having a grove of weedy plants is good for keeping pests off of my garden plants. ?
In the very front of my yard there are several trees, including a cypress tree. It’s very shady & the ground is always covered in leaves. Sometimes I find mushrooms – which are sprouting up everywhere in my yard because of all the rain. The second picture looks like a young oak tree, but I found the color of the new growth interesting. Sorry, it’s a little blurry!
I spotted this little guy hanging out on the back side of our property, probably heading to munch on blackberries! Wild blackberries can be found from the front to the back of our yard.
There’s always something new to see when I take a walk outside. Nature just amazes me!
Flowers in Bloom
My flowers are blooming like crazy – well, mostly! This azalea is the only one I’ve seen this year. I have a giant bush in front of my yard & several in front of my house. Last year, one of my larger bushes died because of the drought. This combined with all the rain that keeps my yard a little soggy has kept the azaleas slim to none. I’m sure deer have nibbled off any buds that survived!
This bee was busy visiting my Rose of Sharon bush & made me work to get his picture! Thanks Instagram friends for helping me figure out what this flowering bush is. ? My red & pink rose bushes keep flowering as long as I keep them trimmed. Usually the red one flowers in spring & maybe again in the fall. It likes the rain! The day lilies are blooming & I really love their orange & yellow coloring.
The big lily at the corner of my house is really loving all the rain! As soon as I spotted the flower pods, I would go out everyday and take a picture.
Such a pretty display!
I had to help some of the pods out from under the heavy leaves. This is going to be a chore to separate in the fall!
The lilies in the front haven’t bloomed yet but they are filling in really nicely. They don’t get as much sun as the one on the corner, so they usually bloom later.
In the Side Gardens
My side gardens are doing well, despite the weeds! I changed out plants, once again, in the pot tower. The basil seedlings are doing well at the top. A hosta & creeping jenny have been added in pot 2 & 3. For some reason one of the dianthus dried up, like it was getting no water. Which is really weird since all the other plants are getting plenty of water!
My red mums are blooming in spite of the standing water you see in the pot. The little purple tomato plant has shot up between my overgrown rosemary bush. I ate one tomato off this bush because the rest split from too much rain! It was very mild tasting. I seriously need to find someone that wants all that rosemary!
The cucumbers started off looking a little pitiful, but one has really taken off! I even got a nice cucumber to munch on. Now the leaves are getting greener & spreading but the cucumbers are falling off. From what I’ve read, it’s lack of pollination. This is really frustrating since I see bees in this side garden every day! They really love the flowers on my oregano. Maybe it’s time to cut it back and make my cucumber flowers more attractive! It’s either that or I’ll be breaking out the pollinating paint brush & doing it by hand.
The bell & banana peppers are much happier in the back side garden. There are little bell peppers growing now & the leaves are much greener. I got two big banana peppers {one’s doing a pepper pull up!} then the leaves started disappearing. Guess what was eating them? A big hornworm! I’ve never had one on a pepper plant before, usually just tomatoes. They are hard to spot until they’ve eaten too many leaves & gotten really fat!
The leaves are growing back now {bottom right pic} since I pulled off the hornworm & smooshed him. ? My marconi peppers were getting so huge I had to cut some off because they were dragging the ground! These plants almost have more peppers than leaves!
Remember the tiny tomato plant I pulled off the side of the big one? Well it’s almost taller than the big one now! It’s the one on the left with some leaves missing – hornworm again. ? I fed that one to the birds! Squishing them just grosses me out! ?
The flower pots on the front porch are doing good, especially when I remember to water them! My magazine rack turned planter is filling out nicely, but I think the cucumbers here need more sun. I thought about moving it until I noticed the bird’s nest in the other side. That bird was not too happy with me when I watered my plants while he was resting in the nest! Oops!
It’s raining yet again today, so maybe I’ll go pull weeds in the rain. It would certainly be a cooler job! Of course, I think I’d rather be sewing! ?
Y’all have a wonderful Wednesday & I’ll see y’all back here on Friday!
