Around the Garden

When the weather cooperates (not too hot, windy, or rainy) I like to spend some time sitting out on the deck. Every day there is something new in bloom in the garden. Some plants are taking their sweet time, like the geraniums and sunflowers. But others are putting on some lovely displays. 

This red admiral butterfly has had a rough life. Half its wings are missing. It spent a lot of time nectaring on the echinacea.

Here's a side view.

Black-eyed Susans are in bloom and in another area of the garden lots more are in bud. I think of my late friend, Susan, whenever I look at them. I'm not sure how she felt about this flower's name, though.

Sharon gave me some shasta daisies from her garden last year. They seem to have adapted to their new surroundings.

Day lilies are just starting to bloom as well. These were transplanted from a former principal's garden over 20 years ago.

In addition to the 3 beefsteak tomato plants and 1 Roma tomato plant I planted a few weeks ago, I was recently given several cherry tomato plants so will have lots for making yard sauce (roasted tomato sauce) this fall. Early Girl tomatoes don't disappoint, this one is already starting to ripen. 

The sunlight really washed out the colour on the osteospermum (African daisy). They're a pretty lilac colour.

Snapdragons were one of Skip's favourite flowers to fill in gaps in the garden. These seeded themselves from last year's bunch and have been blooming steadily since mid-May.

Skip dug up a Queen Anne's lace from a roadside somewhere and it has been blooming nicely in our garden ever since.

Why bring weeds into the garden? Their flowers are very popular with pollinating insects. We have lots of goldenrod, which, contrary to what some believe, is not high on the allergen list. It is often mistaken for ragweed which does cause allergy problems.

We have two kinds of Joe Pye weed. This species grows over 8' high (top of lattice is that height). The insects love it. The budding black-eyed Susans are in the foreground.

Common soapwort (wild sweet William) is a weed that grew through the fence from our neighbour's place. I used to weed it out but now am enjoying the flowers. When they're done blooming, I'll remove the plants.

I didn't do any crafting yesterday but did a lot of thinking about it. I'm intrigued by amigurumi after crocheting Hobbes. A petit version would be so cute in orange, black, and white sock yarn. I also placed an order with 123stitch.com which should arrive in a week or two.

As a treat to myself, I bought a watchband that matches my sunflower watch face. 

It's the little things in life that make it fun.