Something is eating the tips of my bleeding heart vine. I had not been able to find anything. Today I shook it and two pill bugs fell off. I guess I had forgotten they eat plants too. Maybe that is what is eating your buds. I did see a couple grasshoppers today.

Well, my lupine last year got one blue bloom and this year the blooms are pink -(that was a surprise since I don't remember planting pink lupines!)

Also, I moved into this new house last spring - so this spring/summer is the first real gardening season. I found 4 irises on the side of the house in an ugly spot! So I moved them to the front of the house. I can't wait to see what color they are!

not really a surprise but I found wilted flowers and weeds from lack of rain. 30% chance this afternoon so I will get the water hose out.
Barb

This...

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:693792}}

Steven....OMG what a glorious flower!!! I made it my background on my computer so I can look at it every day. Thank you for sharing.
This "rescued" hollyhock from last year is a much more pleasing color this year. Pretty peachy pink. That was a nice surprise. Vikki

{{gwi:693793}}


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I had the most remarkable surprise today-- was taking picture of my sweetpeas, when a hummingbird decided to hover a couple of feet in front of my face. I was entranced... so much so that I forgot to click the shutter on my camera. Looking back, that's an okay thing, because it would've scared it away. The thing is, the show wasn't over yet-- I think this little guy was equally curious about me, because he came closer and perched on a vine not even a foot away. He preened a bit, but then would stare at me cocking his little head one way, then another. Oh man, I think we stood staring at each other for at least three minutes before he moved on. Magical. Or maybe he was just miffed that I was in his sweetpea territory. ;-)

Nancy

a nice suprise and a not so nice one here too - the rose bush that grows up a tree in back of my pond is in bloom, it always makes be do a double take to see pink roses in the branches of a wild cherry tree LOL
Bad suprise - a new poppy that was about to flower for the first time this year has sustained damage to all its buds - I am not sure how or when, but it doesn't look like any of them will bloom now :(

surprised.....how darn dry it is for June...I watered and watered...

many seeds from the seed swamp are emerging....it has been so dry they were slow to sprout....I had intended to start them inside but when my daughter was put on bed rest, we began to travel frequently and I decided I could not keep them alive with so little attention..so I had to direct sow....better than nothing..but nice to see many coming up...

a few baby tomatoes on my romas now....

my hyicith bean vines from the swap climming now...

lots of clematis buds

disappointed...vinca not doing well..pulled some more out...I think my male dog is guilty of the problem, put up a small piece of fence to detour him..but it makes the flowers loose the impact darn it...

weeeds getting ahead....need to mulch....

Steven..never knew such a poppy existed. That is just beautiful.
Barb

"I took an early lunch from work today and drove home (20 minutes) just to be able to walk through the garden"
Your normal :-)

What surprised me? The action my garden getting with butterflies. I have adopted a Tiger Swallowtail who greets me every morning. I know it's him because his bottom wing is a little crooked. He lets me pet him and soars around me. Quite spectacular to watch, he looks like a hang glider *lol*
Here he is
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I also found a Mouring Cloak, which I have never seen in my garden. Couldn't get her to stay still.
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I bent to pull a spent daylilly off and the entire stalk with five buds on it came with it! : (

I was driving down the street today and about a block away there is this epiphylium cactus Climbing a telephone pole.That thing has got to be at least 15 feet up already.So i came home got dh and took him down to show him.I must go back with my camera.

Steven that is one Gorgeous Poppy!!

Dances,those are some beautiful butterflies.My GS's teacher gave him a beautiful book today that's all butterflies.When you open the book the pages are folded and stackedand all one,not individual pages that you turn.I've never seen anything like it.It went down one side of my dining room,around the table and half way up the other side.I was totally impressed with it.It is a brand new book still in the cellophane.I think she has been impressed by how much he knows about insects,animals and nature in general.
Kathi

'Cranberry Punch' Hibiscus blooming in the Red Bed.

Camera batteries, dead. Extra batteries, also dead.

We came back from vacation on Sunday evening, so I had lots of surprises! Good and not so good.

In the new butterfly garden planted this spring -- Sundown, Sunset and Harvest Moon coneflowers in bloom along with Blue Fortune Agastache and Coreopsis Creme Brulee. The Coreopsis is stealing the show throughout the outer garden.

Surprised to see that my Miss Huff Lantana had sprung up from 5 inches tall before we left to being 2ft high and blooming!

Surprised to see the Elephant Ears and Brugmansia up to 4ft tall (lots of rain while we were gone and I had fed them heavily before departing).

Surprised to see my canna blooming.

Surprised that my perennial heliotrope, balloon flowers and Brookside geranium (planted as companions) are actually all the same lavender blue hue -- and they are surrounding a tall garden phlox of magenta. Worked out great!

Surprised to see that too much rain had gotten to a few of my plants that are in well-drained soil on a slope. I cut those back and hope they'll dry out okay.

Surprised to find that the Rose Campion planted in April is still just sitting there the same size little rosettes of foliage. Hmmm...why haven't they grown?

A doe (nesting in the woods beside the house) apparently helped herself to all of the blooms on the Japanese Iris. First time that I've lost those to deer (having been tested at a previous house with LOTS of deer).

The Japanese Beetles got to our Knock Out Roses while we were gone. So, I'll have to wait for the next big bloom phase.

I thought I was finished planting until fall, but I caved in to temptation and bought some more pineapple sage as well as blue fan and deep rose lobelia while I was waiting out a thunderstorm at Lowe's. I had gone there to buy Miracle Gro and came out with plants (didn't surprise my DH, though).

Cameron

Nancy I think we must have the same hummingbird in our gardens. Last weekend, as I approched some salvia branches with a pair of shears, this little hummingbird flew at me and hovered a few feet from my face. I think he was warning me to not even THINK about cutting one branch of his precious salvia plants. Such bold little birds.
An unpleasent surprise...some plants I bought last weekend are not doing well at all. I think they are goners.
~Melissa

I raised up the leaves of a tomato plant and it has over a dozen romas on it.I am surprised at how fast the plants are seeding out.I spent about 2 hrs gathering seeds and didn't finish.My roses are making me really smile,they are all covered in blooms and are gorgeous this yr.I checked my holding bed today and have dozens of new seedlings blooming.And we are getting rain as I type so I am really smiling.
moonphase

i found a beautiful pompom lavander poppy that bloomed dble.
i don't remember planting those. i will definitly save seedss. i also found the red and white one in the picture above. i new i planted those though, the snails ate most of them or a cut worm.
tanya

Ed, that Swallowtail is magnificent! He let's you pet him? Fantastic! I've been seeing lots of them in my garden too. They are lovely creatures, aren't they?.

Fun thread, Gayle!

Steven

Good surprise...I planted three hollyhocks last fall but only one came back this spring. It's a good thing! It has 14 stocks on it, all with buds, and down in the very center, behind all the leaves, it has begun blooming. It's RED! The only red plant in my garden lol. I had no idea they grow sooooo large.

Good suprise 2...Many of my new daylilies have formed scapes!

Bad thing...I found evidence of a mole in my new planting bed. It's eating the wild plox I transplanted out of the feild. Now why can't he go out to the feild and eat those?

Bad thing 2...all the rain is giving my one of my clematis wilt. It's just about to bloom. I hope it can hang on until it's done blooming. It has never had more than one bloom before and it's loaded this year.

MeMo

Good surprise: my first columbine bloom this year. They are such spectacular flowers and bloom for such a long time too.

Bad surprises: front yard grass was really brown due to a lack of rain. I finally gave in and put the sprinkler on it for a few hours. I hate to use up good water on grass, but I can't stand the brown look either. Also, my lupines apparently died out for good this year. They had been looking scrawny for a year or two.

Regarding hummingbirds, I had one land on the frame of my glasses a couple of years ago. Don't know if he was confused or just being sociable.

ThinMan

We moved into this house last July, so everyday I see a surprise. Today it was this daylily.
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So...this wasn't a suprise for today (although that would be that it's only in the 50's this morning!) but in the spring, I got a suprise in my front flower bed. The one where I only put perennials. Here they are:

http://photos.ivillage.com/images/photos/resize/gardenweb_Garden%20Galleries_1181824551066_807323D.jpg

http://photos.ivillage.com/images/photos/resize/gardenweb_Garden%20Galleries_1181824551066_807323D.jpg

I was telling the two little girls next door that these flowers just came up. That I didn't plant them there. And one of them said.."I know who planted them! It must have been the angels!"

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:693795}}

Beautiful pictures, everyone! And I had no idea hummingbirds were that bold. I've only seen one at my other house in Torrington...I was so excited that it brought tears to my eyes. :)

Cameron - I have the same problem with rose campion I'm growing from seed. This little tuft of soft leaves and nothing else. I have no idea why.

This was a great thread - thanks, Gayle.

Ronm80, I LOVE THAT DAYLILY!!! Wow!

My surprise was that while I was at work my dh had gotten out the weed whacker and edged around all my flowerbeds! It is astounding how much better they look without all that encroaching grass and without the weeds towering around the edges. AND...he built the trellis I've been wanting for a clematis!!

bad surprise:
My Nigra Hollyhock, which was just about to start blooming, suddenly started wilting and has lost a major branch which was covered in buds. I am furious. I really have no idea why this happened.

no big surprise: Our lack of rain. It's been near 90 all week and we haven't had rain for what feels like forever. Way too much to water so most of these plants are on their own. I still have to water the annuals, and THAT is a chore in itself.

good surprise: I had spread Larkspur seeds way back in April and nothing ever happened. Now all of a sudden I have a few of them growing. I'm not sure if they'll do anything, but it made me happy.
Bumping into a baby praying Mantis. It was the cutest thing! Maybe 1" long:
{{gwi:693804}}

Rose Campion makes its foliage & roots the first year:
next year, it'll grow & bloom.

Thanks for the great responses everyone! I hope you are enjoying them as much as I am.

Gayle

I was surprised last night by rain. We had gotten some on Tuesday night so I was expecting the "scattered thundershowers" that were predicted to go around us the way they usually do.

Sylvia - thanks so much for the info. I got the seeds in the exchange and have never grown them before. I guess I'm going to have to learn patience too. :)

Since mine is a totally new garden, every new bloom is a surprise, except that I planted it all so maybe it isn't a surprise! Anyway, first bloom on the Betty Corning clematis. I wanted one of these for years and years so I am tickled. Now why didn't I plant it closer to the house so I could enjoy it easier?

My biggest surprise today, I am finding a few sedums and sempervivums feebly crying I'm alive, I'm alive, in a very neglected grass overgrown gravel path beside the green house. If nothing else I'm honest.

Annette

The nice surprise - turtle layed her eggs in one of newly made flowerbed. Kids researched on the internet, and it looks like we will have baby-turtles in 8-10 weeks. They are thrilled (kids that is)!
The heartbreaker is - rabbits ate not only leaves of my treasured Hollyhock, but chewed the stem as well... I founded it in a pitiful condition hardly breathing, snapped in a middle... Rascals!

A diamond back. Found him snoozing away at the bottom of an empty pot. Off with his head and down the hill he went! (Georgeanne, if you read this I named him Ben. Chopped his head off and told him Jacob made me do it. lol! )

Love the pics! Edna, how sweet he lets you touch him. I have some of his cousins down here. I made a new butterfly garden, even shaped it like a butterfly, and I have had lots of his relatives hanging around, plus hummers and various other winged critters. : )

Natalie, that is so cool about the turtle eggs! Don't forget to post pics of the youngins' : )

Diana

Glad to hear that about the rose campion. It's the first time that I've tried it as it was so difficult to find around here. Thanks for the info.

Cameron

I had a bud open on my moonvine already. I took a photo but have to upload it yet. I had no idea they were so big. The flower was bigger than my hand! This will be sown every year from now on.

Ronm80... wow, that's a stunner!! I don't have any daylilies myself, but that makes me want to get some.

Cameron... any chance you have pictures of your Miss Huff lantana around? That one's on my must-get list!

Surprises in my garden today... not very much really. My tiny flax plant grew another millimeter since 2 weeks ago (grow, dammit, grow!!). My sunflowers have a few more buds on them.

My nasturtiums... who knew they could do this??... they're being thuggish, sending long shoots out and the leaves are actually wrapping around other plants just as clematis do... I had no idea they could do this. I was also surprised to see a load of caterpillars on them already... usually that happens in August or so, Ive never seen this so early before.

Skye

Several happy surprises so far this season. Two small crepe myrtles we transplanted in the winter never leafed out this spring. Just the other day, after another ton of rain fell, I noticed the bigger of the two plants was leafing out. When I check the smaller, it too was in full leaf. Yippee!

Another treat...the calla lillies I planted last spring in full bloom. What fun!

THe unhappy surprise is that a good sized shrub may have drowned in the floodwaters this spring. It's dropping its leaves. Time will tell.

Melissa, if our hummingbirds aren't one and the same, I betcha they're cousins. ;-)

Thinman, how cool was that when the little birdie sat on your glasses?? I think these little guys just must be that sociable. Amazing!

MeMo, I was at Walmart last night. The gal in front of me was buying some kind of mole poison and the gal ringing her up told her to just put out some instant mashed potatoes. The mole will eat the flakes, then without a watersource will supposedly dehydrate and die.... or go away to find a water source. I googled the idea and found a couple of references from other people who also claim this works on moles, as well as mice and gophers. It'd be pretty cool if it did work, eh?

Gayle, this hummingbird thing is a new experience for me too-- I'd only seen a couple of them before in my lifetime. Now I've got a bunch of them hanging around. Saw one yesterday with a bright ruby throat. Oh man, gorgeous!

Skye, I am having the same thing happen with my nasturtuims. Who knew! I planted a lot of them because they were about the only thing I could get to grow at the time. The more the merrier, I thought. 2ft x 2ft mounds, I thought. NOT. I spent much of last evening pruning those buggers. I gave a couple of them a little trellis. Not sure if they are going to be perennial for me. If not, I know for sure I will be much more careful with them next year. If they are, I think I am going to pull a few of them up after they stop their profusion of blooms.

Look what the nasties are doing to my sweetpeas!
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In this one it's difficult to decide whether the California poppies are thugging the nasturtiums or vice versa, but look how they are invading my red poppies. Oy.
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O.K. New day...new surprise! My teensy little vitex has BUDS!!! WOO HOO!!! It's going to bloom!

At home:
Good surprise...Lakeview Jasmine tree opened in full bloom.
Bad surprise...something ate most of my developing grape clusters.

At school community garden:
Good surprise...Rose Campion is the showstopper that I'd hoped it would be in time for graduation.
Double good surprise...after I recently re-worked a dedication garden area, teachers brought students there to reflect upon the life of a few special teachers who've passed away, unknowingly to me. Glad that the garden portrayed dignity and care.
Bad surprise...broken lilies in front garden from trampling.
Double bad surprise...no one showed up to weed prior to graduation (as they never do), so it's up to me again.

Skye - here's Lantana 'Miss Huff' up close. You can trim this shrub to a mound if you like. It blooms until frost here in NC. Cameron

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Great surprise - My delphiniums are blooming and my eggplant has a flower!

'Texas Star' and 'Cranberry Punch' hibiscus, despite hot, dry, miserable weather.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hibiscus

This big bug surprised me this morning while I was out planting. After searching I thought it was a milkweed bug. However, I don't have any milkweed in my garden this year and the photos I saw didn't look quite right....very similar, but not right. Further searching revealed that it is in fact a milkweed assassin bug. He can bite/sting, but it is cool looking all the same.

milkweed assassin bug
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showin' off his belly
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~Melissa

My Julia Child rose, which I planted last year, was all in buds yesterday. This morning it went kabloom!

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Emmie

Ntvtxn - I would bet that the pillbugs are eating your Bleeding Heart. I can't grow them for that very reason. As soon as they go in the ground the pill bugs have a chow down party. I'd recommend Sevin to Zap those little buggers.

Biggest surprise - that both my Campanula lactiflora bit it due to too much rain. Bluestone doesn't sell them anymore so I can't ask for a replacement. The last of them is standing in a vase next to my windowsill *sigh*. I'm going to try Foxgloves instead.

The biggest surprise this season as been the resurrection of my "Victoria" HT rose. I thought it was a gonner, but saw some new growth on it, transplanted it in a different area and now it's doing wonderfully. I'm looking forward to some pretty roses any day now.

Heather

Talking about pill bugs/sow bugs, has anyone tried the cornmeal thing? I've heard if you sprinkle cornmeal around in problem spots, the little buggers will eat the stuff, swell up and K-boom!!! Haven't tried it so I haven't the faintest idea if it works.

Annette