Hostas Lady's mantle "Stella d'oro" daylilies Flanders poppies Zinnia lilliput mix (started from seed indoors) Stock Lavatera Dill Coriander Eggplant, tomatoes and chilies are all in bloom Coral bells Roses ("Ambridge rose," "Fair bianca" and "Molineux"; all the others have finished their first flush) Echinacea Canna (I overwintered in a pot) Zonal geraniums Cranesbill geraniums Sweet peas Clematis "etoile violette" Hydrangeas - annabelle and nikko blue allium chives catmint privet snapdragons And I think that's it.

I agree that it's all about the irises this week, although lupine's right up there, too. Since I last posted, I have: Wintersowed this year: Venidium fastuosum Gilia capitata Schizanthus Peas Linaria Phacelia viscida, Tropical Surf Baby Blue Eyes Wintersowed past year(s): Valerian Helianthemum Geum, Mrs. Bradshaw Aquilegia chrysantha Papaver Flore Pleno Amsonia tabernaemontana Other: Rosa rugosa alba Iris, Swazi Princess Yellow iris Centaurea montana Verbascum, Southern Charm Orlaya grandiflora (re-seeded) Rhododendron Pink azalea Globe allium James Kelway daisy Honeysuckle Limnanthes (re-seeder) Around the wildflower walk: Mayflower Wild geranium at the boat landing On a good note, the ferns are plenteous and beautiful this year. On a bad note, the poison ivy is rampant. I've put a link in for some pictures - last year when I tried to post them individually they came up huge - I haven't spent the time to figure out how to resize them. The first 16 pictures are this year's; all the rest are from last year. Here is a link that might be useful: My garden pictures

Yesterday I took the day off with hopes of making a dent in the pile of compost I have blocking my driveway. I should have paid closer attention to the weather-90 F and humid and both the pile and gardens it was going in are in the sun. Fortunately I had a dentist appointment in the afternoon...lol. Since I have a husband who likes to have his car in the garage, if I don't get this compost moved soon the campaign of harassment will begin. Over the weekend I was able to get a good start on the containers. Has anyone else noticed how expensive annuals are this year? Many of the nurseries in my area are charging $4.99 for a 4" potted annual. The little seasonable place I found near work looks better and better all the time. He charges $3.89, if you buy 12 or more $3.39. Next winter I hope to do a better job wintering over the coleus cuttings. I was very successful with cannas, dahlias and brugs this year. If you get a gift from me in the near future it will likely be cannas...lol. My husband is doing a great job building a small tumbled bluestone patio around our new hot tub. He would have finished by now but the place where we get the stone ran out and won't have any back in stock til today or Monday. In the meantime I had him build a small patio in front of our shed (I'm now calling him patio man) using the 2' x 2' stamped concrete pavers we salvaged from a neighbor last summer when he redid his front walk. It will be nice to have that area cleaned up. The town is repaving my street and came through with the blacktop eater and a plethora of other machinery and workers on Tuesday. I have a garden that extends to the curb and had been moving plants out of it for weeks because I thought the curbs were going to be replaced. As it turns out they aren't and not one plant left in that garden suffered any damage. Next week the new blacktop goes down and I'm hopefully home free to replant. Sue

Weeding. At the moment it's actually under control. That wont last. Started some seeds last week in the vain hope that they'll be big enough to survive the winter so I'll get a jump on blooming. Hibiscus and hollyhock and foxglove, from trades. Kept most of the seed tho, I'm going to winter and spring sow it all as well, so if I lose the ones I sowed last week I can try again. As of this morning some of the hibiscus and hollyhocks had sprouted. Something, probably a deer, ate the leaves off one of my morning glory vines. Just the bottom half, the top's still there. So now it looks kinda weird, as it was winding through the railing going up the front steps. Didnt touch anything else in the garden, just the morning glory. DH put in trellising around the base of the deck, not completely done but mostly. Looks a lot better than being open underneath. Next year my vines can climb the trellising to get up to the deck, instead of me having to run thread down. :-) It's really depressing, I get home at 8PM and now it's dark when I get home. So weekday gardening is getting much harder. I set the alarm early with the plan of getting up and gardening then, but just one more snooze is soooo tempting.....and the kitties are snuggly in the morning...