Oh yeah, the veggies! Like I said, they are PUNY so far this year, I'm hoping we don't run out of season before I can get enough habaneros to make jam, and tomatoes for sauce...

spuds (really super small this year, that whole bed should be a forest...)

Tomatoes, Black sea man (L) and orange blossom (C, R). Finally got some blossoms on these, though, the BSM is pretty dinky...

Nineveh tom's. I actually found tiney green fruits on these guys this morning! I may get a garden fresh tomato or two this year, yet!

I don't have any pictures of the peppers or the better boy tomatoes yet, probably snap some tomorrow. I have found a camera is much easier to make a journal with than writing...

OK, Zach, I'll play!

What I refer to affectionately as the Pink Rose Riot has begun. Morden Centennial on the right, Harlekin in the center. Clematis is doing well, too. Those dark clouds past right over us this afternoon and headed east.

Are the sunny faces of these "Jokers" okay?

They were sharing a little joke about the guy with the camera not being able to shoot straight ...

Steve

Gorgeous roses Barb! I have always like the scent of roses, but, spending too much time pruning overgrown ones has made it so I will likely never grow them myself. Dead rose and juniper branches are the bane of everyone who has ever been involved in the landscaping business! That clematis is awesome, and the backdrop of those clouds... Somone once wrote of the prairie "The drama of the landscape is in the sky, pouring with light and always moving."

Steve, I would say they are fantastic! I love annual sunflowers and wish I could grow them (but the squirrels have made that nothing more than a pipe-dream...). I am glad you shared them so I can live vicariously through you, lol! Shooting straight only matters in things like billiards and hunting, that picture looks awsome to me!

Daylilies just started blooming. This dark red one is my favorite one. My photo doesn't do it justice.

A pretty pink/peach one.

I need to take some more pictures, Zach!

All my daylilies came from Karen Shultz. Sadly, I didn't keep any of the tags so I have no clue on names.

My smaller clematis is blooming. I'll try to take a picture later when it's not so hot.

Great pictures, and beautiful lilies!

One of my favorite things about gardening is the endless supply of photo opportunities! I love to see what everyone else is doing, too! I get to see my gardens every day, It's cool to see whats going on for other people!

Too bad you can't recall names, I am thinking about putting some daylilies in with my dwarf red osier dogwoods, and red happens to be my favorite color!

Great pictures everyone! Thanks for sharing.

That first daylily is stunningly vivid!

Here are some pictures with my phone taken over the past week. There are other things blooming in the front yard, but I rarely venture out there. I should though, to get pictures of the scabiosa and Mexican hat before they are overwhelmed by yarrow. My spouse has stuffed the rest of the front beds with goldenrod and yarrow, which are slowly taking over!

Cranesbill 'Johnson's Blue' and some pink valerian.

A visitor I see often. Lately, he (she?) is missing some wing. Maybe a victim of hail or a bird attack more likely.

Tomatillo flowers.

Abraham Lincoln's

In the bed where I planted carrots last year, I missed one when I dug them all out. When it popped out of the ground I was going to dig it out but decided to let it be. It's about 5 feet tall right now, and loaded up with flowers. The earwigs *love* it in here, and each flower has a family of earwigs living in it.

The borage just started - this stuff is glorious. A favorite that I allow every year, since it reseeds so readily. I pull a couple hundred for the few I keep, but it's worth it, and the bees can't get enough of it. It used to be that basil was the defacto bee plant for me, but they don't even seem to care about the basil if there is borage around. Next year, I'm going to add white flowering borage to my garden.

Another cranesbill, variety unknown. I sort of collect cranesbill, and try to add one each year. This year's has been purchased, but I have yet to find a location for it.

One of the heucheras blooming.And finally the new ice plant, just acquired last weekend.

ZachS, if you want a piece of the red daylily, I'd be happy to share. I don't think you're supposed to mess with them when they are blooming. But when it's done, I'd be happy to dig you a piece.

matthewgg, I love cranesbill too. The combination with the Valerian is very nice. My cranesbill was done blooming last week, so I gave it a haircut because it was blocking one of the sprinklers. I wonder if it might bloom again.

popmama, your cranesbill will probably bloom again in the fall. I usually trim mine back after the first bloom just because they get so big. They certainly can take a good pruning!

Aw, thanks Popmama!

Matthew, great pictures! That swallowtail is awesome, I wonder if it will use your giant carrot as a host for caterpillars? I like borage flowers, but the plant itself is kind of "rangy" looking and drops millions of seeds, and the little hairs on the leaves and stems make me break out. I have lots of other flowers for the bees. They were enamored with the gaillardia for a while, but now that the lavender is blooming, as always they can't be bothered to go near anything else, lol!

What kind of ice plant is that? It looks like 'firespinner'? I got one of those this year but I didn't bloom, can't wait until next year to see the flowers.

Keep the pictures coming folks! These are great!

Crocosmia blooming for 4th of July!

I started the Agastache from seeds last spring and shared many seedlings with friends.

I got this Shasta Dasies last year. It's not very big yet but looking happy.

Last for today, my Blanket Flower plant. It is crowded by the Agastache. I need to move thing around a bit this Autumn.

Your agastache is huge, Gardenchloe! The agastache and crocosmia will bring many hummingbirds your way very soon!

Thanks, Popmama. I have had great luck with hummingbird visits with my crocosmia plant but was afraid it is too early for the blooms as I mistakenly remembered hummingbirds don't visit until later in the season. Just found a picture taken on July 17th last year. I guess one might come visit any time now.

Yes, soon. Very soon.

Here's a few pics I took today.

An under-appreciated hosta bloom.

Another beautiful daylily hiding in my Rose of Sharon

A small hosta in full bloom.

small hosta didn't make it to other post. The holes are from the hail damage in May.

These perennial sweet peas have been growing along our fence since before we were here, but they never go quite this wild! Loving all the extra water this year, I think.

That agastache is HUGE, Chloe! If mine get that big, I'll be moving things around for sure!

We had hummingbirds at our feeders in late May/early June on their migration up, but, they haven't been around for about a month. This is the first year we've had hummers at the house, I have been neglecting the feeders since they stopped coming around, maybe it's about time to clean and fill them...

The crocosmia is beautiful, too.

Love the hostas popmomma! Unappreciated flowers are some of the best!

I don't know if there's a hummingbird migration pattern on the front range - over here, there's a migration up the Sierras then they cross over and come down the western slope. Particularly the Rufus. They show up here in August and hang out until mid-late september. .

Popmama, your host a is beautiful!

Zach, I do have to move my agastache around and I have a perfect spot for it already!

Here are two different types of honeysuckles. The pink one has been blooming since the first year but it stays pretty small in size. The Japanese one below was divided from a friends huge plant. It did not bloom in the first two years. This year it has grown so much in size and has blooms all over.

Ach - I couldn't hold the camera steady. Sweet pea vines and shasta daisy

I got a shot of the Morning Glory today. I purchased the Morning Glory at the Westminster H.S. sale in May. It was already wrapped around a Cosmos that it was using as its support. I planted them together next to this wacky wavy copper sculpture thing I got at a yard sale. (I'm prone to Garden Junk). The Morning Glory and Cosmos are still entwined.

ZachS, I have that same Agastache, the one that smells like bubble gum. And I love snakes!

Is all that pink and white on the bank sweet pea? That's impressive!

It's probably my favorite Agastache for scent. I think A. rupestris has prettier flowers, but, not many plants smell like bubblegum! We had a breeding pair of garter snakes last year. This year we are down to one. One of the neighbors down the street says she has her dog kill all the snakes that come in her yard (and she always told me she sprays the bees... what a shame that some people have such a huge misunderstanding about backyard critters).

Speaking of critters, here's a couple neat shots!

Mom refilled the hummingbird feeder yesterday after she told me she saw one flying around. This morning I was out getting pictures of a skipper butterfly and this little lady showed up. She glanced at the feeder but then made for the Dr. Seuss flower instead. (As you can see, we have our "garden junk", too. This one is a great support for the floppy, top heavy monarda).

Peek-a-boo

Those hummingbird shots are so great, Zach! I'm so excited to see a hummingbird. I guess I will put out my feeder soon. Although the ones that hang around my yard seem to prefer the flowers over the feeder. But I always put out the feeder just in case.

Wow everything is so beautiful. This is my second year gardening in CO (Boulder County) and I'm a shade gardener from Minnesota, Ohio and Illinois prior to here. SO FRUSTRATING. I hate the hot sun. BUT - my tomatoes are six feet tall. So I'm wondering why Zach in Littleton's are so small. My ten are against a stucco house in a raised bed so maybe the stucco holds the heat but I know they won't flower or set fruit if temps are above 86 or below 46. I have to used 50% shade cloth when temps get over 85.

Carole,

It's pretty easy to get frustrated while gardening here. I was admiring Mathew's pic of his Abe Lincoln tomato and wondering why it's so far ahead of my plants. My tomatoes are in the 4 foot range now and finally setting fruit. I've come to the conclusion it's a combination of micro climate, soil temps and soil fertility in each yard, which will differ. Dan and I use Walls O Water to get our plants in early, some years late April or early May. Skybird puts hers in later, late June/early July sometimes and yet at the end of the season we all seem to end up roughly in the same place!

I know some of us start our plants from seed and others buy their plants. Most of us don't have ideal greenhouse conditions so maybe the bought plants do offer an advantage of being further developed at planting than my seedlings.

I don't use shade cloth on tomatoes, I'm more concerned with hail protection here. which consists of old comforters and blankets that ZI can throw over the plants in a hurry. I do shade mail order conifers their first year or two here. I think you're on to something with a microclimate/heat island against the house.

Do you have trees or shade structures you can plant under? Now that you're in year two, you've probably identified a few spots where you can get some shade lovers going.

Barb

Thanks Mama! I agree they like flowers more than the feeder, but, I don't always have plants they use blooming when they decide to visit, especially the spring migrators. So, I use the feeders. The ones at work seem to not care where they get their sugar water, flowers, feeder, I saw one try to drink from a brake light cover on a car the other day!

Carole, if you're itching for shade gardening, I have PLENTY of places around my yard you could plant. Shoot, I'll even give you code for the lock on the gate, just come on by whenever and get after it, LOL! I'm a lover of all things cloudless, shadeless, and sunny, and I'll take the heat to go with it ;).

My tomatoes have finally picked up the pace, and some of the eggplant are look fantastic. The potatoes it seems haven't grown at all, frustration does indeed run rampant. But, heres some pictures of success!

I believe these ones (Nineveh) get too much shade. They were monster producers for me last year and the only tomato I have ever invited back for a second year. This year is not so good, and I'm getting a lot of cat facing from the cool temps. Not that I care, I don't grow them for looks, just as long as they don't get icky and rotten before I get to eat them.

This here has turned into a doggone jungle. In a normal year, I wouldn't be concerned, but as wet and high as the humidity has been, I wont be surprised if I get hit by fungus or disease.

All the tomatoes in these beds are (supposed) to be determinates, I'm not so sure about the BSM, The (for sure) indeterminates, Better Boys, are in the back yard, they were the last tomatoes to get planted, about 2 weeks or so after all the others (picture is from last week, they have grown quite a bit even since then):

Remember how dinky that black sea man was just a couple weeks ago? He's filling out quite nicely now:

Thanks for the responses, ZachS and TreeBarb. There's so much I have to learn and would love to meet some of you. I've responded to Skybird's really helpful advice (just after moving here in 2013) but kind of went away last summer because of chemo treatments and was just too sick to care about anything. But I'm going through it again now and still trying to garden with a ton of help from husband and kids. I love to plant petunias and coleus and a few other things in pots and finding that when I just touch the pot after a day like today (Sunday, 91) I'm convinced the roots are baking. I have to always move to shade. OK finally a question: how would Agapanthus do in this heat/sun? Howabout Astilbe? Goatsbeard? ite and blue in the garden and this climate seems to prefer things that are orange/red/yellow and I have a hard time with those. Was a Master G in Illinois but don't care if I ever get that here. I'd rather work in a nursery part time to satisfy these passions! Once again, TIA.

C

Something happened to a line in that post - sorry about that. I meant I only like white and blue in the garden and this climate.....et cetera. Also, I know Astilbe and Goatsbeard like wet shade but if they're near the patio I would water constantly and only plant in shade. It's the dry air and even a touch of sun I worry about.

Carole, I'm not real familiar with perennials, in fact I really just got started with them this year. If I were you, I would start a new topic with your questions about shade plants, you'll probably get more of a response!

A couple of hardy hibiscus plants

Painted daises. I started them from seeds last year. I guess they re-seeded themselves this year.

Agastache plants blooming for two months now

Some dahlia that decided to show up in my yard

Cleomes

Black eyed susan

Another hardy hibiscus

Wow, gardenchloe! Those pictures are beautiful. I love the painted daisies. They are so "happy" looking.

I took this picture of red hardy hibsicus with white coneflower today. I think it's a nice combination.

I had a volunteer rose bush this year. Never had that before. It's very dainty tucked inside of some hostas. I'm not sure if it will make it through the winter, but I sure hope so.

Those are great shots, popmama!

Chloe and Popmama wow! I love those hibiscus! I REALLY need to find a place to put some! All your other plants are looking fantastic as well! I guess I'm not so great at planning, most of my flowers are done blooming, except for Agastache, Gaillardia, and Rudebeckia. I have a Blonde Ambition blue grama that is starting to "bloom." It's not photogenic because of where it's located but it's really cool to see it in person!

Popmama, that rose reminds me a lot of the native wild roses we have here on the front range (Rosa arkansana I believe).

ZachS., I have what I think is a knockout rose that I've had for as long as I've been in this house (almost 16 years) that is close to where this one showed up. I'm reasonably sure it is a relative. It's a great rose. It blooms all summer, delicate pink, single-petal roses.

Oh cool! It definitely looks good poking out from behind the hostas!

This is (kind of) a picture of blue grama grass. It's so airy that it's hard to get a picture of. Like I said, in person, I really like it AND did you know blue grama is the state grass of Colorado?

A. rupestris. The H-birds I haven't seen around this one, but there was one at a A. cana the other day!

A fritillary that came to visit the blanket flowers. I am amazed at the mount of insets I have this year!

And a crab spider on the rudbeckia that I got at the spring swap this year from Skybird!

Wow! You got flowers already this year, Zach? I usually assume folks don't get flowers on my "little cups of plants" until the second year! Wait till you see it NEXT year!

As always, I LOVE your pics!

Skybird

Yeah Skybird! I was really happy when I noticed little flower buds on it! I wasn't expecting it to flower until next year either!! However, it does look like I will be waiting until then for the Penstemon and the Max. sunflower, though, both are looking great! I should get some pictures of them for you so you can see how well they are doing!

Thanks Skybird! I love sharing them with you guys!

Well, I'm getting a second round of flowers of "shimmer" Oenothera. That is pleasant surprise. What isn;t AS cool is they they open up when the lighting is terrible and getting a nice picture of them before the flowers shrivel up is not so easy. Course, that really isn't a surprise, it is an EVENING primrose, after all.

What I did get pictures of is my gladiolus "black surprise" that is blooming. Not a very impressive display this year, I think most of them drowned to death this spring, but this is a very neat color, I'm glad my wife picked these ones out!

They change colors depending on the light! The ones that opened today have touch of purple on them that you can barely see on the last picture.

Mostly I'm a vegetable and herb gardener but I do dabble with some flowers.

Begonia in the display garden

The display garden

A couple zinnias

A volunteer love lies bleeding just starting to bloom

Winter savory in bloom

A tasty garlic chive flower

A purple anise hyssop and a white one. The bees and hover flies just love these.

And a moss rose volunteer. I've had at least one moss rose come back every year in the vegetable garden for about 8 years

Happy Gardening

Greg

Agastache cana which has already appeared in this thread but mine has a visitor, and the cosmos made an appearance too.