Calla Lilies

I always enjoy my bright yellow calla lilies.  This year I planted some in the ground (usually I only plant them in containers on the deck).  A few of them bloomed this week.

A few feet from the ground bloomers, I have that huge container which behaved beautifully by blooming at the same time.

Here's the frontal shot:

Thankfully, the deer don't eat calla lilies.

 Two of the two dozen  Asiatic Tango lilies managed to escape the deer banquet last week. I am grateful that I did at least get to see one flower bloom from this 'Lionheart' grouping:

As I had hoped, the planting would have look great against this Ninebark shrub. 

'Olina' is another of my favorite of the Tango series. 

These are the only two that survived.

 

I hope everyone is enjoying the last week of July.  I am LOVING our very cool summer this year.  Last week it dropped down in the high 40's one night! 

Light work weekend in the Garden

I did not do much work in the garden this weekend.

I did move this 'Magic Fountain' delphinium:

and pulled a weed here and there...nothing too strenuous.

Don't you love the blue of this little delphinium 'Night Sky'?  It only gets about a foot tall.

I planted four them last weekend. I like that blue color next to the silver Lamb's Ear.

Now here's a hot color combo-orange, red and purple--whew!

I do love the red bee balm with the lavender.

 

On the other side my pink speedwell is just beginning to bloom.

 

We went to a craft show on Saturday.

I bought one of those birdhouses because the color was perfect in my garden.  Here's mine at 6:30 a.m. hanging on the end of my largest arbor:

 

Unfortunately the dreaded deer found my tasty perennial garden this weekend. They demolished a number of hostas and almost every Asiatic lily bud that had not yet opened. 

 

Bummer! I always look forward to the lilies.  Now I have to wait another year for a decent display.

 

A few nights ago J grilled the most delish burgers. He called them 2 all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions,  on a NON-sesame seed bun. :)

 

 

They were very good. I am looking forward to an encore later this summer.

Doing a Bit of Fluffing on the Deck

I wanted the deck to look cozy and inviting because we had some of J's family over for dinner last night.  We brought out some seat cushions, a rug, a few pillows, and even a quilt:

I don't have many flowers in bloom on this end of the deck, so I picked a colorful bouquet of daisies and ditch lilies:

The bouquet matches this sign I bought a few weeks ago:

 

I made my own side tables this year using old milk cans and old TV trays.

I am quite fond of them. I think they have so much more character than what I see in the stores.  I have two of them.

 

These lilies (from Patti in Missouri) fit perfectly on the potting bench shelf.

 

The other side of the potting bench:

I am really enjoying this container combination.  I was thrilled to find the daisy with centers that match the top plant (its name completely escapes me at the moment).

View from this end of the deck through the liatris that are almost ready to burst out in their glorious purple spikes.

Most of the containers on my deck are planted with dahlias, none of which are in bloom yet.  August is always the best flowering month on the deck. 

We had a wonderful evening with J's family.  They are gardeners so they are always appreciative of our efforts to provide an inviting deck and yard. 

Is a Cherry Pie Worth This?

Yesterday we decided to find a way to pick the ripe cherries before the birds got them.

So J climbed the ladder while I held a bowl over my head and he dropped the ripe cherries in.....

 then I took them inside, washed them and pitted them...after all that work, we ended up with..... less than two cups of cherries.......

I estimate we need a minimum of 4 cups to make a pie......I decided to freeze these and each day while I am at work,  J  will go out and climb the ladder again and pick the ripe cherries.  I will freeze them all until we get enough. Then I will make a pie crust from scratch...spend another 30 minutes cleaning up the counter and floor from the pie crust debris....put it in the oven....bake it for an hour....it will probably overflow and I will have to clean the oven...........Are you kidding me????????????  WHO would do all this work for one cherry pie ???

My Weekend Garden...part 2

My cherry tree is loaded with berries this year. They are almost ready for picking.

 At least I think they are...I have never actually picked any berries from the two 4-yr old trees I have.  The few cherries I've had in prior years have all gone to the birds. I saw some Robins in there pecking at them yesterday.

That old branch is some of new garden "art" I added yesterday. I have such fun using nature's free items in my garden. These Alberta Spruces are slowing mending. 

 

I am loving the ornamental Kale I planted in many of my large containers this year.  The stuff is HUGE and gives a nice lacy texture to this pot of calla lilies and Tropicanna 'Gold'. 

 There are no blooms yet, but I don't miss blooms with the spectacular foliage. Here it is from the back side where you can see the striped leaves of Trop 'Gold'.

 

I am enjoying the 'Magic Fountain' delphiniums I planted last year - all three of them survived the winter. They are a dwarf  variety that should stay about 3 feet tall.

I think they look nice with the silver Lamb's Ear.

Same area with a longer view down the garden:

 I also like them with the new Ninebark I planted last weekend.

Six weeks ago, I planted my first wheelbarrow garden. I used zinnia seeds. I almost never plants seeds and now I remember why -- hardly any germinated and they take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to bloom.  I went around the garden and removed some red petunias to add to the wheelbarrow so it would look at least half full.  Hopefully the zinnias will produce beautiful bursts of assorted color and the petunias will spill over the edges soon.

 

I planted some Tropicannas directly in the ground behind this Blue Oat grass. Tropicannas do well in containers for me, but they struggle to survive in the ground.

If those red/pink/gold striped leaves were huge (as they should be by now), they would be a great contrast to the silver/blue grass and its feathery seed heads. I will be hitting them hard with water and Miracle Grow this week to see if I can get them moving.

Here's a tall slender new  shade container I added this year.  It's planted with a rex begonia, purple fountain grass and creeping Jenny.

 I added two of these containers that were never meant to be outside holding plants.  Later in the season I will show you what they started life as about 35 years ago. You may be surprised... :)

I Did a Lot of Work in the Garden Today

I weeded, I moved a plant or two, and I brought in a few new pieces of garden "art". 

Mid-July is the prime bloom time in my garden.  I can't believe that in about two weeks the garden begins to go downhill.............it seems like summer just started!

Today I am going to post a bunch of pics with short descriptions.  I hope you get some enjoyment.  Thanks for taking a look!

I always look forward to these  'Manhattan' Asiatic lilies:

 I like them with the white Feverfew:

 Here a few more looking toward the back to the rockwall garden:

I derive great pleasure from that large piece of driftwood in this garden.
Everything seems to look good with this driftwood!  Here it is with white Feverfew:

Here are some red Asiatic lilies that I have had for years and long forgotten their name:


Here's another view a few feet to the left with Marguerite daisies:

Tomorrow I will post a few more if I have the time. 

I hope you are all enjoying July!

 

A Few Things I Like this Year

Coleus 'Redhead'

Ninebark 'Diablo' in its red seedhead stage:

 

Pink Geraniums planted with Heuchera and pink-variegated sweet potato vine:

Allium seed heads that look like fireworks:

 

and the fact that this Ligularia after 3 days without water

 had the ability to pop back to life hours after a good dose of H2O Amazing!

 

Spending a Sunday working in the garden in the morning and enjoying the remainder of a perfect summer day on the deck.