The most activity we are having out in the garden is actually harvesting the tomatoes. It rained on Tuesday so we didn't get out there and on Wednesday Gloria picked a quart of cherry tomatoes. We just keep them on the breakfast bar and they're handy for healthy snacking, just grab a handful as you're passing by and looking for a quick nosh. The vegetable garden (on the far right) is almost completely overtaken by 3 tomato plants and the cherry plant is taking over the heirloom and jumbo plants. This was the harvest a couple weeks ago.
On to what's blooming.
Across the back fence are 4 butterfly bushes, but we have had very few butterflies this year. I'm seeing a lot more bees (and a dragonfly earlier this summer) than butterflies. For this post I didn't see any butterflies, but there were a couple of bees.
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| I don't know if it's the cool summer, or the damp spring but even the butterfly bushes don't look as healthy as in past years. |
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| At least some pollinators are able to take advantage of the bushes. |
And as a bonus - just because I like this picture - I'll let you see the dragonfly from earlier this summer.
And because it is bloom day, not because they are particularly photogenic, here is a shot of some of the phlox still holding on.
The big bloomer right now is the hibiscus in the front yard.
OK, I was playing with the macro setting in the camera and got this "in your face" shot.
Here are some more shots of the Queen of Sharon hibiscus.
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| I had to get a ladder out of the shed to get up high enough to get these shots, it's blooming right at the roofline and that's a rain gutter just behind the blossoms. |
I love the gentleness of these blossoms.
Butterflies seem to be late everywhere. A summer brood is showing up at my place now. They'll be here until frost, I hope.
ReplyDeleteI've head from a couple people that there are not a lot in our area (near Washington DC) this year. I hope we get some, they're so much fun to photograph when the garden slows down the blooming.
DeleteJim,
ReplyDeleteMy butterfly bush is better than ever this year, probably because I constantly pinch it back through spring. Have not seen many 'big' butterflies (monarch / swallowtails) though.
Ray
Hi Ray,
DeleteLast year I cut it down to the ground and it came back strong, but never got as big as I want. We want to use them as natural screening for the back of the garden to hide the fence and the neighbors. So this year I cut them back to about 12 inches. But there was no growth on the old wood, just all new growth from the ground. And it's just not as healthy looking. I guess I'll have to do some research and stop just experimenting. Thanks for the comment on keeping them pinched back. Because they are at the top of the hill at the back of the garden they don't get a lot of hands-on attention. Most of the pictures are high zoom from the path - about 4-5 feet away from the bushes.