We've had a lot of warm weather lately and today it cooled down quite a bit and was perfect for gardening. I had planned to do one job, but ended up cleaning up the aphid infested Nasturtiums and mildewy pumpkinless pumpkin vines in the side yard. After pulling up the vines and cutting back the fig tree some I was happy how much better it all looked. I know everyone has a spot in their yard that gets neglected and the side yard is mine.
Finally some Cosmos are blooming. I've never seen them start this late.
Cosmos 'Cranberries' (Select Seeds)
Cosmos 'Picotee', the only one that came up.
This is the strange Sunflower that I've shown in some recent posts. I think some birds have already started eating it.
This shows it's weird proportions, it's growing next to Basil plants.
Columbine that has been blooming all spring and summer.
'Iceberg' Rose and Cleome.
Asters and Coneflowers are doing great.
Gracie and the neighbor cat hanging out in the flowers.
Agastache 'Raspberry Summer' from Bluestone Perennials.
Seedlings that need to get planted, but where to squeeze them in?
Another bed (the driveway bed) I've been working on. I ripped out all of the Phlox. It had just taken over the bed and it had such a short bloom time it didn't look very good. I just planted the Ninebark 'Little Devil'. It's supposed to just get 3-4 feet wide and tall. I plan to get a couple more grasses - Feather Reed Grass 'Karl Foerster'.
David Austin rose 'Lady Emma Hamilton' has really pretty colored foliage. It has been very disease free and even handles afternoon shade, it has a great scent too. This is growing in the driveway bed that I showed above.
We also just celebrated a very special day here yesterday - the Littlest Gardener turned 5! She celebrated with a few of her best girl friends at Build a Bear. 5 little girls making stuffed animals is about as cute as it gets and they all had lots of fun.
All words and photos in this post are property of A Gardener in Progress.
