Friday, July 25, 2008

Buzz On Over to My Garden

                          Buzz on over to my garden.  It's mid-July and the garden is just about at it's peak!   Wow, I love how all the flowers have merged together.   It is really pretty when I look out my dining room and porch windows.  It's definitely not your classic "English Cottage Garden".   I know it contains all the common fair.   However, the flowers are not separated, they are co-mingled.  I am not a fan of mulch.  I hate the color.  The only mulch I could possibly be interested in is the black mulch.   I want the plants to drop their seeds.  I want the flowers to spread.   Bring it on.  I thin them out.  It is hard to do.  I love them all.   It's even hard to chose flowers for bouquets.   I transplant them when I can.
My absolute favorite are Oxeye Daisies.  Jacob picked a few for me from a field near our home.   He dried them out and planted the seeds last fall.   I have the most beautiful daisies.   This year he is harvesting the seeds from the deadheads.  I also throw some spent flower heads back into the garden.  I have several varieties of Mondarda "Beebalm".   We have the bright pink that again came from the "wild" so I can't share it's name with you.   I have the red "Jacob Cline" (I love the name...), and a bright lavendar.   I have the "False Sunflowers" Heliopsis.   They just keep on blooming and blooming all the way 'til fall.   Of course, I have the Echinacea Purple coneflowers.  I have a few varieties.  I have to hurry to gather a few of their seeds before the finches tear it apart.  Another plant the goldfinches can't resist is the Anise Hyssop.   My dog loves it, too.  Jacob introduced it to  him a few years back.  He will mosey back to the garden and help himself to a leaf or two.  It tastes like black licorice.   They are a member of the mint family, so I don't need to tell you that it can get out of control.  Right now that is okay with me, because I have a large space that I like to keep filled.  They transplant nicely.  I even moved them to a shade area of my yard and they are going strong.   The companion plant in this  photo is called Soapwort.  It is also known as Bouncing Bet.  It gets that rep from the fact that it moves about the garden.  It spreads by rhizomes.   I have an abundance of it.  It all started with one tiny little plant from the Farmer's Market.   They bloom profusely.  It is sweet.   Even the dried seed pods are pretty in the fall.   I am glad that I  have discovered it.  It really is cute.   


The plant in the second photo is Spiderwort.  The cute little flowers only bloom in the morning.   I have two varieties -  a darker purple and a brighter blue.  Interspersed throughout the garden are my Dad's favorite.  The Dahlia.  We plant the tubers in the spring.   I know that you can pinch off the "suckers", however as stated before I just can't bear myself to do it.  I love all the flowers great and small.   I don't care for the dinner-plate sized heads in my application.   I had a neighbor that grew the prettiest dinner-plate sized heads, but he had them in a large separate garden all clustered together it was gorgeous! 



I'll wrap this up by showing you the view from my windows, and tomorrow I'll share with you my shady garden and my patio.   Ta Ta!












         

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