Summer blooms
Well, if you're on FB then you know that I've got a bum ankle and shouldn't be doing much with the garden at the moment. However, plants still need watering, and trashcans still have to be moved around back, preferably before the wind picks up enough to blow them up the street! But it seems a little work on the ankle is helping it stay loose rather than stiffen up, so I decided that I needed to do another garden update. My crepe myrtle has started to bloom - one of them, at least. I'll take some photos once the flowers are more open. The Russian sage is blooming as well, and looking very pretty. My kaleidoscope butterfly bush is getting ready to bloom sometime soon - it seems to appreciate the larger pot I gave it, as the one it was in couldn't hold enough water and it would wilt rather dramatically. So much for the back yard.
In front, this year's Knockout roses are blooming fairly profusely for the second time this season, but since their spring burst the one-year-old bushes haven't been blooming, which concerns me. I may need to fertilize them regularly for a while, perhaps. The flowers are quite beautiful! It surprises me every time how much I love them, since I'm normally not a fan of hot pink.
Right at the beginning of this hot spell, I bought a flat of petunias to help fill out the front flower beds - the perennials I have planted should fill in pretty much all the space once they mature, but for now it was looking a little bare. I picked up some rabbit repellent too, since that's been a problem here, and it seems to have worked so far. I'm pleased that I've been able to keep them watered even with everything that's been going on!
And the one plant "casualty" from our week-long trip to Illinois is actually making a comeback - the morning glory was knocked over, and the rabbits nibbled it down to just a stem, but now it's got a good number of leaves growing back from the tip!
It amuses me that Spring Hill keeps trying to get me to order more plants by sending me adverts for mixed lots of various types of plant - no thanks! I'm being fairly picky about what I'm putting in, and a whole lot of one-of-each-color isn't attractive, especially not in a small landscaping area like a townhouse yard. I have remembered a plant I would like to get, though - lisianthus, the main flower in my wedding bouquet. I haven't seen any for sale around here yet, but I guess I'll just have to keep my eye out. The deep purple variety is actually very similar in color to the petunias I bought, and I'd like to get some.
In front, this year's Knockout roses are blooming fairly profusely for the second time this season, but since their spring burst the one-year-old bushes haven't been blooming, which concerns me. I may need to fertilize them regularly for a while, perhaps. The flowers are quite beautiful! It surprises me every time how much I love them, since I'm normally not a fan of hot pink.
Right at the beginning of this hot spell, I bought a flat of petunias to help fill out the front flower beds - the perennials I have planted should fill in pretty much all the space once they mature, but for now it was looking a little bare. I picked up some rabbit repellent too, since that's been a problem here, and it seems to have worked so far. I'm pleased that I've been able to keep them watered even with everything that's been going on!
And the one plant "casualty" from our week-long trip to Illinois is actually making a comeback - the morning glory was knocked over, and the rabbits nibbled it down to just a stem, but now it's got a good number of leaves growing back from the tip!
It amuses me that Spring Hill keeps trying to get me to order more plants by sending me adverts for mixed lots of various types of plant - no thanks! I'm being fairly picky about what I'm putting in, and a whole lot of one-of-each-color isn't attractive, especially not in a small landscaping area like a townhouse yard. I have remembered a plant I would like to get, though - lisianthus, the main flower in my wedding bouquet. I haven't seen any for sale around here yet, but I guess I'll just have to keep my eye out. The deep purple variety is actually very similar in color to the petunias I bought, and I'd like to get some.