I'm going to go off the garden path this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and do it a little differently. Usually I'm guilty of the same game the garden catalogs play, lots of colorful closeups and no full length views of the subject at hand. It's tempting to go in tight for the beauty shot. Maybe get out the macro.
I thought you might appreciate it a little less edited this time. I won't show all the warts and weeds, but you'll get a better idea of this garden I'm trying to make my own out here in the water, woods and wetlands.
My "office chair" on the porch
Across from the porch, I watch butterflies and hummingbirds on these zinnias
Pee Gee Hydrangea blooming with courtyard beds in the background
Oops, I couldn't resist, Zinnia "Cool Crayon Colors"
Looking back towards the porch, Nodding Onion blooms attract bees and butterflies
Alliums along the path looking out to docks
Pole bean tower in the "hot mess" garden; a freeform, oft self-seeded veggie potager including Italian parsley, nasturtiums, signet marigolds, kale, beets and strawberries.
Beyond the beans, Joe-Pye weed blooming
Over the fence, the blooms of aquatic Duck Potatoes
Purple elderberries on the path by the pond
Further along Rudbeckia "Herbstsonne", phlox, and fading blooms of Invincibelle Spirit hydrangea
Hang in there, we're halfway through!
Lots of bees browsing native Culver's Root
Reliable beauties, Annabelle hydrangeas with Nepeta Souvenir D'Andre Chaudon
Clethra "Ruby Spice" smells sweet
Swallowtail on lily
Black swallowtail on Mexican Sunflower, "Torch"
Rudbeckia "Cappuccino" started from seed with ornamental millet
Warm sunset colors
Out front, the blank canvas where my pine trees stood before a violent windstorm felled them. Check out my funky new stone wall. I'm studying the spot while I wait for it to "speak" to me and tell me what to plant. Any ideas?
Uncommon annual, Cerinthe with blue-green foliage and dangling blue-purple buds
Not blooms but a beautiful combo, maidenhair fern and coleus
(Note the large mosquitos on wall above the container, it is Minnesota after all)
And finally, the blooms of Persicaria "Firetail", Joe-Pye Weed and Rudbeckia planted just outside my son's bedroom so that he might glance up from his laptop and perhaps see a hummingbird or butterfly. What a nice mama he has.
Hope you enjoyed the tour!!!
