This one's for Maria!

O.k., Maria has these gorgeous pictures that I believe she got from Jessica, of hearts randomly in coffee cream, clouds, etc. I think this flower could be right in there. It looked like a heart to me, and it has the benefit of also being red! This is a plant that Errica gave me. I almost killed it at first, but it is now living and thriving on my slope. Pretty neat!

garden overview and the new kid on the block

Here is a picture of the garden overview. I am amazed how many more aster plants came up this year. Almost everything came back that was supposed to- except my butterfly blue plants, not sure why. The butterfly bush got a lot bigger, and is growing vertically rather than horizontally this year, which is nice. The new plant is Russian Sage, which I was trying to find for a while, and finally did. You can click on eithe picture to see them larger.

Tulips

The interesting part about the bright pink tulip, is that when I originally planted it and it bloomed the first year, it was white with tiny stripes of pink at the tip. Now it bloomed completely pink! I'm not sure if it is the soil or what? The other large purple tulip is called a ballade tulip and I absolutely love it. Unfortunately, although I had originally planted 6, this is the only one that bloomed this year.

Garden 2007

Purple Dome Aster

pretty in purple...

Garden overview- September 7

September Flowers

Here are some pictures from the garden. I am loving the fact that I still have flowers blooming in September. All the pre-existing flowers here were normally dying off by now, so it is nice to still have some color around. The first plant is the sedum matrona, which took forever to bloom, but it is very pretty now that it has. It is pinkish white and seems to attract bumblebees. The second picture are the multicolored zinnias that my mom bought at Expect Discounts... they sat in a pot for a while in front of my house until I got around to planting them, but they are blooming still, so that's pretty good.

Review for burpee.com

Check out my review for the zinnias at burpee.com! I actually have another for the butterfly bush- you can click on "read all my reviews" to see that one. I included a picture for each review. Apparently, not that many people write reviews, because they say I'm in the top 250 just for having 2!

Flight of the Butterfly

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Finally, success! There were two other butterflies in the garden today, but this is the first one I've caught on film. Jonathan and I saw the first one early this afternoon. It flew right around us, but I didn't have my camera at the time. The second one was in the garden with this one that I got on camera, but it flew away when I was coming up the stairs. I looked up the picture, and this butterfly is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. They are normally the butterfly most attracted to the butterfly bush, but this one seemed more interested in the zinnias, though it did visit the butterfly bush at one point. I'm not sure what kind of butterflies the other two I saw today were, but I will try to get some more on film if I can. I'm so happy and excited that the butterflies are finally finding the garden! woo hoo!

butterfly update

This morning I saw a black butterfly with white spots near the garden. I didn't realize it was there, until I walked up the stairs and scared it away. I don't know the name of it, but I'm trying to keep track of what I see. I found out the other day that I should have planted more of each flower, because the butterflies are attracted to a big display of one flower. Oh well. I did see another black butterfly that likes the zinnias the other day.

Hopefully they'll start to come more regularly so I might be able to get some pictures.

nanho butterfly bush

This was the first bloom on the butterfly bush. It didn't last too long, but it was gorgeous.

butterfly

There was a butterfly in the garden today. It appears to be a monarch butterfly, but it had a broken wing. Part of one wing was missing, and the outside of one wing appeared gray. I'm not sure what that means, or if you can see it in the picture, but I just thought I would share!

More flowers

zinnia

Here are a couple of the zinnias that are blooming- planted from seed on May 1st.

Overview of the garden- end of June

I added some stones from the yard as stepping stones

yardwork and blooms

lillies and hydrangea



petite delight bee balm



zinnia

Put mulch in the back by the stone steps and the grapevine arbor... also, the petite delight bee balm blooms, and the zinnia starting to show color. Wish I had more butterflies in the garden, but from what I've read it may take a while for them to know they have suitable habitat here. The deer seemed to figure it out real fast though!!

ARGH

Just went outside, and I think the deer was back. She didn't eat my sedum this time, just the new bloom on my geranium. Darn, I'll never see a flower on that geranium again!!

on the way...

Petite Delight Bee Balm flowers on the way!!

More Flowers

The top picture is the moonbeam coreopsis which is beginning to bloom. So far, two blooms, with more on the way. The second is the dahlias that my mom got me that we added to the garden. The zinnias, the petite delight bee balm and the butterfly bush all have flowers that are starting to come out... July will probably be a great month for flowers. I'm hoping with more stuff blooming I'll start to attract some butterflies and possibly hummingbirds. Stay tuned!