Summer Colors

Admit it! You’ve been anxious awaiting more flower pictures, haven’t you.

I’ve spent so much time in the backyard this summer that I’ve barely paid attention to my little gardens. The good news is that they have become nearly maintenance free. After pulling out about 50 square feet of English Ivy, the rest of the weeding has been minimal. I know I need to do some major thinning. But I’m afraid that if I do, weeds will start to invade the empty spots. So I’ll just let them be.

There are four flowers that make up the backbone of my garden: Achillea (Yarrow) , Echinacea (Coneflower) , Leucanthemum (Daisy), and Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan). Each are deer resistant, drought tolerant and take severe summer sun like a champ. Great for normal summers. Not so much for this summer. While the plants are all healthy, they are just now coming into bloom. Which is better than some of the other specimens. The irises never bloomed at all (too much shade), the daylily display is anemic at best (too much rain). Still, they’re blooming and a sight better than that old weedy lawn they replaced.

I had to cut back a large number of early blooming flowers, and replaced several experimental yarrows with coreopsis. Hopefully the flowers will re-bloom and the fill in the gaps later in the summer. Until then, I will try and enjoy what I have.