In Bloom

 

Here's something you rarely see me post about. Things in bloom. We never had sun here in the summer because of all the trees but they are gone now and I'm trying to get used to all this light My poor hydrangea isn't happy with all the sun. I had to trim it way back in hopes of saving it but it did produce one flower. It was a very brave effort.

The hostas aren't loving it either. They are all burnt but they did produce an amazing array of flowers this year in spite of the foliage looking so bad. 

The rogue Black Eyed Susan was the first to bloom. The potted one is still in bud. The deer ate the ones I had transplanted out into the little bed in the yard so that's sad. 

The half dead pot of dried up marigolds The Mister rescued from Walmart have recovered and burst into flower.

As have these things. I want to call them petunias but I'm not sure. These were rescued from the dead and dying plants section at the hardware store so I'm not sure what they are. They seem to be very happy in their new home. 

These came from the same shelf but I'm pretty sure these are petunias even if they aren't a color of petunias that I am familiar with. My mother always grew red and white striped ones. Every year. Same color. 

The pitiful little pink and purple geraniums I also brought home are trying their best but I'm worried. The foliage looks good but the flowers look rather stunted and tattered. 

That pot of Shasta Daisies that I thought had died over the winter did a spectacular job of blooming this year. I had at least twenty blooms at its peak. I've been dead heading them hoping to get a second bloom but that might be asking a lot in this heat. 

There are even two buds on my new rose that the deer haven't discovered yet. 

Out on the deck the lavender has turned purple. 

We've got the ghost garden thing going on there too. Behind them you see the infamous roof ladder The Mister uses to clean out the gutters. He did survive his latest trip up there but couldn't get them cleared out of tree debris even with the drain snake. I've almost convinced him to call the gutter people who worked on them while he was recuperating from his replacement surgeries. I'm still working on it. He's very stubborn about such things.

The reason for the nets is this. We've got cherry tomatoes ripening and curious squirrels, vultures and raccoons. Hopefully they are not smart enough to bypass the netting.