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The dappled light coming through the lattice wall of the patio was eye-catching.
On Friday, I planted the new pot of clematis on the east side of the arbor. (The arbor's not complete, yet, but it's far enough along for planting.) Ideally, I wouldn't plant things in the middle of summer, but the alternative would have been keeping it in the pot for another few months. I'll keep it watered and hope for the best.
It doesn't look like much at the moment...
'Joseph's Coat' is growing on the west side of the arbor. I haven't starting training it, yet. Sometime this week, most likely.
From the front yard.
I don't often photograph from this position... My plans include converting some of the lawn on the right side of the photo into an extension of the existing flower bed. Much more on that in future posts!
Another wider-angle shot, this time from the back yard.
Though the older leaves of this elephant ear plant get sunburned/scorched in the full sun, in other ways it seems to be the healthiest of the three plants. It has recently put up several new "stalks".
The sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans)-- left corner of photo, in the foreground-- seems to be holding up, despite its sunny location. (Knock on wood...) It's even given us a few tiny blossoms in the past week or two. Not enough to cast its fragrance very far, but if I get close to the flower and sniff, it's faintly present.
The Confederate rose has grown so much since I planted it in the spring! I'm looking forward to flowers, later this year.
These purple daylilies continue to add interest to their corner of the garden.
It sometimes strikes me that the 'Victoria Blue' salvia doesn't look exceptionally happy, but neither does it shrink or shrivel. Instead, it keeps on blooming. I'll be interested to see how it fares over the winter. In this zone, it could easily return in spring, but if we have a bad winter, it might not.
Rose of Sharon just keeps on going-- a veritable Energizer Bunny in the blooming department. I think they're nearing the end of flowering, though. Especially the all-white one.
The 'Tangerine Horses' look-alike daylily is reblooming this year!
We got this one (along with a few others) last year at Crenshaw Farms Daylily Garden in Stockton, Alabama. It's an interesting place to visit, if you're a daylily fan. You walk among the thousands of daylily plants, admire them for as long as you want, and pick up the ones you'd like to buy. The ones we bought had several fans per pot. They have named/registered cultivars for sale, too-- as well as an antique shop right on the spot-- but we limited ourselves to the vast selection of their own hybrids, which are cheaper (and perfect for non-collectors who just want pretty flowers).
I'd love to go back again, sometime, though I can't honestly say that the garden needs more daylilies, at the moment...
Cardinal climber (a.k.a. cypress vine) has been persistently popping up in several places around the yard. I've tried to pull it as I've found it (because it's just so invasive here), but we're hitting its favorite time of year, and now I'm finding vines that appear to have sprung out multiple feet of growth overnight.
This one sneaked into a hanging airplane plant and has even started to bloom!
'Sunny' KO rose.
The seeds of the river oats are getting longer.
I'm hoping for several new little river oats popping up in spring.
(Every time I think this or express this wish, I have the urge to glance over my shoulder to see if Future Me is standing there in frowning disapproval. (g) Well, you've got to take some risks in the garden, right?)
Close-up of a moonflower bud:
And here's the same one with the wasp that was very interested in it.
I've read online that one downside of moonflower vine is that it attracts wasps. I can confirm that I've noticed more wasps around this obelisk than around any of the places where morning glories are growing. It's something to consider. I might not plant moonflower vine right next to a spot where I planned to sit often-- or where children or pets would be spending a lot of time-- at least, not if there were any other options available.
Gaura 'Whiskers Deep Rose' is still very pretty.
The mountain laurel has been getting regular water during dry spells, and I think (rap wood again!) that it's looking well. The lighter green leaves are all new growth, which should be a good sign.
On the left you can see the survivors of this year's group of daylily seedlings. I still haven't decided whether I'll plant them in the ground in late autumn or wait until spring.
Watermelon-red crepe myrtle.
A second seed-grown purple coneflower has begun blooming, and a third is not far behind.
In the week to come:
--weeding
--clearing out more of the vegetable beds
--painting the last pieces of the arbor
--training the rose on the arbor
--???
