I planted this little wonder in one of the fairy gardens.
It is tiny but mighty.
It has bloomed all summer.
It is especially lovely today in our 90 degree heat.
The fairies must be taking good care it.
It is the prettiest little plant in the yard right now.
Superbells Doublette ‘Love Swept’ is a Proven Winner Calibrachoa hybrid.
Flower
One of the stars of August is this magical plant, Talinum paniculatum ‘Limon’.
I do love its chartreuse leaves.
I love its tiny pink blooms.
But its best feature is its seeds.
That is why its common name is Jewels of Opar.
These little round seeds sparkle in the sunshine.
They also drop to the ground and germinate.
So the jewels have dropped and scattered over the years.
Those familiar chartreuse leaves show up wherever the plant was located last season
or in the pots of other plants next to the pots where they bloom.
I do truly love this plant, jewel dropping and all!
FLOW
I usually do not plant in rows.
But I envisioned a bed of tall dahlias along this walkway through a hill.
I thought it would be great to look down on the blooms.
Last fall I amended the soil with all the ingredients dahlias love…
compost from the kitchen, bunny poop and mushroom compost.
I even topped them off with a special stinky concoction that included fish emulsion and Epsom salts.
They have grown wonderfully.
They were so beefy they needed extra staking.
I think my dahlias are happy in a row.
Don’t you?
FLOW
I brought home a pod of butterfly weed seeds over two decades ago.
I got it while on a trip with my sister and one of our college friends.
I planted the seeds along this bank.
It has taken years for the plants to mature.
My dream was to see them covered in Monarchs.
Maybe some have come before while I was not watching.
This year most of my butterfly weed has finished blooming, except for this one plant.
The Monarch(s) came two days ago.
As I pulled up my driveway yesterday.
I saw my dream.
A lone Monarch on the one plant that was a late bloomer.
I ran for my camera.
After taking many photos, I stood and reveled in my good fortune.
The timing of the Butterfly weed still blooming, the Monarch visiting, my arriving home while it was there and getting my camera in time to capture it all.
Everything is a miracle.
Flow
My butterfly bush was as busy as an airport yesterday.
This is a Black Knight Buddleia with deep purple blooms.
It was covered by dozens of butterflies yesterday evening.
Along with the various types of butterflies were several Hummingbird Clearwing moths.
and a lone MONARCH!
I was so glad to have my camera. This is the first Monarch butterfly I have seen this year.
I love watching all the fliers sharing the flowers.
Flow
I over-protect and over-expect when it comes to plants and people.
The results are not ideal.
My latest lesson involves my Tiger lilies ‘Splendens’.
They were the only plants that bloomed last summer because the deer did not eat them..
I consider them a treasure because of this and their extreme beauty.
I over-protected the bulbs over the winter. I over-babied them all spring.
I finally let the poor little plants out into the garden in July.
They are way behind in growing and blooming.
The bulbils that were collected and planted have also been over-sheltered.
They have barely grown, yet two babies have produced bulbils of their own
which are actually growing roots while still attached.
Sort of reminds me of fast girls with strict mamas.
Will I ever get over the “overs”?
Tiger Mo Flow
I planted Black Beauty Elephant Ear with Mojito Elephant Ear this year.
I think the combination brings out the black patches in the Mojito’s leaves.
These are planted beside one of the ponds and can be viewed from the deck above.
I like this combo of ears.
Flow
Mr. Flower will be pleased.
Flow
Mr. Flower has his own garden.
I am given assignments where it is concerned.
My latest assignment is “Save the Melons.”
I have to admit that I failed at this last summer.
I put a little fence ring around the melon.
I put a cover over the ring and checked it for ripeness each afternoon.
Just before picking time,
I discovered that something had crawled down into the fence
and eaten the inside of the melon leaving only the peeling.
So this year I am trying a new approach.
I have put Mr. Flower’s melons in mesh bags.
I am hoping the varmint will not like getting his claws or teeth ensnared.
Let’s hope this works.
Mr. Flower take produce production seriously.
Flowduce
