More showers, more flowers

Well, the rain hasn't really let up over the past week and most notable was a fierce storm Sunday evening that knocked out power at the Row. The blooms keep on appearing though so I am happy. Above and below are some images of a flower on one of my pumpkin plants.

This beautiful image is of an okra bloom, a vegetable I've never grown before. I was finally able to catch a picture of this Arctotis 'Sun Spot', which only opens fully during the day. As you can see, my garden is really filling in and making for some cool plant combos.

This is a jamming little corner in my garden right now. Especially with the Gloriosa superba 'Rothschildiana' heating up the scene. This thing is so hot its practically on fire!

Another great combo with huge pumpkin leaves setting a perfect backdrop for the fennel going to seed and, of course, my weekly shot of how much my garden has grown.

My container is in there somewhere...

Well, these hot and dry July days have the plants shooting to the sky. Featured above is an angle that I often photograph of my garden to map the growth over the season. The plants have been filling in well and I am pleased with my first ever ornamental garden. I must say my lemon thyme miniature allee is looking full and makes a good entrance to my ornamental section. Soon I will have to make a change to my container though as it is gradually being overgrown by surrounding material and other plantings in the pot have been filling out oddly around the central feature of the bromeliad. More fantastic weather these past few days and just a few showers... perfect.

New Blooms!

A few new blooms in the garden this weekend. My Echinacea 'Tomato Soup' has been getting rave reviews from the students who know Echinacea. It is, after all, one of the hot new cultivars and supposedly the only true red Echinacea. My Knifophia 'Nancy's Red' is looking quite nice, as well as my Salvia 'Lady in Red'. Another bloom that has been getting a fair amount of attention from neighbors is Asclepias 'Silky Deep Red', although I must admit I prefer the native Asclepias for it's attraction of insects. Weather is still holding up well with a few light showers and generally beautiful blue skies with big puffy cumulus clouds.

New Additions

Of course I had to go to Groff's, the trusty and local nursery, for a few more plants last weekend. Some new additions in my garden are a few basil plants with the name of 'Purple Ruffles', which is self explanatory. I bought Ricinus, also known as a Castor Bean, and Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diabolo', filling out a nearly empty corner of my stone wall. A new Gaillardia aristata 'Galo Red' was put in where another Gaillardia had kicked the bucket and a Ratibida grandiflora 'Red Sundance' was installed, both of which are featured in my photos. I also planted a few things I had started in the greenhouse, namely Ipomea lobata and Crocosmia 'Meteore'. The weather has been really fabulous with sun and clear skies.