We’ve had lots of rain this garden season. The yard is overflowing with plant life. Good and bad. The weeds are certainly enjoying all the wet and warm days as much as the flowers are. The fenced garden looks stuffed. Lots of green there!
Outside the fence, on the northwest corner, ‘Second Hand Rose’ (daylily) is still blooming strongly. It seems *all* the daylilies have extraordinary color this year. The subtle tones and patterns are more prominent, the colors more vivid, the shadings more lovely than other years. I wonder if other daylily gardeners found the same to be true in their own gardens.
Don’t the daisies look like they are peeking over the fence? I guess they want to check out the lovely phlox.
The color of this blue spruce against the many shades of green makes me happy every time I see it. The tree sits north of the fenced garden. When we bought the house, there were three spruces planted in the front yard, near the porch. They were just a few feet high. We decided to move them. One died, but the other two thrived. This one has the prettier blue color. It used to stand alone, but the garden has grown up around it.
Moving north from the spruce, we enter the east side of the front yard. The black eyed susans are beginning to brighten the beds with vivid splashes of summer gold.
On the west side of the front yard, there is a much smaller space between the drive and the edge of the yard than on the east side. But we manage to pack a lot in. 🙂 The hosta in this picture lost it’s sheltering redbud tree last year, so it’s showing signs of a bit too much sun. Seems to be doing fine other than that. All the rain we’ve had this year has helped, I’m sure.
I like the way the ribbon grass adds a light spot in the flower bed. Especially at this late afternoon hour of the day.
This patch of phlox is just beginning to open. Last year, it didn’t bloom well. There was something wrong with the patch…not sure what. I almost had DH dig it out but this year it seems fine, so I’m glad we didn’t get rid of it!
It makes me sad to know we are on the decline side of things in the garden. Even if it doesn’t show a lot just yet. When I mow, I see the first few leaves fallen from the trees. Just that tiny hint that autumn is coming, whether we’re ready or not. Sure, we have two months of summer left, but those months will fly by. Sad, sad, sad.
All over the yard, the volunteer honesty (money plant) has gone to seed and is ready to pick for dried arrangements and bouquets. What we pull to discard, we will scatter in the woods at the back end of the garden or sprinkle along the west fence for more volunteers. They make such large and lovely swathes of purple in the spring. You can see the honesty in the foreground of this picture.
But let’s put autumn on the back burner and ignore those signs for now. We’ll enjoy every moment of delicious summer as long as we can. Perhaps in two more months we will be ready for a refreshing change, for cooler crisper air, for falling leaves, and asters and mums. But for now, it’s still summer.
And if you would like to enjoy other lovely summer gardens, head over to Tootsie’s place and follow the links.
~~Rhonda
15 Comments
wow!!! I am in awe of how pretty your flowers are!!! what a beautiful mature garden!!! It is just so perfect. And the way you describe it all just shows how you love it too! I so wish for a garden like this one day. I am glad you linked in!!! Have a wonderful weekend!
What a Beautiful garden, love the way it’s arranged. Happy FF!
Your gardens are so beautiful and natural looking. Sounds like you have a lot of space. I don’t want to think about summer being over until about October when the fall leaves cushion the blow with their beauty. Thanks for stopping by to see my blog because it brought me to yours and I so enjoyed seeing your blooms. Thanks, Tes
Amazing gardens!
We are a long way from autumn here but we are definitely seeing the signs of hot summer time.
Thanks so much for visiting my blog. Your cottage garden is so lovely and so is your blog! I agree about summer going by too quickly… I love fall, but I hate to see summer go. Have a great weekend! 🙂 -Jackie
Your gardens are amazing girl! You have that wonderful, casual look with masses of flowers all mixed together. I love it!
Faye
Beautiful gardens…and they look awfully happy…this is a great FF post…
Hi Rhonda, thanks for your visit and comment 🙂 It’s fun seeing meeting new friends on Tootsies FF posts. I love daylilies too and our gardens are similiar in that the beds are crammed with plants..loved seeing yours!
You have my DREAM garden….I so love this. Thanks so much for coming by.
J 🙂
P.S. Can you send dome rain my way { winks }
Rhonda, Thank you for visiting me Saturday! I can see we share a love of daylilies, but YOU have a wonderful place for and collection of them!!! 🙂 Your gardens are beautiful!
Love how your daisies are peeking over the fence. Wonder what they were lookin’ at? I can see why that blue spruce makes you smile, it’s a beauty. Very nice how there are different kinds of lilies blooming mixed in with the black-eyed susans. Have some old army friends from the late 60’s who live in southern Illinois. Have lost touch with them the last few years. When people think IL, they generally think Chicagoland and forget how charmingly southern your part of the state is.
I LOVE your gardens. Thanks for taking snap shots of the bigger picture. I enjoy seeing how people arrange their flowers. This is by far the best of the best!
Thank you, all, for your kind comments! ~~Rhonda
What wonderful pictures of your garden, I love that daylily.
It all looks so lush with great texture and colour.
K
Hi Rhonda – finally some time to return the compliments and visit your lovely blog – what a beatuiiful looking garden – and so full of colour – like us in Brittany, France have had a lot more rain this summer than usual but right now it’s pretty dry! There are certainly the beginnings of the leaves falling now… autumn just around the corner – I love the seasons… just hope this winter isn’t quite as cold as the last… have a good weekend Miranda