My Summer Garden

We aren’t doing formal nature studies right now, but even a trip to the mailbox provides a trip through furiously blooming flowers, busy bees, and fluttering butterflies, like this swallowtail on a purple butterfly bush (aka buddleia).
Ken’s birthflower, the gladiola, is so named because it resembles a sword; the Latin word gladiolus means sword. It’s very closely related to the lily.

Bumble bees and honey bees are constantly humming in and out of the lavender:It’s the first year this variety of coneflowers have bloomed. They are a “double” coneflower, and I am curiously watching to see what happens to the blooms next:

I have one dwarf purple bee balm, and this tall hot-pink bee balm. In this photo, you can even see a tiny little bee headed to the flower. The hummingbirds usually love these, but I just saw my first hummingbird last week. I don’t know if I just haven’t been in the right place at the right time to see them, or if they just haven’t frequented my yard as often this year.

If you’re interested, you can see more of my garden photos in this flickr set.

This year we’ve actually had sufficient rain, which is a big change from the previous few years, so my garden is thriving! I just have to stay on top of the weeds to keep them under control, and prune or dead-head when needed. I so enjoy watching things bloom!

Jamie

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