Monday, June 16, 2008

Bits of Monday


Well, I have teased you for far too long with long distance shots of the newly-blooming sweet William, so I thought I'd lead off with a good shot today. There were so many varieties at the old place, I wasn't sure beforehand which one I had selected to make the move. Now it's clear I choose the two-tone version. Some of the flowers are white with purple detailing, while the others are this hot magenta color.

And that rose bush around which I built the rest of the garden has now begun to bloom out front. Their scent is a nice deep rosey tone to match their color. What a bogus description, huh? Scents are so difficult to translate to words. I'll try a little harder as more of them blossom.

I'd like to offer my thanks to all of you who've been so kind to keep my Granny in your thoughts and prayers. While we are still sorting out the details of exactly what happened, it seems she is doing relatively well.

She's got a few broken bones, but all reports suggest she's of pretty sound mind after the ordeal, which is good, though of course she's a bit shaken up. Hopefully she'll recover from this nicely and have learned a lesson about not trying to play Frogger across a busy highway.

I haven't had the chance to speak to her yet--she was doing physical therapy the first time I rang, and the second and third times the line was busy, which in itself I take as a pretty good sign. I hear she got the message that I called and I'm sure we'll chat sometime tomorrow.

In the borders on the edges of the property, the white spirea has now faded, but has been replaced by those little white roses as the companion/ complimentary color to the red weigela, which continues to bloom nicely.

Here's one of those weeds that's sort of hard to hate: bindweed. It must be related to the morning glory, as they are similar in a number of ways. However, bindweed, as its name suggests, is rather more aggressive.

Visually, you can see the flower is sort of squared off into a pentagonal shape, instead of round at the edges like the morning glory, and the leaves aren't as curvy either, looking a bit more shovel/spade shaped than heart-shaped.

But still, there's much to love about the flowers. While I'm glad it's not actually in the garden beds, per se, I kind of enjoy that there is some around...and trust me, there's plenty.

In the garden beds, lots of little seedlings are appearing all over the place. I think these are Everlastings.

I'll need to thin them out a little once they've grown just a little more--apparently I was dropping seed two by two. With luck, I'll be able to transplant those removed to other locations.

And look, the verbena bonariensis has begun to put out its delightful tiny purple flowers, friend to butterflies everywhere.


There are several stalks of foxglove rising from this particular plant and the flowers are "inflating" nicely as the stalks rise. I just love those polka dot interiors.

Tonight there is a small tragedy to report, in the washing of the remainder of my packet of Pole Beans.



Hopefully, those recently planted will sprout well, as I'd have to buy a fresh pack if any need replacing.

You'd think after suffering this nearly every spring, I would learn to be more cautious about checking my pockets before doing laundry.

You'd be wrong, obviously.

At work, this red rose bush is the latest to join the glorious floral chorus that is June, and since there's the possibility of a thunderstorm coming our way shortly, that's what I'll leave you with for the evening.

8 comments:

Butch said...

I don't think there can be a red "redder" than the last picture of those roses. I can almost smell their fragrance from here.

dykewife said...

have you ever planted monkshood? i had one from my m-i-l many years ago. i loved the tall stalks of purple blue bulbish type flowers. and if you're going to have one toxic flower in your garden, why not two? ;)

TigerYogiji said...

Glad to hear that your grandmother is doing better. :)

The photos as always are gorgeous!

Greg said...

Butch, aren't they wonderful, and wonderfully red? All the flowers on that last rose bush seemed to open in the last two days, and their brilliant color caught my eye out the window of the restaurant, drawing me out for a closer look...and a lungful of their delightful fragrance.

Dykewife, I did have a monkshood plant at one time. They are terrific. I think many of the "toxic" plants are delightful, despite the cautions for those who like to know how their plants taste.

One of the prettiest of the "weeds" is that well-known cousin of both petunias and tomatoes, the Addams Family favorite, Deadly Nightshade.

You are not alone there, Tiger...thanks again for your good wishes!

Anonymous said...

Someone's father recently asked when he began making his bed. I can only add that our Midnight Gardener does not have a great track record for emptying his pockets. The laundress sometimes forgot to check as well - a driver's license, small change (and I mean small), and even a library card. Fortunately, the seeds were found before he resembled both Jack and his beanstalk. Fee Fi Fo Fum....hhmmmm.

Anonymous said...

By the way, Granny is doing better each day and loves this consummate gardener grandson of hers.

Marc said...

This is enough to make you love Mondays! Yes, bindweed, the evil stuff, does have very pretty flowers, doesn't it?

I love the weigela and the roses, and I, too, am a big fan of foxglove. I would grow it, but it can be deadly to pets, so I don't. Wait'll you see the foglove I got a picture of at the Powerscourt Gardens. I'll post it when we return from the Land of Eire.

Curt Rogers said...

The Foxglove are simply beautiful and interesting to the eyes. They're like fabric fingers that have been cut from the rest of the white glove and hung upside down. And the polka dots are another example of the universe just having gratuitous fun!

Your garden is amazing!