July's End

Here's a special treat unique to this morning: the Casa Blanca lily has begun to bloom. Regrettably, the plant has been a little overtaken by that very first sunflower, which is still blooming like crazy. I planted it there before realizing that the lily would also be rising there.

The lilies were about twice their height at the old location (check the Casa Blanca tag for last year's amazing show), but that was after two years of putting out some nice deep roots. This year, they're recovering from the move and now a little overshadowed by those upstart sunflowers.

But the show's still a lovely one...you just have to go looking for it. The scent is still heavenly...very light this morning, as is its custom. Tomorrow morning the air will be heavily scented...especially if it's kind of foggy and moist like it was this morning...and as it has become again this evening.

Weird computer thing going on here...it appears that my monitor is beginning to give up the ghost. As I posted this morning's entry, the red cones in the monitor seemed to fail, as everything became a sort of pale blue instead of white...and all red tones disappeared.

I think I was still able to develop these photos as I otherwise would...I'm just not seeing the final true colors as you are. Ah, well...it was a second-hand monitor when it came into my possession and truthfully, it's lasted longer than I'd expected at the start of our acquaintance.

I wonder how much longer before it totally gives me the finger. ; )

In other news, as I was tidying up the garden yesterday, I remem bered Butch's advice from back when the sunflowers first began blooming. At the time, he suggested tying the spent flowerhead onto a tree branch, as a feeder for the birds.


So, as I deadhead the smaller sunflowers which had passed, I bundled the seed heads together into a sort of bouquet, and then lashed it to the tallest tomato plant stake.


As you can see, I've left the largest seedhead hanging from its own stem for now. It has the look of a carnival ride and I know the goldfinches will be able to get under there for the seed just fine.

The goldfinches were all over the seed bouquet this morning, as well as nibbling or nectar-sucking from the fresher flowers.


These shots aren't as clear as I might like...they utilize both the fast setting and the digital zoom, as I was shooting through the glass window of the front door.

Fun to watch them flit and flutter around. They are wild little birds to study, fast moving and all over the place...and so light, they can perch on the side of the thinnest plants without bowing them to the ground.

Plus, they are like flowers with their bright yellow and black coloration. Flowers that have come to life and left their stems to take to the air, cavorting with butterflies and bees and all.

Yesterday afternoon, I saw a blue dragonfly a couple of times. It kept landing on the flagstone walk in the sun, but never remained long enough for me to train my camera on it. I have high hopes for the hot afternoons of August, when they seem - as do we all - a little lazy about accomplishing anything more than sitting around in the afternoon sun for a little while.

Today was a bit cooler than we've enjoyed recently, the temperature only climbing into the mid-60s. It was a mildly overcast day and the fog - which never seemed to recede entirely - came rolling back as afternoon became evening...looking like smoke drifting over the neighborhood rooftops.

Stargazer

Lily's Last Stand

Our last glimpse of the Casa Blancas for 2005. 

Cool Morning

 

This morning I'm pleased to report that the thunderstorm which passed to our north last evening, and brought us some welcome rain (tho not very much at that), has also had the delightful effect of taking away the humidity which yesterday weighed so heavy on us and lowered the temp a little.

The Casa Blanca lilies continue to open...two more this morning...but I'm a little suspicious of their true identity. As lovely as they are, they seem to have very little of the rich scent I associate with them. Still, they're easily the star of this Act of the garden's Vaudeville Review, backed up by a happy chorus of giant bellflowers and assorted other players.

Casa Blanca Morning

 

We enjoyed a cool night last, and so I slept without a fan on. This meant that I knew before I open my eyes how right the forecast for high humidity would be for today. I was happy to get out to the garden with my first precious cup of coffee and discover there was a lovely breeze to provide some relief. But as the morning has continued, you can tell it won't be much help in a little while.

My favorite of all the lilies, the oriental Casa Blanca began blooming this morning, a lovely thing to behold, despite some damage due to the much-discussed lily leaf beetles. The striped stamens are especially something on this one. As much as I understand the need to trim them off to prevent pollen stains when cutting for arrangements, it'd be a sad thing to emasculate this massive beauty.

With such a hot day on tap, I doubled the watering this morning (Rain in the forecast? Don't make me laugh. They say maybe next week.) and also took care of some much-needed dead-heading duties. Having started so early, there was plenty of time, too, for just stopping and looking, really the best part of being a gardener, if you can make yourself stand still for a moment or two. It was a nice morning for sitting and listening to the birds waking up (even they seem slow to start on this humid day).

Eartlier this week, I started loosening the sod for a new bed in the back garden. This will be where I move all the rootbound irises from various gardens around the house, as I divide them, in hopes of seeing some blooms next spring. But that's definitely not hot weather work, so I'll let the sun dry to soil there a bit, which will make the task a little simpler when I do get back to it.

Glory's View

 


Beebalm, black-eyed susan, white oregano, marigolds, red snapdragon and purple oregano. 


Stargazer lily, white snapdragons, more oregano, black eyed susan and coneflower. 


Tall purple phlox, campion, marigolds and milkweed. 

About the Lily Beetle

 


So...everyone knows about my on-going business with the unidentifiable red beetles who've made such a buffet of assorted lilies in my collection this year. I've spent some serious time Googling beetles, and trying to find information about this particular one. My hope, you may recall, was that I could find some other - more attractive plant - and grow it, with an idea towards distracting the red beetles and not having to kill them. Silly pacifist, tricks are for kids.

This past weekend, a woman smarter than I who wrote to the NY Times garden columnist and asked "Hey, what's this red beetle that's eating all my lilies?!" had her question answered. The red menace is known more formally as [never thought to Google this] the lily leaf beetle. They were unknown in the US until the early 1990's, when they suddenly "washed ashore" from Asia. It turns out there IS nothing to distract them with: lilies, every part of them, are what they want. SIGH.

In our great culture's further tampering with nature, a parasitic wasp has now been imported from Europe to deal with these beetles, as they apparently do nicely there. However, the particular wasp is not in wide stateside circulation yet, and so it will be necessary for we gardeners to hand-remove and smush these sneaky, often hidden beetles. They actually lay orange eggs on the underside of the lily leaves (thus their name), who then hatch and consume what remains of the plant, before settling down into the leaf litter for a winter's nap...so there's no co-existing with them if you like lilies.

There IS Neem, an insecticide which will kill the larvae and keep the adults away. Shame is, of course, that it will also kill any beneficial insect garden citizens it comes in contact with, and can also be toxic to fish. They describe it, though, as "eco-friendly" as "it is short-lived and harmless to birds, mammals and earthworms." But who wants to take that chance?

The beetles probably only came along from Asia with the lilies. So maybe trying to bring the lilies here was a bad idea. But for anyone who's enjoying mostly undamaged Oriental lilies this time of year (see above!), there's an argument to fall on largely deaf ears.

Stargazer Lily

What the red menace beetles did.