Let The Sun Shine...

Just when I was thinking three would be all there was this summer, a fourth lily has burst out of the ground. It's really amazing how quickly these things emerge--just the other day, I was weeding this section of the bed and didn't feel a thing under there...now suddenly it's over an inch out of the ground. How I love the lilies.

So that plant in the lower left hand side is that butterfly plant I wrote of the other day. Now that it's just a little bit larger, I think I can confidently identify this one. Looks like it will be a nice clump of stems, as well.

To celebrate the newest lilies arrival, I figured I'd check in on how the others are progressing. The light was just a little strong and the angle of my camera less than perfect, which is why this photo's a little overexposed...but still, you can see that these two, which emerged together are doing nicely, probably about eight inches tall.

Down below, you can see the oriental "Casa Blanca" lily has already reached the lower rail of the fence. And, I'd like to point out how nicely the rose canes are responding to being trained along the fence. Oh, and while I'm being prideful...to the right is one of those early sunflower seedlings, looking pretty strong and growing well, also sort of over-exposed.

The late afternoon sun reflects real nice off the sunroom windows and gave me some nice surround lighting for this photo of Em as we sat together when I got home from work.


All along the front border, the dianthus plants are setting buds. A few are even revealing what color they'll be.

There's quite a collection of them spread around out there, so I'm looking forward to them all starting to bloom together.

On another front, the creeping phlox near these blue pansies has renewed its efforts at blooming, following the nibbling that occurred a few weeks ago. Great color contrasts, eh?


This flying insect was battering itself against the side of the house under the porch light this evening. So far, it's the only bug buzzing around out there. I've uploaded a few different shots of it at BugGuide.net for identification, and I'll update with that information when it's available.

EDIT (5/30/08): This is an Ichneumon Wasp. There are 3100 species of them in North America(60,000 worldwide), so its hard to say anything too specific about this particular one. The larvae feed on a great variety of hosts, though most species attack only a few types of hosts; some ichneumons attack spiders. Most are internal parasites of the immature stages of the host. Many Ichneumons are of value in the control of noxious insects.

Ichneumon, wasn't that Jerry Seinfeld's neighbor?

A Little Fall of Rain

A gentle rain was falling as I woke this morning...light, but steadily so. Just the right kind of rain for tender seedlings and new seeds in the ground. And with watering off the schedule, I was able to turn my attention to a few housekeeping details before heading in to work.

The afternoon cleared off and seemed golden and sunny, though I really only saw that through the windows at work. Nonetheless, a warm afternoon like that was a nice follow-up to the morning's rain.

Naturally, things were clouding over again by the time I headed for home. Check out this giant bird that tried to land in front of me on Route 6 this evening.

Actually, you get bonus points if you figured out its actually a giant bird poo on the windshield. (Have a great time in Paris, Torn...)

It was almost drizzly this evening, but not enough to keep me out of the garden. The big fountain of leaves near the center of this photo is my favorite perennial, the garden heliotrope. Although it's not blooming yet, I'll still take this opportunity to wish my Dad a very Happy Birthday!!

Herbalists would chop up the roots for an effective sleep remedy, but I won't let them touch mine. The delicate flowers are so wonderfully scented, I couldn't have spring without them.

You can see one of my sunflowers peaking from behind the fence here, and there's also some daisies to the left and a snapdragon seedling to the right. But for me, the excitement is centered around those little pointy tufts of darker green in front of the heliotrope and behind the white allyssum flowers. This, I believe, is the first sign of butterfly flower, something I tried to carefully transplant from Eastham. I know it doesn't always take to moving, but it's too beautiful...and important to the butterflies...to leave all of it behind.

Here's a not entirely focussed shot on the pink columbine flowers taking shape this week. A breeze kept me from getting a clearer shot, but in the meantime, let me proudly turn your attention to another of my sunflower seedlings, easily keeping pace with this very healthy peony plant!

Oh, I spotted that wascally wabbit out in the garden border this evening. He's (perhap she's) quite large--next time I'll try to get a photo before I do any shooing, but I may have already lost the remaining carnation buds.

Meanwhile, I'm a little troubled by the fact that Spring is getting me in touch with my Inner Fudd. But I'll be working up some sort of plan that doesn't involve a shotgun before I plant the tomatoes outside.

On another front, you may remember my being a little annoyed when I recently discovered that the beautiful slender speedwell is classified as a weed.

Well, this evening, I must submit this bit of evidence to lean in favor of that ruling: this slip of speedwell is making a home high above the floor of the garden, in the joint of our old fence. Pretty impressive, huh? For now, I still find it charming.

And speaking of charming...ladies and gentlemen, what about this pink azalea?

Late Summer's Glories

Morning glory's profile. 

Pink cosmos glows at dawn. 

Rudbeckias. 

Sweet william re-appears. 

Butterfly weed seedpods. 

Butterfly Weed with wasp. 

Butterfly Weed begins.