It is hot! I have said it before and I will say it again for several more weeks. I am now having to irrigate regularly and spend time watering the containers. It is mundane task but the flowers continue to be beautiful.
This summer there has been an abundance of butterflies and pollinators. There has also been some unusual type of insects that I have spotted.
If you happen to be viewing this today and you enjoy gardens, you should be aware that I will be joining the SixonSaturday group tomorrow. For more photos of private gardens, come spend some time there. It will be worth your while. Here is the link https://gardenruminations.co.uk
The Oak Leaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia) has changed its foliage to late summer bronze. This four season native is a favorite of mine.
The Stag beetle is a large beetle. It feeds on decaying wood but here it is just laying on the concrete of my driveway. It must have lost its way. It is a mean looking specimen.
The imperial moth is a looker. The host plants are pines, maple, oak, Sweetgum and sassafras. There are plenty of each of these around me. I cannot ever remember having seen this moth before.
The knockout roses are beginning their second flush of the year. There will be another in the fall. These may have been stimulated by a layer of compost laid on the ground under them a few weeks ago.
The ginger lily (Curcuma sp) has these exotic pineapple like blooms. I don’t notice a fragrance but I love the color.
The Katy Road Roses are blooming well into the summer. Another name for them is Carefree Beauty. You may remember that in years past they were weakened by sawfly attacks. This year I have managed to control that with Neem oil applications. The reward is continued blooms.
Watering and deadheading are my main tasks for this time of year. It is too hot for much else.
Happy Gardening!
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The ginger lily is a beauty, you’re right. How do you manage it in winter? Otherwise, very pretty moth: the colors are superb, I don’t think we have any like that around here.
The ginger lily does die back in the winter completely. The new growth returns reliably in the late spring so I must remember where it is planted.
I’ve never seen a moth like that before, but then I don’t grow any of its food plants! I did see lots of Cinnabar moth caterpillars on Ragwort this week instead.
A pretty ginger lily too.
I’ve never been lucky enough to see a stag beetle in person as it were. They’re impressive looking creatures. That Ginger Lily is a beauty.
It is indeed. Those are frightening looking jaws.
It has been hot here too. I am working my way through the ice cream menu at the on campus dairy. Nice insects! I am happy to at least be getting bees now. I meant to include some bees this week but got distracted by other things! The ginger lily is very nice as well. The delicate pink is a winner!
What a fabulous “six”! It’s great that you’ve had so many butterflies and other pollinators. I’m always so fascinated by the insects and other creatures, in addition to the plants in the garden. We’ve been hot here, too, and very wet, unlike so many other locations. I live about 90 miles north (and slightly west) of Chicago, which has had major flooding lately. Fortunately, that hasn’t happened here, but I would like to share some of our overabundance of rain with gardeners and folks in drier locales. Happy Saturday and have a wonderful week!
It’s been a few years since I’ve tried to grow Knockout roses, but I do love them and might try again. What a bonus having a succession of blooms throughout the summer. Yours are beautiful.
I see curcuma are given as taking US zone 8 temperatures which in theory would make them hardy here; we’re allegedly zone 9. You’ll be much hotter in summer though but I would be tempted to give it a try if I saw one for sale.
A beautiful moth! We have had lots of butterflies and pollinators here too this year. I must look up what ‘knockout roses’ are – I have heard the name so often. Hope you get a cool breeze to make the heat a little more bearable.