The summer garden is well established now. The work of the spring is bearing fruit. I am especially glad that we laid a thick layer of pine bark mulch because the weeding is easily managed.
The Shasta Daisies are following the purple coneflowers. The black eyed Susans are just beginning to open buds as are the Stoke’s asters. The pollinators are out in force especially the native bees and the bumble bees. I did see a Hackberry emperor today.
As usual, I will be submitting my blog post tomorrow with the Six on Saturday group. Come look and see photos of gardens from around the world. Our host is Jim Stephens and here is the link https://gardenruminations.co.uk. Submit your own. Just follow the instructions from this site.
The chaste tree is in full bloom now. The tree or shrub really is now near full size and the purple flower panicles are magnificent.
The purple coneflower native is really attracting the pollinators. You can just see the bumble bee in the flower on the right. I will not deadhead these flowers as they really attract the gold finches in the fall. Sorry that this bloom looks moth eaten since the abundant blooms on this plant are perfect. I wanted to capture the bee.
The Rudbeckia is in full bloom. I lost about half over the winter but the survivors are really putting out. I have been able to grow these from seed.
The crocosmia is really showing out near the pond. I have been able to control it here. It tends to spread rapidly with few blooms in other locations.
The Shasta Daisies began to come out this week and they are very beautiful with that “sunny side up” look.
Two young ladies entered the garden carrying a round plastic container. When they opened it, inside was a bumble bee amongst some plastic flowers. Three weeks ago, they had found this bee on their deck and it could not fly. They decided to nurture it with small amounts of honey and came up with the idea of the container to keep it in recognizable surroundings. They take the bee to flowering gardens in the area and allow the bee to enjoy the flowers.
I forgot to ask if they named it. I’ll call her “Buzz”.
I hope you are having weather that allows you to be outdoors.
Happy Gardening!!