August Garden

        August has arrived and along with it the temperatures have gone up. It's also been smoky the last few days, from all the forest fires burning in BC. If nothing else, the smoke keeps it a little bit cooler out there.
    A couple of years ago I bought a few milkweed plants, a pink variety and a white. The pink ones didn't survive the winter but the white ones did. They grew slowly and barely bloomed, so I moved them last fall and this year they have been flourishing. I haven't seen any butterflies around yet but the bees seem to like it too.
     I planted two different packages of cosmos this year. A mix called Cosmos Mini Blend and Capriola. I really like the look of the Capriola but the Cosmos mini blend are more vigorous and have many more blooms.
      One of our local garden stores closed their doors recently and I am sad to see them go. I picked up a few plants on sale, and squeezed them into my yard. One of them was Veronica or Speedwell and the other was a fragrant honeysuckle vine. The vine has been sulking but the veronica is blooming.  Happy Gardening!
   

Milkweed

Cosmos Mini Blend

Cosmos Capriola

Drumstick Allium

Daylily

Daylily Strawberry Candy

Hollyhock

Coral Palace Purple Palace

Veronica

Our cat Oliver

June Blooms

Hello fellow gardeners! We've had an unusually dry June, with several temperature records broken. Other than a few poor seedlings that I forgot to water (oops!) and my sad looking peas that aren't enjoying the heat, my garden seems to be happy. I worked on my fairy garden and added the accessories my daughter bought me along with some blue rocks for the creek. I still want to add a little patio but the pebble one will do for now. Here are a few of my favorites this month.  

Daylily 'Strawberry Candy'

Daylily with unknown name

Dianthus just opening up

Feverfew

Nigella or Love in a Mist

Miniature or Fairy Garden  

Fuchsias with Lobelia

Spirea 

Buddleia or Butterfly Bush

Peas while they still looked green