August Survivers

Wow, it's been a hot and dry summer here and I'm wishing we had an air conditioner like normal people, ha ha. At least the birds have grown accustomed to my new birdbath with all this heat. I'm growing two new varieties of tomatoes this year in a large 6 foot long container placed underneath my patio. This has been a good place for growing tomatoes, since they get a lot of sun and yet stay out of the rain to prevent blight. My grape tomato is growing like a weed, and has started to produce yummy grape-shaped tomatoes and there are dozens and dozens yet to come. I also have some Manitoba tomatoes, and while these have produced my earliest ever ripe tomatoes, each and every one of them so far has had blossom end rot. I am trying to give them all the water they need, but it has been a struggle. The heat has been relentless and it seems this variety needs more water than most. My grape tomato is growing right along side them, looking happy as can be while these sometimes look a little thirsty. I have a new Dahlia this year, and I can't stop taking photos of it. The first photo is one of the earliest blooms and it's interesting how the colour has changed with the weather. I'm also growing castor plants for the first time. It is about 5 feet high now and is producing strange looking seed pods and flowers. I love the tropical look of this plant with the  big giant leaves, but this plant is highly toxic, so be forewarned. The uses for this fascinating plant have ranged from medical, to high-performance motor oil, and all the way to chemical warfare.  

Dahlia Fantasy

Dahlia Fantasy, a later bloom

Dahlia Fantasy Bud

Dahlia Crazy Love

Hydrangea Nikko Blue

Morning Glory Early Call Mixed

Poppy

Sunflower

Larkspur and a poppy

Castor Plant

Giant Castor Leaf

Seed Pods

Manitoba tomatoes and Grape tomato on the right

Steller's Jay at my bird bath

July Blooms & Caring Parents

        Here are some photos of flowers blooming in my yard this month, along with a few from our trip to Manning Park last month. I just love the way the little Colombian ground Squirrel parents stood watch over their young. They couldn't even be lured close with peanuts, one of their favourite foods. We ended up giving away most of our peanuts to the brave Clark's nutcrackers. They took the peanuts right out of our hands. Some of them can even catch the peanuts when you toss them up into the air. The peanuts were tossed, not the birds, ha ha. It's a whole lot of fun and worth the drive out to Manning. I'm linking up with Tootsie Time for Flaunt your flowers Friday. 

Colombian Ground Squirrel

Parent Guarding its young

Clark's Nutcracker

Daylily

Daylily Strawberry Candy

Daisy

Nigella self-seeded from last year

White Nigella

Nigella and Butterfly Bush

Gladiola

Echinacea 

Poppy

Lily

Fairy Gardens!

A few weeks ago I discovered  my local Buckerfields store had a wide assortment of fairy/miniature garden accessories in stock. Not only that but they have an amazing fairy garden in their greenhouse out back.  I took some photos of their garden, and bought some cute little things to start another fairy garden because fairy gardening is addictive! It's kinda like being a kid all over again.

I just love the mini vegetable garden! 

Accessories I bought

My second fairy garden, and it even has real flowers in the bucket :)

My first fairy garden, with new plants.

June Blooms and a Rock Family

    June is a busy month in the garden, with the weeds trying to keep up with the flowers. At least I finally know the name of my enemy now, the dreaded pearlwort! I'll have to tackle it further in the fall, once my perennials have died down. Here are some of my June blooms, plus a couple of photos from the cheery chickadees nesting in my yard. I found a cute rock project on Pinterest, and since I love rocks and love painting, I decided to make one for my garden. I'm linking up with Tootsie Time for Fertilizer Friday. 

Campanula

Clematis

Feverfew

Fleabane

Geranium

Spirea Buds

Chickadee

Chickadee with moth

Rock Family Project

Rock Family 

The Wall

     Well, I can hardly believe it but our retaining wall is finally done! With our old wooden wall, we had a mini mud slide every time it rained, and that was even before it fell down. Keeping our driveway clean at the bottom of our front steps was next to impossible. Now that I've finally gotten the mud cleaned up, I hope it will keep the inside of our house a bit cleaner too. The heather plants weren't very happy about being moved mid-bloom, and I probably lost a lot of bulbs, but I still think it was well worth it.
     My roses are blooming earlier than usual, along with some other flowers that usually bloom in June. I'm also sharing a photo of the plant that I bought for my mom for mother's day. I found the colours quite unique and beautiful for a Chrysanthemum. I hope you all have a lovely long weekend whether you're celebrating this weekend or the next!

Rose Hansa

Rose Therese Bugnet

Chrysanthemums

Choisya

Chives

Tulips Blue Diamond

Tulips Antoinette

Tulips Dream Touch