blooming update

jWith all the cutting back trying to keep perennials from blooming too soon or prolonging their bloom out until the middle of August and hopefully blooming beautifully on August 27 for the garden walk..I only have a few things to share today  Im also linking up over at  May day gardens for the monthly bloom day....... and Fertilizer Friday over at Tootsie Time.

Some of my roses have developed black spot.....yikes!! but, since I want to encourage butterfly's and help pollinators that have been affected by the pesticides that are often found in fungicides I have chosen to watch carefully and later determine how much damage I am willing to have through out the garden so that I am not killing all the beneficial insects or birds!

Several of the roses are actually quite beautiful. Some have been hit by pest leaving their leaves riddled with holes! my Fourth of July Jenkins and Perkins climbing rose is getting ready for another flush... The carpet roses are pruned back and budding out. Chuhuly just might grace us with a bloom or two in a couple weeks. I cut it back hoping to encourage it to develop some side branches. Perhaps it will bless me with a bloom on August 27th... Am I ready for the tour you ask...Nope! but, it will just have to do as I fly out on Friday 16th and won't get back home until after dark on the 26th...The tour will be at 7pm on the 27th. 

Monarda is a favorite of mine but can be susceptible to mildew so the ones along the front walk which have to be hand water do get a certain amount of splashing which also spreads the spores. I have continued to cut back the plant to get rid of the mildew and to delay the blooming time. It looks as if it will have several new flowers to show off. I have read that if you use 9 to 1 ratio of water to milk that it helps reduce mildew..anyone out there use this method?

The softer lilac and pink Monarda will be moved else where in the garden. although it has not been my experience of being able to move it very easily due to the root system it has rambling around in the sandy bed along the front walk.

This Raspberry Monarda is one of my favorite and with time does get into big clumps so full of blooms that its a sold burst of colour in a bed.

Balloon flowers have been cut back in several places as on August 7th... we shall see if they bloom again on the 27th. They appear to be getting ready for another burst of colour and if the Raspberry Monarda keeps looking good will give a good show side by side

The lilies have been left... I do not know of any way to get these to actually "bloom again" does anyone out there have a tip for next year?

The Hollyhock bloomed and was cut back as well as heavily attacked foliage that was left looking like transparent leaves of only the veins. I found them strangely artistic but thought I best do something to help them photosynthesizes if I wanted them to bloom again. I removed all the affected leaves and new leaves have since replaced them. They have started to prepare to bloom again and should carry on through next week.

Potentilla has attracked lots of pollinators. I have pumpkins rambling all over them and finally had to remove them as the Potentilla foliage was being crushed from the weight of the growing pumpkins. I still wish that this was some variety other then yellow flowering but it does put on quite the show and last for months. Funny how in the spring we love all the yellow and then again in the fall when everything else has disappeared anything flowering still is truly embraced again.

One last white lily almost missed as its hidden behind some large elephant ears in the moon garden. I keep hoping that the Lady tresses will be blooming... they essentially have two weeks... Please bloom!!!

look what else I found blooming in the moon garden.

 I also had cut back the white Phlox and its preparing to bedazzle having spread and grown into a good sized clump this summer. Also there is Sum and Substance Hosta just about to bloom. The Moon Garden should put on a bit of a show on the 27th

I cut back the cardinal flower a couple weeks ago in hopes to get it to bloom again in two weeks time...

I didn't quite time that right so I have cut it back again!... hmmmm we shall see! I do think though that the red poking out behind the arrow head and grasses in the pond look spectacular. There are also 7 remaining fish.I think they have spawned. Also, frogs did return this year even though not in the numbers that we had last year.

Lambs ear in front of Lamium "aurea" I am one of those people that prefer's the Lambs ear before it is blooming.

The first seed head to appear on the ornamental grass I do hope that I will be lucky enough to have other varietys start blooming in time for the tour...Such a shame.. Its really a little too late... and a little to early! But they will be welcomed to stop on back around later if they would like to see the full show towards the end of September. I did post about the ornamental grasses in late September last year and into October if you want to look at some of the back posts.

And yes finally I capture a butterfly on the Butterfly bush ... Not my butterfly bush but, it is outside and at a Vineyard in Niagara last weekend. ( hey at least Im honest about it!)

Maybe I should sample desert wines more often! These two shots turned out pretty good for me.

I will leave you with this shot as I don't want to give away all that will be seen on the tour. I do have friends who follow the blog even if they haven't added themselves so I do not want to spoil the tour.

I am in the air by the time this gets posted... I have a list of places to go to get photos and stories to blog about. One particular one that if it works I'm truly excited about!  More to follow on that though next week.

Anyone who has had their garden on a tour...do you have any last minute advice before the final curtain call. What worked for you? What didn't? Do you worry about tiding up those edges? Dead heading and removing any brown leaves etc... If you could do it again what do you think had the greatest impact or gave the best result......I'd love to hear all of your advice and wish I would of thought to of asked it three weeks ago!

Have a fabulous week. Be kind to others and good to yourself.

Smile and enjoy the days of summer because fall is coming fast!

Kate

....http://www.maydreamsgardens.com/

Niagara Butterfly Conservatory

Niagara Falls is obviously visited for the falls. There is far more to enjoy though once your away the Falls and Lundy street. Our first stop on Saturday was the much awaited Niagara Botanical gardens. In side the gardens is I believe it said.....Canada's biggest Butterfly conservatory.

I am a huge fan of these delightful smorgasbord of fluttering magical insects. Members  of the Lepidoptera family.

Everywhere you looked clusters of butterfly's in an array of colour covered the plants

This butterfly has a lot more red on the underside which would distract a preditor

This was perhaps my favorite of all including the Blue Morphs

Okay Im just going to say it.... I have seen "Aliens"....hmmmm

This one is newly hatched and has fully extended his wings. They are born and break out of the cocoon with just enough energy to pump up their wings. They risk the danger of falling from the cocoon before their wings are fully extended risking that they might not be able too and then not be able to fly.

This Blue Morph had just hatched and made its way out of a hole in the front of the glass.. Hes resting on the top of the viewing box...

This is someones grandmother who was beaming from ear to ear as all the butterflys seemed to love to settle on her head. By far the most photographed human in the place.

Butterflys need to keep their body temperature above 78 I believe it said... There were lots of butterflys resting on the netting inside the glass and then flying away I guess once they had recharged!

When a butterfly lands on a plant and you see it beat the plant with its front legs it is actually getting the plant to release its pheromones so that it can identify the plant and know that it is a suitable place to lay its eggs. After all that plant has to be acceptable for the newly hatched larva to eat in their first stage!

Its wonderfly how so many of them are so well camouflaged 

There was actually a lot of mating in progress in this conservatory. There was a couple of Monarches connected and being held by a boy and girl in their open hands while lots of family members took pictures.  

This was a neat guy who kept landing on me.. I was wearing a tank about the same green! Unfortunately the pictures Bear took with his phone didn't turn out well at all.

 I have far too many pictures to include them all. Perhaps I can have a follow up and even try to put some names to the pictures. I shall also endeavor to get some pictures of the butterfly's in my own garden. Often as not I am so caught up with enjoying the butterfly's I forget to grab my camera.

Have a great week and remember...

It is never too late to be what you might have been!

Kate

Niagara Falls in bloom.....

 I'm on a road trip for four days with Bear. This started with a seed of an idea when he excitedly asked if I would go to a PGA tour with him.... I asked...What is that!... Does that give you an idea of my knowledge of golf or what!. Any how I quickly said yes because that is what couples do. Then I quickly added tongue in cheek "perhaps there will be some tourist things to see or a garden!" Rochester is the city of gardens after all.
So here we are on day one in Niagara falls. Another one of those bucket list items if I actually had a list. Note to self...Make a bucket list so you can actually have the satisfaction of realizing your achieving what you put on the list

So this is the Maid of the mist.... You can go pay and go out on it. Your looking at the part of the falls that is on the American side. They even have a viewing deck you pay and walk way out on so you can look back at the falls.

Here's a close up of the boat with all the "Blue men"....

Here it goes bravely into the mist...the boat looks as if it is all it can do to hold itself in the one spot against the powerful push of the falls. At one point it actually appeared as if the rainbow was on top of the boat but I missed the shot.

Heres a closer look at the Horseshoe falls on the Canadian side. It really isn't deep when you stand and look down through surprisingly clean water. I really can't imagine though what goes through the adventurous   minds of the people who have ventured over the falls in barrels and boats.

There are beautifully planted and cared for beds all along the walk along the top. Im not sure how fall we walked. But we sure did work up an appetite by the time we got back to the hotel.

Bear wasn't surprised at all when I started taking pictures of the plants.

Then we noticed a "Bloom house" on the map.....so off we trotted knowing full well it would be closed when we got up there but figuring there would be something worth looking at around the outside.

We were right!

The roses at the enterance have come and gone but a water feature with statues beckoned us in further

A set of three different poses

and then off the trails we went to discover further blooms

Well perhaps not so many blooms per say as contrast in colour and texture.

Since we are in Canada it is only fitting I leave you with this shot.

Its was a great first day. Dinner and music await. 

What did you discover this weekend.

Kate

August 9th flaunt

Crocosmia "Lucifer" is my favorite but this is fairly pretty too! I believe this is Crocosmia x crocosmiiflora or commonly called montbretia. It prefers a soil with some mositure retention where Lucifer likes well drained.

Ligularia dentata "Desdemona" was the first Ligularia  I grew loving it for its glossy leaves and the purple stems plus orange/gold blooms.

 Then I picked up Rocket and Przewalskii. Rocket for its huge leaves and Prezwalski for its beautiful lobed leaves. and the foxtail like blooms as shown below.

 Britt-marie crawford for its deep purple leaves. Some of them have been attacked by some vicious Michigan pest!! Since I encourage butterflys though Im not always quick to grab a pesticide. Instead I do what I can and watch trying to figure out what percentage of damage I can put up with!... They went a bit over and so the leaves have been ravaged on some of the other species!  

Delosperma or ice plant is really spreading and looking great poked into crevices in the rock wall.

Stokesia laevis 'Klaus jelitto'

Love the contrast in shape of blossoms with the lily and the aster

Hydrangea's are getting bigger!

The blooms are getting bigger and not as "blue" as they were two years ago. Is that because of the fertilizer I've been feeding the wisteria which sits directly behind this hydrangea grouping.

This 6' x 8' hydrangea is covered in flowers

A lot of contrasting forms, tectures and colours.

Hibiscus syriacus 'Helene'  or Rose of Sharon. These are next to invasive if you do not remove the seed heads in the fall. Or as in my case a great way to grow a few extra to put out into the tree belt and give away. There are many different varietys and colours. Hummingbirds love them so they are very welcomed here at Frog Hollow

A pinker variety. This one can create a mess with the many celled pods prolifically dropping and creating seedlings at the base and through out the bed. This year I WILL dead head in the fall.

This colour is still caring on strong with the addition of the Stokesia blue mixed into it.

The rose is really putting on a spectacular show.

One of the few sunflowers planted by the birds or chipmunks as a "thank-you" for the seeds I have provided them..

Day lilies hanging on and continuing to bloom.

Of the five Buddleja davidii's this 'bicolour' is my favorite.

This white Buddleia is spectacular and continues to get bigger and spread each year. Part of the reason I left it where it is in the beds rather then move it over to the moon garden. That and lack of space. Plus, white is still needed in the other beds to be enjoyed or "breaks" in colour schemes. Several of the blues have had their spent blooms dead headed with hopes that it will prolong the blooming time and have them waving gracefully during the garden tour. If some butterflys actually showed up that would be perfect!

The Butterfly garden has gone very "PINK" ....It was very yellow, orange and red a few weeks ago!.

The Hyssop is a real draw for the pollinators and a few swallowtails but I haven't managed to get any photos as yet.

I couldn't resist adding another shot of this hydrangea

Phlox is prolific here in the butterfly garden entrance. 

The rest of the garden is coming back nicely after being severely cut back to hopefully have lots in bloom for August 27th which is the date of the last garden tour for this year.

Im away this weekend..home for three days and then gone until the 27th!...Not the best of timing. But, I really need to go and see my other two daughter over in Alberta and catch up with friends. So I will get back late on the 26th and work till the tour begins on the 27th getting what I can spruced up as well as I can. 

After all it is my garden... not a show garden and I am welcoming people to come and see my garden and how I "paint" the landscape.  I could use that clock that Hermoine had in Harry Potter and be able to turn back time so I could be in two places at once! But, then I would not be totally "with" my daughters and fully enjoying them so I guess mother nature will be left to tend my garden for me in my absence! 

So as you walk my garden this week... PLEASE do pull a few weeds... deadhead where needed or turn on the sprinklers.  

Remember its never too late to be what you were meant to be!

Kate

Even though Im on a road trip Im linking up over at Tootsie Time.

See you there...

http://www.tootsietime.com/

http://floralfridayfoto.blogspot.ca/2013/08/fff90-japanese-star-anise.html

and Floral Friday Fotos.....

and also....