Soon to bloom

The delphinium furthest to the south is going to bloom soon. I despair of seeing anything from the others. I think they're done for.

The day lilies will come out soon, too. And not soon enough, actually. The side doesn't have very much on the go.

Seed store

We went to the seed store yesterday, mostly to pick up some good rich earth to put into our plot.  We also picked up some plants.  

There is a yellow daylily.

There is a coreopsis (also yellow).

There is a hosta.

There is a white delphinium.

There is a bright pink primula which goes very well with the colour of the house, I think.  

Most of the work we will be doing today will be to work that good rich soil down at the plot, but I hope to get these guys into the ground in various positions in our flower garden, too.  

The hardest part

The hardest part of the work yesterday was cutting up the delphiniums which were killed when the painter bent them over.  I don't know quite how they'll cope with having a much shortened season this year.  I hope they'll be back next year.  I like them so much.  They try.  I felt like a monster taking a knife to their strong stalks.  

What happened?

So, what did happen in the garden in those weeks that I was away?  

The daylilies came out.  

The delphiniums bloomed.  Then they were bent and destroyed by the painters.

The mystery plants in the front that I have diligently removed thinking they were weeds year after year before finally realising this year that they don't spread like weeds and they always come up in the same place so maybe, just maybe, I should give them a chance ... they bloomed.  And were then bent and killed by the painters.

The zinnias finally came out.  Well, a flower on some of the plants came out.  This was not a success.  Note for next year: No zinnias in the side yard.  Nonetheless, there they are.

The gazanias finished.

The herbs (except the lavender, perversely) have flowered.  

And been painted.  

The glads seem to be still coming out but I worry very much about their chances of surviving the attack.

The bush on the front side bloomed its one week of magnificent white blooms; I only know this because I have evidence of their demise.  

The other bush on the front side is blooming with a few yellow flowers.

The hosta in the front looks like it may be about to flower.  I don't think it ever has before, so that would be exciting were it not for the fact that it will undoubtedly be destroyed shortly.  

I think my favourite news is that the nasturtiums bloomed.  Well, some did.  These are the nasturtiums that we started from seed indoors and watched sprout and grow and put out just before heading away for our vacation and then they got snowed on and all sorts of terrible things and most of them died, but not all.  That's a true success story from the indoor planting.  

Orange Report

The marigolds, in the bright noon light, are not quite as striking as they were in the grey threatening weather on Friday, but they are still sunny and cheerful.  

The mystery flower is coming out with three-petal symmetry, still being very like an iris.

It comes out of the stalk sort of sideways, much like an iris.  

It just doesn't have leaves like an iris.  Not at all.  

The actual, definite iris (not orange) is strangely difficult to photograph, but I have tried my best.

It's not very good, is it?  Oh, well.  Here's the off-white one, too.

The (not orange) delphinium will flower soon.  I MUST find a decent stake for it this year.  I really shouldn't mistreat it the way I do. 

The gazanias are simply lovely.  

Who invents such a thing?

They close at night, so their shining faces are a secret known only to the people who walk by in bright daylight hours.

Unlike the iris, the gazanias are complete camera hogs.  They pose and wink obligingly.

The only other things to report about the outside is that we are in the middle of one heckuva wind storm (hel-lo maple keys!), the weed-du-jour seems to be some sort of wild carrot, and the crocus leaves are turning yellow and shriveling.  

Alive, alive o-oh!

Yesterday evening, as I mowed the "lawn", I noticed that there is new growth on the scarlet runner beans by the guy wire.  

Furthermore, it looks like some of the nasturtiums have also pulled through.

No sign of life among the marigolds, though.

There is a lot of this weed up at the moment.  It's popping up everywhere.  

Unfortunately, I think it looks somewhat like a delphinium.  One of my delphiniums is going like gangbusters.

This could be a weak and struggling delphinium, or it could be a weed.  I don't know. I'll have to work it out at some point, though.