Post labels

OK, I'm experimenting with post labels. This should be helpful from year to year if I keep this up. I'm including the name of the plant, the month, and the year . That will let me keep tabs on when things bloomed, died, changed colors, etc. In coming years I'll know what to expect when. We'll see how that goes.

Tiger lily

The tiger lilies are in bloom. These are ones that I transplanted from my mother's house. I'm glad that they're holding on. They weren't doing too well for several years but now they seem to be on the way back. Luckily, nothing has eaten them - yet. These lilies sometimes seed themselves so I'm trying to support that. I have several little ones that I hope will come back next year.

Attack of the Herbivores

I took a tour around the yard this morning and I've been raided again. The deer have been through and nibbled off all the flowers on the hosta, the buds on the tall phlox, and assorted other stuff. I also have a big population of rabbits this year. It must have been a good year for rabbit reproduction and a bad year for foxes, hawks, etc. There are a lot of big rabbits around and some really cute little ones. They're eating the hosta leaves, the impatiens in pots, some ferns and assorted other low growing stuff. They do serve a purpose by giving the cat exercise. She burns up calories running from window to window watching them.

The Rhonda Rose

There's some good news about the climbing Rhonda rose. I had let it get way too tall and cut it back severely this spring. Now I see that it has new growth with buds on it. I've had this rose for years but only just now noted that it blooms only on new growth. That's a good motivator to keep it chopped back more regularly. It's a pretty pink rose with a light scent and puts out single flowers on cuttable stems. That's rare for a climber. It sounds better than it looks. I do a lousy job with roses.

Acanthus

My acanthus has been blooming for weeks and I forgot to make a note of it on here. (I finished with the one blog and got out of the habit of making posts on anything.) I bought the acanthus many years ago and it seemed as if it died the minute I put it in the ground.
Two years later we had an extremely cold winter with lots of ice storms. That seemed to do the trick. The acanthus came up the next spring and has been growing and spreading ever since. Acanthus is known for its leaves and is the leaf that's often featured on Corinthian column capitals. It grows generally like a hosta with a cluster of leaves coming from the roots and flower stalks that come up from the center. The stalks grow about two feet tall and are creepy looking purple green snapdragon-style flowers. They're really cool. I'm not sure which variety I have.

Hydrangea

Everyone else's hydrangeas are blooming. I'm going to buy some of them for next year. I've always enjoyed them.