Sunflowers and Changing Leaves Fertilizer Friday

It's Fertilizer Friday and everyone is flaunting their flowers so
when ya get done here be sure to hop on over to Tootsies place at the bottom and
see what she and everyone else is up to.
I finally have sunflowers! I started them in milk jugs
in February but maybe I didn't take them out of the jugs soon enough because
everyone else has had giants for quite some time now. O'well, I have them so
that's all that matters.

This is my Rose of Sharon Minerva. She's never grown more than 2 feet tall but always
has beautiful blooms. I think she's small because of tree roots close by so
we're going to move her and see if she won't finally grow up.

The Hardy Lobelia that some critter chewed up is blooming. I really didn't think it
was going to.

Some little violas that are a pretty pink. How nice since all of the others are
always purple.

Thats all I have for flowers but thought I'd show some of the leaves changing that I
saw on the way back from town yesterday. This is such a pretty part of the drive
home. Changing leaves and a kazillion ferns.

But this is my favorite part - the dark mossy covered trees and a little color from
leaves nearby.

Fertilizer Friday Flaunting My Flowers

I decided I could do Fertilizer Friday today. I haven't done it in ages because
I was so busy outside I just didn't feel it would be right to put mine on if I
didn't have time to go to Tootsies place and visit everyone on the list - that
is, afterall what it's all about. So today it's rainy and yukky out and I think
I can just do it.
Don't forget when you get to the bottom here to click on Tootsies name and go see her flowers and everyone else's on the list of
people who have joined. There's a lot of 'flaunting' going on.
In my yard right now I'd say the Sedums are the stars of the show simply because they are
just starting to bloom and are fresh and attractive looking, unlike the other
flowers that are on their way out at this time of year.
This is one of my new favorites. It's Sedum Frosty Morn and I think it is so beautiful. Very
similar in growth to Autumn Joy but much smaller and has a white bloom that just
looks fantastic with the varigated foliage. I believe the bloom later turns to a
very pale pink.

Sedum Vera Jamison
Sedum Cauticolum

Bertram Anderson

Linda Windsor

Autumn Joy

Stoncrop

Purple Emperor

Another new favorite is Sedum Hardy Duncecap, don't ya love how different it is?
It seems to have 3 parts. The big rosette, the tall blooms and some little
thingies that come off of the rosettes. The tall duncecap looking part is the
bloom I understand but then it blooms with small flowers all over it that you
can see in the picture. I also love the gray blue color.

I believe this is Mother Of Thyme - it's a Thyme of some kind. It's starting to
fade but still has lots of blooming going on.

Armeria and I have another one that is smaller and lighter pink blooming also.

Dianthus

Hey remember I wouldn't show a picture of my Balloon Flower because the blooms
looked like crap? I finally got one pretty bloom.

Campanula Carpanthian Harebell Blue Chips

Tradescantia Virginiana or Spiderwort

Another Spiderwort

The Fall Crocuses are coming up.

And the Lithodora is blooming again.

Buddlia Black Knight Butterfly Bush

Coreopsis

Verbena Bonariensis

Clematis Jackmanii

One of the flowers in my garden that blooms non stop all summer
is Red Valerian

Yarrow

Pink Hardy Geranium, I need to go to Catherines and get the name of this one. She's
pretty sure it's the same as hers.

My double Rose of Sharon tree is loaded.

Campanula Cherry Bells - I deadhead this one and it just keeps blooming.

I still have about 25 more flowers I took pictures of that are blooming but
didn't want to bore ya silly so I guess I'll do them on another day.

Still Blooming On The Hill . . .

I still have quite a few flowers blooming up here, only because I have to wait
so much longer for everything to start. This is the new Malva I got from the
nursery with rare plants. She had so many coming up everywhere she just grabbed
a couple and gave to me. How nice was that? I had brought her some flowers too
in colors she didn't have so it was a nice exchange. This is probably my
favorite color for plants too. With all the blue in this pink it's wonderful
next to my purple flowers.


This
is my other Malva called Malva Zebrina and it is a lot smaller than the one
above is going to get. Hers were huge so I can't wait to see it when it's full
grown.

I
picked up this pretty little white rose at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago.
Or should I say I picked up these snacks for the deer. So far it's ok in a
container on the deck. It had such a pretty bloom on it I thought Bob would like
it as he's the rose lover in this family.

And
the yellow rose Doris gave us before she moved is finally blooming again. Also,
safe in a container on the deck.

My
double Rose Of Sharon. I don't know her name as she's one I bought before I
started being more careful about keeping tags.

The
monster is finally blooming. It's really Soapwort but I've mentioned before that
we call this the monster garden because it will take over if we let it. It
smells wonderful.

Here's a closer shot of it.

Echinacea Doppleganger

Sedum Purple Emperor with a tiny bee on it.

I'm still just loving this new annual from Australia called Ptilotus 'Joey' Pink
Mulla Mulla. It has really grown. I sure hope Kim can get it again next year
because I want more already.

I still have lots blooming in fact my Balloon Flower has started but the blooms
are so droopy this year I didn't want to take a picture of it. Red Valerian is
still going strong, Clematis Jackmanii, the Salvias, Campanulas, Snapdragons,
Phlox, Yarrow, Lychnis, Yucca, Hardy Geraniums, Wild Bleeding Hearts, Dianthus,
Armeria, Verbena, Coreopsis, Knautia and more I can't think of at the moment. My
Hardy Lobelia would probably be blooming if something hadn't eaten it for lunch.
Oh the woes of living in the woods . . .

Weird Wild Wacky Summer Has No Shows

Spring and summer have been a weird, wild and wacky couple of seasons to say the
least. If I remember correctly we were having warm weather before spring even
got here. I know when it did come I was able to take pictures of flowers showing
color for the first time. I'm up higher and usually behind everyone else. So
consequently I have to sit it out while the rest of the gardening bloggers are
showing their flowers.
Then the rains came, and came and came. Then, let me think did we go right into horribly hot weather? First the flowers drown then they fried. And while all of this was going on the early mornings and evenings were freezing. Bob didn't think they were that cold but I sure did so who knows.
I only know that usually the minute it's daylight I'm outside. Early morning is
when I have the most energy and the temperature is usually comfortable for me to
get more done. But this year I wasn't able to go outside or go up and work in my
greenhouse until 9 or after (without wearing a snowsuit) and then in an hour the
heat would hit. So my thought (for what it's worth - or not!) is that the
flowers were either drowning and freezing or frying and freezing - because I
was!!!
My Calla Lilies that are usually huge and done blooming are only
about 2 feet tall and never did bloom.
The sunflower seeds were sown in February in jugs and looking good . . . Here they
are now at the end of summer and only about 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall.

And this is their strange little bloom.

Only 3 Dahlias showed any green. This one has 2 buds on it but I'm not going to see a
dinnerplate this late.

My Balloon Flower has a 'fizzling' bloom on it as we speak.

Veronica Sightseeing has some definite problems and has looked like this since
it was planted. Something tells me it is not very happy. ;-)

I usually have Ice Plant blooming everywhere. It's not hardy up here but I keep it
over in my greenhouse and plant it each year for accents. It's just starting to
show the tiniest bit of pink.
The Zinnias I got from Catherine are up and one has some buds. I'm not familiar with
Zinnias so don't know if I'll get to see any color or not.

The Rock Jasmine never bloomed this year. It looks like a little succlent although
it isn't.

On a brighter note the double Rose of Sharon seems to be ok with the strangeness
going on this year.

I'm still waiting for some nice warm mornings and the leaves are turning color.
So much for that idea . . .