This is our "jungle" as it looks from the back door. There's a big lavender right off the patio that, along with the yellow Phlomis beyond it, basically obscures our view of the lawn. I don't mind that too much at the moment, since it needs to be mowed anyway. I would have done it yesterday but we had rain all day, which sounded wonderful from inside the house.
You can see our mock orange (Philadelphus) blooming white at the back of the garden. And to the right of the red Japanese maple, above the roses, you can see our fig tree, which has grown immense from its early modest size and condition.
You can see our mock orange (Philadelphus) blooming white at the back of the garden. And to the right of the red Japanese maple, above the roses, you can see our fig tree, which has grown immense from its early modest size and condition.
Our "Bowl of Beauty" peony has indeed bloomed...
...as has our yellow lily.
Remember all those little ladybird/ladybug larvae I blogged a few weeks ago? Well, they have gone on to form pupae, their final step before they emerge as full-grown ladybirds/ladybugs. This one is standing on end as they sometimes do -- I have no idea why. Usually they're hunched down like a little Volkswagen.
I don't have much in the way of news from yesterday. As it was rainy and chilly (60º F, or 16º C) I stayed in and did laundry and washed Olga's dog bed. That's more of an undertaking than you'd expect, because it has to be disassembled and then put back together. As is often true with such things, the foam pieces that go inside it never seem to fit right after a washing, so now it's a bit lumpy. Hopefully Olga will forgive me.
Dave, meanwhile, went to high school graduation, as all faculty members are expected to. (I'm not faculty, but support staff, so I can squeak out of it.) He was gone all afternoon. I still have three seniors with books out from the library, but hopefully they'll be stricken with a guilty conscience sometime in the coming week and return them!
Only one more week to go and then it's SUMMER! (For us, anyway.)
I don't have much in the way of news from yesterday. As it was rainy and chilly (60º F, or 16º C) I stayed in and did laundry and washed Olga's dog bed. That's more of an undertaking than you'd expect, because it has to be disassembled and then put back together. As is often true with such things, the foam pieces that go inside it never seem to fit right after a washing, so now it's a bit lumpy. Hopefully Olga will forgive me.
Dave, meanwhile, went to high school graduation, as all faculty members are expected to. (I'm not faculty, but support staff, so I can squeak out of it.) He was gone all afternoon. I still have three seniors with books out from the library, but hopefully they'll be stricken with a guilty conscience sometime in the coming week and return them!
Only one more week to go and then it's SUMMER! (For us, anyway.)
Your garden sounds wonderfully alive and a bit wild in the best way
ReplyDeleteThank you! You left me two comments today!
DeleteThe views of your garden are breathtaking. It still amazes me. I just read that the ladybird (bug) pupae stand on end to air out their new shells and wings. Cool photo!
ReplyDeleteOh, that's an interesting tidbit of information! I had no idea.
DeleteOh, those photos are so gorgeous, Steve! I'd love to hear the English rain. Maybe you could make a little sound recording of it next time?
ReplyDeleteHopefully we'll get more soon!
DeleteYour jungle looks wonderful.
ReplyDeleteHope all the ladybirds aren't those harlequin/non native sort in your photo, they are taking over - sadly
They probably are harlequins, to be honest. That's what we often see in our garden.
DeleteA good drenching of rain will spur your lawn into growth!
ReplyDeleteOh, yay! More mowing!
DeleteGardens are like small paradises when everything is growing. Olga is a lucky dog.
ReplyDeleteShe is very lucky!
DeletePersonally, I think that ALL non-teaching members of the school community should have attended the high school graduation - "community" being the key word here. I will e-mail my old friend Matt Horvat about this.
ReplyDeleteI'll let you tell the janitors and kitchen staff that they have to give up a Saturday for that.
DeleteBeautiful pictures as usual. The Peony is lovely with the rain drops and delicate colour.
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
Thank you! We love that peony, which doesn't always bloom for us.
DeleteI bet The Russians would like to take a hedge trimmer to your garden. Cut it all down to an inch above the ground. Your wilderness looks good to me, and I know it is maintained wilderness.
ReplyDeleteOh, no doubt. I think it drives them nuts.
DeleteYour Philadelphus is smothered in blooms. Ours is flowering, but not excessively - it had a good year last year.
ReplyDeleteDogs do appreciate clean beds and Olga will soon rearrange hers to her liking.
Some years are better than others. We have a second Philadelphus that isn't flowering as much.
DeleteYou're down to three seniors with books? Excellent! The garden is fantastic -- I like the jungle look! And a good rain can sound wonderful! Enjoy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteWell, three seniors. But about 40 kids altogether!
DeleteThe garden is lovely. I like a wild look much more than the tailored neatness my neighbors seem to go for. And what I've learned in here about ladybugs is great.
ReplyDeleteI also like a wilder look. I like to let plants "do their thing" and we're also happy to encourage the insects as much as possible.
DeleteI love the wild parts, especially with the bits of color running through it.
ReplyDeleteJune is always a banner month, with the roses blooming.
DeletePerhaps the lady bug tripped over something at just the wrong moment.
ReplyDeleteHa! Face-plant!
DeleteThat first photo of your garden looks like a pretty field of wild flowers, Steve. So pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks! Yeah, all the colors together are a sight to behold.
DeleteGardens always look so pretty when the are covered in raindrops.
ReplyDeletePlants just naturally seem happier when there's water on them!
DeleteThis is sort of wind down time. Much of the end of year stuff is done.
ReplyDeleteIt's true. This will be a very quiet week academically.
DeleteI love that shot of your garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks! It will get even better when that lavender blooms.
DeleteBring On Summer And Olga Girl Times - Yahoooo0000000
ReplyDeleteStay Groovy ,
Cheers
Yes! Olga is going to have a good summer!
Deletekeep you eye on the ladybug babies- they are interesting to watch come out of the pupae stage into the winged stage. Erik filmed it when he was a little kid, fascinating and creepy. Glad you are having rain, rain is good!
ReplyDeleteI've seen that before and it IS freaky! Maybe I'll try to video it myself if I'm lucky.
DeleteWe had torrential rain too. Everything looks so fresh and green after rain. Your garden is filled with flowers, insects, birds and wildlife at night. An entire ecosystem. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks -- we really try to preserve that ecosystem environment.
DeleteLove all your photos today. If Olga is anything like Pat, she will "work" on her bed until it suits her just right.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah, the scratching goes on for ages. (eye roll)
DeleteYour garden would be a water-colorist's delight, I think. I know, however that is absolutely beautiful to me.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I should process more of my photos with Waterlogue, maybe? (Which I know isn't like having an actual artist paint it, but it might be interesting nonetheless.)
DeleteI love a good raindrop photo, so I enjoyed these immensely! I'm also a lover of the wilder look as far as flowers and other greenery go. I've recently had to rethink that because our province is becoming a tick haven, and one way to keep them at bay is to keep lawns short and flower beds more manicured. Fortunately we haven't noticed ticks in our specific area yet, but they will come.
ReplyDeleteYeah, fortunately, we don't really have a tick problem here. I suppose because there aren't a lot of wild deer like there are in the USA and Canada.
DeleteThat's a great raindrop photo! The schools around me (including my oldest grandson's) have one more week before break too. The old grump in me prefers that the neighborhood kids are in school. LOL
ReplyDeleteYeah, school keeps the kids out of mischief, but I sure am glad to get summers off.
DeleteBeautiful garden. It's looking particularly lush this year.
ReplyDeleteWe had lots of rain early on which helped get it going, and then lots of sun -- ditto. Now we're getting both!
DeleteGorgeous garden! And I LOVE your Bowl of Beauty peony - so pretty.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I bet you could grow "Bowl of Beauty" where you are...?
DeleteYour garden looks like a lush, living tapestry right now
ReplyDeleteThank you! (See above, on your comment at top. :) )
DeleteBring on summer!
ReplyDeleteI'm ready!
DeleteYour garden is looking lovely.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete