Not bad....

...it's only been a little over a month since my last post. Which means I missed July. But I have a good excuse. It's summer in Colorado which means the relatives come visiting, and I got a double whammy with relatives from both sides of the family. It was lots of fun and only slightly hectic.
It's a good thing it rained so much or my garden might have felt neglected. This is my new favorite garden ornament, an Everlasting Allium. Pretty cool, huh?

The canna lilies that I bought at Home Depot are blooming their heads off. I have three in the little pond and these two in a corner. Everytime a bloom fades there's another one waiting in the wings. I'm thrilled.

Here's a closeup of the red one. Those emerging buds look a lot like birds-of-paradise, don't they? I love this carmine-red color.

I found this yellow jug at a garage sale on my way to work last Friday. (I'm always late on Fridays). I thought $5 was a decent price for it.

I think the Nicotiana Sylvestris looks like candles in the dusk. Or maybe like clusters of candelabras. I'm really fond of these towering flowers. I don't have as many as I used to because my little maple tree is getting bigger and shading more of the front bed. But these few really make me happy.

Pathetic

My daughter thinks I'm pathetic for neglecting my garden blog. I agree. So at the risk of not getting 8 hours of sleep tonight (when does that happen?) I'll attempt to redeem myself and post a few photos. We've had an amazing amount of rain in June - almost 4 inches - which for our semi arid climate is pretty much like a rain forest. It also means my plants won't start dying of neglect for at least another month.

For years my garden colors were mainly pink, blue, and white. Now all I seem to want is a riot of color. Maybe it's all those vacations in Mexico. Here's what I found at Lowe's last weekend - a Gerbera daisy called Lollipop. Bright enough?

And a complimentary lantana...how's that for a match?

I found these cannas at Home Depot. Must have been a fresh shipment as they were in great shape. I read that cannas are marginal plants for ponds and can take water up to 6 inches. Hope that's right. If not, well they look pretty now. And I don't think there's room in the pond for much more. But those water lettuce can start multiplying any time now.


I found a great green-glazed strawberry pot at a garage sale for 6 bucks. I was thrilled. But I probably shouldn't have planted these purple petunias in the pockets since I can no longer see the planter. Or the lovely blue salvia in the top that a friend gave me. Who knew those petunias would do so well after I squeezed the life out of their rootballs trying to smash them into those little pockets? I'll plan better next year - or not.