28 June 2008 - backyard veggies

Friday's hot and dry weather nearly scorched my gardens.
Today is about 20 degrees cooler, cloudy and humid.
Go figure.

When I went to Ace Hardware,
the last Japanese eggplant on the plant rack called to me.
It looked healthy and happy so I bought it.
Now, it's right at home in my garden (far right).

heirloom "Brandywine" tomato blossoms

above and below: rain splattered "Fantastic" tomatoes
I'm glad I bought this early producer at HerbFest.
I hope the fruit ripens.
Otherwise, I'll be making soup with green tomatoes.

26 June 2008 - more front yard blooms

The drought is taking its toll on my garden.
Still, my collection of hardy xeric perennials survives and blooms.
I do very little maintenance work: weeding,
weekly watering when we don't get rain,
organic fertilizer 2x a year, additional mulch and
an occasional trim (I'm a diligent deadheader).

paprika yarrow

mirabilis mulitflora leaf (desert four o'clock) and ladybug

campanula - more blooms appeared after I watered

alpine aster

Reiter creeping thyme groundcover

(above and below) dianthus firewitch

26 June 2008 - front yard - It's about "thyme"

I just deadheaded the catmint and salvia,
so the garden is missing its familiar patches of purple.

(below) Despite the hot weather and lack of rain,
the Reiter creeping thyme, my favorite groundcover,
is thick and lush this year.
The crop of small, pink flowers is especially lovely -
even the bees agree (see next photo).

21 June 2008 - It must be summer ...

blue flax
Reblooms each morning, displaying satiny pale to medium blue petals.

saponaria

blue flax in a winning tic-tac-toe formation

columbine, fading after a fabulous showing

native Rocky Mountain penstemon

snow-in-summer lives up to its name

sedum

berries emerge on serviceberry shrub

butterfly on alpine aster

T lounges in the yard.
Today, we celebrate the 11th anniversary of his adoption.

19 June 2008 - front yard

above and below: firewitch dianthus
Few xeric perennials bear true red flowers. So, I treasure these.

alpine aster

lupine

allium - mountain bells

campanula - late blooming, probably due to our very dry spring

above and below: allium

yarrow - blooming early, must think it's already July

allium

19 June 2008 - A little rain = more flowers (backyard)

hollyhock makes a very early appearance this year (global warming?????)

sulphur flower (named for its intense yellow color, not its smell)

saponaria (I love the pale pink hue, a popular shade in my wardrobe)

lilac

chocolate flower (yes, it has a chocolate scent)

centranthus alba (aka white valerian)

milkweed

dianthus (first bloom)

sedum

tomatoes (variety: Fantastic, an early producer)

above and below: orange globe mallow

above and below: buddleia alternifolia
My neighbor, a former resident of Oregon, flinched
when she saw this shrub in my garden.
Apparently, buddleia is quite invasive in cooler, wetter environments.
Here, it grows slowly but steadily in our arid conditions.
I planted mine in early summer 2005.