It’s been a while since I posted any pictures of our garden. In our front yard we have many Oriental Lilies in bloom now, so I thought I’d share. Some of them are intensely fragrant.
You can also see the Black-Eyed Susans just coming on, and Bluebeard which will be covered with blue flowers in a few weeks, and the red and raspberry-colored Beebalm in bloom. Enjoy
Beebalm, etc.
Front border
Bluebeard (foreground) will bloom in a few weeks
Tip the Wink 
Lovely, Richard. I cannot get motivated to do much in my small “yard” because of watering restrictions. Also if I was a really devoted gardener right now, I would find a way.
Thank you, Tracy. Gardening is, besides reading, our favorite pastime. I began learning about plants at my mother’s knee, and have done what I could with all the small patios and spaces I’ve had over the years. Finally here on our 1/3 acre we have space for front borders and a large gardening space on sides ad rear. Things are at their peak right now.
I should have posted some pictures of our Hydrangeas, they were spectacular this year, but they’re beginning to fade now.
Wow. Nice. Of course, we don’t have a garden, or a yard for that matter. But even if we did, Jackie has a black thumb and regularly killed whatever plants we tried to keep alive here.
These days, we don’t bother trying.
Thanks. I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t subscribe to that “black thumb” thing. It always seems to be a matter of correct watering, a little plant food and enough but not too much sun or shade. But with your limited space, I understand using your energy in other ways.
No, I don’t really believe the black thumb thing either, but for whatever reason we had a lot of trouble keeping plants alive. That wasn’t always the case. For years we would leave plants when we went away for weeks in the summer, watered and covered by plastic. It seemed to work.
We’re in the middle of a drought. Diane waters the shrubs and the front lawn, but it’s a losing battle. Your flowers look pretty, but they would assassinate me. Allergies!.
George, I didn’t know you were in drought conditions there. How long has it been since you had rain? Are you far below average? We choose to water enough to maintain our garden, it’s one (along with reading and Barbara’s quilting) of our primary activities. Getting out in the garden is therapeutic.
They said the other day that we’re in a “moderate drought” – which to me probably means we’re a few inches below normal rainfall, nothing like California. I think Connecticut and other areas outside the city are worse. They did say that the “other end of the state” (meaning Buffalo) was in a drought, apparently (so George tells me) because of the lack of the usual winter snows.
That is something you will never see, Jerry. Plants are better to look at.
Phew. You had me gong there for a minute. Richard.. When I read your headline I was afraid you were going to post pictures of you in a Speedo. Not to detract from you in any way, but these pictures are far more beautiful. You have super-green thumbs!
Western NY didn’t get much snow last winter so that’s part of the drought problem. We’re seven inches of rain below Normal for 2016. We keep watering the shrubs and front lawn, but my grass is turning brown.
Oooh, very nice. I love those.
So many lilies! Bee balm is an odd, almost alien looking plant. Joe bought one at a nursery to give as a gift to one of his friends. We were “babysitting” it last weekend. Had to bring it in when we had a horrific thunderstorm Saturday evening that could easily have destroyed it.
We have a rooftop garden and everything is in containers — a whole different kind of gardening that requires more care and attention. The heat can very intense up there so we tend to grow plants that can withstand unshaded direct sun and some regular drought. Lantana, zinnias, sunflowers, and calendula have been the most successful flowers. We have some herbs thriving in containers as well: rosemary, thyme, chives, and basil. They all tend to need more shade than the others. Our neighbors across the alley have bees and they like to visit our flowers on the roof. I see them all over in the mid afternoon. Now if only I could keep the damn pigeons from visiting our roof!
This year we planted more flowers than vegetables with an increase in dwarf sunflower varieties especially meant for container growing. Very striking in the colors and sizes of the flowers.
I’ll see if I can get some good photos of the sunflowers and everything else over the weekend then post them on the blog.
In our garden, the favorite plant of bees is the Lavender, followed by a dwarf trailing hardy Geranium and our Echinacea, also called cone flower, which will take all the direct, hot sun they can get. There’s a wide range of colors, yellows through pink, orange, red, purple. In your region they may be annuals. I’d love to see some pictures!
Those lilies are beautiful!!!
I usually have some scraggly veggies and herbs in containers, but we didn’t do anything this year. It’s all i can do to keep a houseplant alive.
Thanks, Red. I know you’re in a smallish apartment, but even a sunny window will do. It’s just a matter of decent soil, the right light and plant food, and, um, watering. Since you love to cook, I thought you’d for certain grow some herbs!