Laziness Brings Appreciation

I haven't posted in a few weeks, the main reason being.... laziness.  Sure, I could blame being busy at work (not really) is exhausting me.  Or I could shove the blame on my daughter's new hobby - horse showing and constant company lately.  (lame - the horse show was one weekend and all I had to do was show up and watch my girl ride around the ring.  The company is Hubby's friend so absolutely no pressure on me to entertain.  Although after typing that, 'entertain' doesn't seem to be the best word here - that makes me sound like a stripper). 

I can't even say that I've been up late watching the skies the past few weeks for Northern Lights and the Perseid Meteor Showers - the weather Gods have not cooperated and brought cloudy weather for every occurence the meterorologists have gotten us excited for. 

Yup, laziness.

I did bring myself to stroll around the yard recently and take some pictures.  I have to say that it was rejuvenating and I even dug out my favorite book of all time "The Well-Tended Perennial Garden" by Tracy DiSabato-Aust.  My gardening excitement had waned with the heat and humidity, but I'm happy to report that it's back!  I am not looking forward to fall, however I will be able to distract myself with the task of dividing several of my perennials. 

My casual stroll made me truly appreciate how my gardens go on happily (for the most part - there is some crispiness / tiredness showing)

Here's this week's show. 

Rudbeckia, Heliopsis 'Summer Sun' and KnockOut Roses (Radrazz & Double Pink):

Geranium Rozanne of course.  Although it has gotten a little leggy/sprawly by now, the constant flowering with no need for deadheading overshadows that by far:

Pansies, Delphinium 'Summer Nights' and Sedum 'Autumn Joy' (this is one of Hubby's favorites.  Mine too): 

Million Bells - love these.  They're still blooming even though I am awful and totally neglect the poor container & hanging basket plantings:

Rose Campion (Lychnis coronaria) has been blooming since the 2nd week of June, one of the many reasons why I love this plant in spite of the high maintenance task of deadheading the individual flowers to keep it from self-sowing rampantly:

Hummingbird Moth enjoying Rose Campion:

Echinacea (coneflower) Baby Pink Swan and Heuchera (coral bells) Firefly:

Campanula persicifolia (peachleaf bellflower) has been blooming since the very beginning of June.  Like Rose Campion, it is a bit tedious clipping off each indivudual spent flower but it's worth it since it will bloom for so long if you do this.  The volume of flowers is much less, but the white is so bright that it doesn't take many of them to stand out:

Coreopsis verticillata 'Zagreb' isn't a big bloomer for me but I really like the threadleaf version of this plant.  It's different than all of the other foliage in the garden and is a nice diversion:

Buddleia davidii (butterfly bush) 'Black Knight' is attracting butterflies like crazy.  Unfortunately I didn't catch any while I was taking pics.  This dies to the ground every winter here in our Zone 5 garden but re-emerges every spring, albeit later than most everything else.  It can trick you into thinking it's dead when it's just taking it's time getting going.  Currently, it has grown to at least 7 feet since it emerged in the spring:

Campanula carpatica 'White Clips', Heliopsis 'Summer Sun', Nepeta (catmint) 'Walkers Low', Rudbeckia fulgida and Sedum 'Autumn Joy':

New additions Phlox 'Bright Eyes' and 'Norah Leigh'. I've decided that I need A LOT more phlox:

Physotegia (obedient plant) 'Rose Pink' is really pretty up close but definitely over-lookable from a distance.  When I take a picture of the entire garden, you don't even notice that these are there.  The flowers are tiny and pale pink.  I seriously want to replace this with something else - probably phlox:

Delphinium 'Summer Nights' and annual Bachelor Buttons.  I grew these from seed - woo hoo!  I did the 'winter sowing' with milk jug thing.  That is the coolest thing - way better than those seed starter trays.  I just don't have the room for that:

This isn't much to look at but I'm so excited - this is Shasta Daisy 'Snow Lady' that I grew from seed I collected from my own plants.  I just discovered that it's getting ready to bloom it's first year.  This is also a winter-sown-milk-jug baby:

In my last post, I was whining about Tomato Hornworms.... ick.  I eradicated all of them but not before they almost completely stripped this tomato plant of leaves:

Coreopsis 'Early Sunrise' another long-bloomer if you deadhead:

Clematis paniculata 'Sweet Autumn' isn't blooming yet, but I'm excited about it anyway.  This smells sssooo good when it blooms in the fall with hundreds of little white flowers:

And last but not least are some parting garden shots......  Front of house:

My favorite, the side garden.  

Hey, can you pick out the Obedient Plant???  Yeah, me neither.... barely:

Back-of-pool-fence garden (original name, huh?):

Hope you enjoyed the tour. To end the day, here's a picture of my beautiful baby girl with her first horse show ribbon:

Have a good one!