Our Summer Yard - July 2014

Maryland has had a variable summer so far: a few hot days with thunderstorms in the later afternoon and then relatively cool days that start out in the low 60s. The yard always seems to need mowing. The flower beds are better than ever.

The day lily bulbs I dug up last fall from a place that had become too shady for them to bloom are blooming profusely - where buds survived the deer back in June. They are a bright splash of orange around the bird bath (along with the purple blazing stars) and around the base of the oak tree where there branches are trimmed high enough that they get a little morning sun.

There is a dahlia with one flower open and loads of buds.

There are a few leaves on the lawn. Some were jettisoned by the tree like the sycamore leaf on the right and some were torn off by our recent storms (like the small brach of oak leaaves below).

The patch of cone flowers is always good for some insect photography.

As I walked around, I noticed mint growing in some unexpected places. It’s probably time for another harvest!

Lull in the Flower Beds

The very last iris is blooming in our flowerbeds. We have a sea of green that is studded with potential:

There lilies are sending up their bud stalks (not all of them yet - but every day I notice more emerging above the dense core of leaves). That part of the flower beds will be full of yellow and orange by the time the hot weather is consistent.

The blazing stars are clustered around the bird bath. They’ll be almost the same color as the irises as some point.

The dahlias are purple and pink and white…..I don’t dig them up in the fall and our winters are cold enough to challenge their survival. Most of the plants from last year seem to have survived the winter.

I’ll miss the color at our front door for the length of time it takes the new flowers to begin their season.  Right now I have to simply love the green!