Neighborhood Walk

I played hooky today and I don't feel the least bit guilty about it. Today was the first sunny day in what feels like forever, and I wanted to take advantage of it. I did some work and spent some time in my workshop. Mid-day I took my camera outside. First stop was my own yard.

First stop was the end of the walk to document the planter I put out last weekend. It was finished last fall but we never got it put into place.
Click on the pictures to see larger versions.

The plants are dragon's breath sedum and pasque flower.

In the garden next to the driveway:

Pinks aka Dianthus

Lithodora - these are tiny flowers about 1/4 inch across.

Salvia thinking about blooming.
When it does it'll be dark purple.

Sage

Moving toward the back yard:

Chives.
We originally got a couple of plants from Amy's Dad.
We now have two window boxes full, though we never use them.

Fern.

Lily of the Valley

And then I headed out into my neighborhood:

Goldfinches enjoying our neighbors feeder.


Pattern on phone pole.
Can you see the heart?


Cornflower


I'm not sure what this pod will be.
I'll have to stop by in a week or so and find out.


Bleeding Hearts.

All in all a wonderful walk.

I know I haven't posted in way too long. I can't promise this will be the start of more regular posting, but I'm going to try.

Sunday in the Garden

Blooming in my garden today.

lavender


coreopsis


and this yellow weed which has popped up in our backyard.

Be sure to scroll down - this is post #4 tonight.

The Garden

July 7 Update: S sent me the names of the flowers I didn't know. They're appended below.

We had dinner with our friends B and S tonight. Among their many talents, B and S are incredibly good gardeners. Their yard is always a treat. And coupled with our first sunny day in forever the opportunity to sit amongst the luxurious greenary was one not to be missed. I took my camera along and now you can share some of the beauty as well. Click on the pictures to see them larger.

And by the way we had a lovely evening with our friends.


Clivia - this sits at the edge of their yard offering a splash of color to the dark greens of this shady spot.


I don't know the name of this one, which sits at the edge of the driveway.
Update: Nicotiana


I found this little one hiding under a bush in the front.


Day lily.


Pink roses and yellow primrose.


A delicate pink-purple frond.
Update: Astilbe


Purple blooms.
Update: Angelonia


This spiky red flower was a bit past its prime.
Update: Bee Balm (Monardia)


A bit of garden whimsy.


B reflected in Amy's sunglasses.

Garden Tour

As my neighbors will no doubt tell you, I am a bad gardener. My lawn is mostly weeds, the bushes are in need of trimming and there are still fall leaves scattered about. The one bright spot is the perennial garden. Situated in the sunny spot where our driveway curves down to the garage the perennial garden is thriving. At the moment it is a study in purple and green with a splash of pink. Soon yellow will join the mix. When I went out to take pictures of it today I discovered that one of the lupin, which I thought had all died, has survived, though I don't have pictures of it.

Another element on which I am a terrible gardener is that I don't have a good chart of my garden and can't remember what a couple of the plants in it are called.

Looking across the lavender, which is starting to think about blooming.

Purple flower (the name escapes me).

Sage

Salvia

Another one I don't remember the name of.

Coreopsis bud.

This pale weed is growing at the edge of the garden.

LensDay: Cold

See more LensDay here.

See It Sunday: Tiny

Berries on our dogwood tree after a rain.

More See It Sunday here.

Garden Blooms

The lavendar is blooming, and the coreopsus are just awakening. The green on the right are day lillies, and the green behind the coreopsus is a combination of bell flower (campanula) and balloon flower (platycodon).
This picture makes it look like we have a huge yard. What isn't obvious is the road that runs between our yard and the large trees and our neighbor's houses just out of frame to the left and right.

Closeup of the English lavendar.

The coreopsus with the lavendar behind. The pale stems between them are Russian sage which is not yet blooming.

More garden views: here