Monday, August 17, 2009

Where idleness is gathered up A magic draught in summer's cup. ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery


This is a mish-mash Monday post of things blooming and butterflies enjoying the blooms.



One of the grass skippers celebrating the return of sun and warmth.


Bees only live a few weeks but what a beautiful life, every day spent among flowers.

Liatris burning their lovely candles quickly and leaving a burnt stem. These vertical plants don't take up much space and can be tucked into voids around the garden. I need to remember to pick up another package of bulbs, maybe white this time.



Sea Holly, a pretty name for a plant. It reminds me of tiny blue teasel, but a kinder, gentler teasel.



Old faithful Cleome getting a late start this year. This has to be the easiest and one of the most rewarding annuals.


Hope everyone has a great week. I'll post again Thursday. Meanwhile, I'll be dropping by your blogs to say hi and catch up on what's happening.

38 comments:

Sherri said...

Just beautiful pictures! Your flowers are just gorgeous!

Cheryl said...

Lovely Marnie.....don't you just wish you were a bee....quality of life, dancing amongst flowers, how delightful.

Sea Holly is so beautiful.....I love the soft blue. I am going to try and grow some next year.....it is a native......

Love the butterfly to.....have a very good week.......

Darla said...

So pretty around your gardens!! I have seedlings coming up from my cleome that's about spent!!

tina said...

Hi Marnie, Your garden looks awesome! I wish I could grow that sea holly. It is really quite a looker.

P.S. Blog feeds have been so slow lately and this post only just showed up.

marmee said...

wow your photographs look especially pretty today.
i love how you said
"Bees only live a few weeks but what a beautiful life, every day spent among flowers."
i might put that quote on my sidebar if you let me with the acknowlegement that you said it, of course.
i love the yellow daylily with the deep purple blooms in front of them.
i planted cleome this year and they are spent but i cut some of them back in hopes i might get a few more. i really enjoyed them amongst my carrots and beats.
happy summer in august.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

The liatrus in my garden is all finished blooming. I would love to try the sea holly some time. It is so pretty, sculptural even.

Susie said...

Hi Marnie, I really like that Sea Holly. That's such an interesting name for such a pretty plant.

Nice pics as usual. Hope you have a great week!

A Wild Thing said...

The palest blue of the Sea Holly is my most favorite color in the universe, how delicate the flower is too...you have such a rich palette in your garden of posies.

I have a fear rising, been seeing flights of Canada geese, the squirrels are now starting to chatter over food stuffs and the leaves are falling off my walnut trees...tell me it isn't fall already...eeeee.....Lord have mercy on us poor Northuners!!!

See ya...s

Dawn said...

Oh my! I love that teasel and never heard of it before! Another one for the list, does it like shade? Hope so.
I did not know a bees life is so short, interesting....I thought that about the butterfly.

Anonymous said...

Flower photos are always nice to see. And you have some nice ones here.

Your cleome looks a lot like mine only a darker pink color. Mine are more white or lighter pink with red tips. I think it is a freak of nature. But it is nice. The teasel is nice. I think I saw a wild one in the back the other day. I will have to watch that.

I also saw and photographed a small Viceroy butterfly tonight. His one wing is a shambles but he was happy with what he had left. And spent a lot of time flying around.

sweetbay said...

Beautiful pictures Marnie. What is the purple flower in the second picture?

The Sea Holly and Liatris make a wonderful combination. I love Cleome too, so easy and beautiful.

F Cameron said...

How long does the sea holly look that great? I just love how it looks in your photos!

My echinops 'Ritro' is amazing for a few weeks, then it's something I want to hide! Any silver foliage plant suffers (turns black) in our southern humidity.

Cameron

Gayle said...

My garden is kind of puttering down. Yours seems to be thriving and blooming.

Carol said...

Lovely blooms, photos and creative combinations. Your Cleome makes me long for those old fashion spidery queens.

BeadedTail said...

Even your mish mashes are lovely! I can't seem to find a grasshopper but I do see the beautiful butterfly and the bees!

Kathleen said...

Lovin' the sea holly Marnie. I planted one this year but I think it didn't get enough sun so it's done nothing. After seeing your photos, maybe I'll go out tomorrow and see if there's a better spot to move it? White liatris would be a great addition. As always, I enjoyed my peek at your garden.

oldcrow61 said...

Beautiful photos as always Marnie.

Chloe m said...

Marnie,
We have something that looks a lot like Liatrus that grows wild in the meadows here. I am going to have to see if it is the same plant family.
I love the purple of that Liatrus with the background of the Sea Holly. Nice combo!
Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving sweet comments.
Rosey

Roses and Lilacs said...

Sherri, thanks for those kind words.

Cheryl, the sea holly is very pretty--briefly.

Hi Darla, here the cleome gets a late start and blooms up until frost kills it.

Hi Tina, you must not have quite enough sun for the sea holly.

Hi Marmee, LOL, no one has ever asked to quote me before. Please print anything you like;) The small purple bloom is allium. I think next year I'll buy some cleome from a greenhouse so it will begin blooming in July.

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Lisa, my liatris doesn't bloom very long either. I believe you are supposed to cut it back and get some rebloom but I didn't this year.

Hi Susie, it is an interesting name and an interesting plant.

Hi Sharon, I agree, that silvery blue is just lovely. Don't panic yet, plenty of time to panic in September. What happened this year? Summer lasted about two weeks.

Hi Dawn, it isn't really a teasel just similar. It won't be happy in shade, needs full sun and really good drainage.

Hi Abe, the cleome 'Queen' series includes a white, a violet which I have and a cherry which is probably what you have. I'll be watching for your viceroy photo. Hate to see them with the damaged wings, they don't have much time left.

Hi SweetBay, that little purple flower is an drumstick allium. What a mess they were this year, tall and flopping all over the ground. This one just happened to find somebody to lien on.

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Cameron, my sea holly is very like my echinops. Hardly noticeable until it changes to the silver blue color. It's very pretty for a couple weeks then it turns brown and ugly and I cut it back. It takes up very little room or I wouldn't bother with it.

Hi Gayle, my garden is going downhill too. The daylily foliage looks bad, the coneflowers look awful and even the phlox are about spent.

Hi Carol, I don't like to think of them as spidery (I hate spiders;) To me, they look like those sparklers kids used to play with on the fourth of July.

BeadedTail, funny you should say that. I've only seen a very few grasshoppers this year.

Hi Kathleen, my Eryngium is getting full sun. As I recall it was a little slow to establish but always healthy.

Hi OldCrow, thanks for stopping by to visit.

H Rosey, the liatris is a native plant common in meadows in the central US. There are several species in the wild some found in dryland areas and some like wetlands.

Marnie

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Hi Marnie, love all the blooms (and the quote by Lucy Maud), but especially the sea holly, something I've never had luck with. Will you save me some seeds, please?! (Seriously.)

Dee/reddirtramblings said...

Beautiful blooms and happy bees. What else could a gardener ask for?~~Dee

walk2write said...

It sure doesn't look like your garden is winding down. The flowers look fresh and lovely. We seem to be getting a second chance for summer growth in the garden, now that we've had some much needed rain. On our walk early this morning, though, it actually felt a bit like fall.

Bill S. said...

Great photos of both flowers and insects.

Gail said...

Marnie, Beautiful post! I love LMM's books...Your photos are lovely as always. Aren't the skippers the best little visitors. The name is so fitting, they do seem to skip about. Liatris is a great plant to tuck here and there...and getting white ones is a good idea...thank you very much! gail

TC said...

Sea Holly is one of our favorites. It's so long-lasting too; long-lasting in that perennial kind of way. I can't even remember how long ago we planted it.

troutbirder said...

Beautiful pictures as always. I am especially enamored of the blazing stars. The wild versions are not to common here but a little to the south in Iowa the ditches abound with them.

Anonymous said...

Marnie, your photos and your flowers, are beautiful! I planted about 20 liatris bulbs in spring, and only one came up. I need more! I just saw some cheap sea holly on the Lowe's clearance racks, perhaps I should go back for one!

beckie said...

Marnie, I love the look of the liatris and the sea holly together. The colors and the shapes compliment each other well. Your cleome is gorgeous. Mine have done very well this year too. I wonder if it's because of the cool and lots of rain?

ShySongbird said...

Well you might describe this post as a 'mish-mash' but I wouldn't ;) I enjoyed every part of it! Like others the Sea Holly is 'calling' me, I really think I must have some next year. I love Liatris and have had it several times but it never comes back, I wonder if the snails are responsible early in the season.

Lovely photos throughout Marnie.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Monica, glad to save you some seed.

Hi Dee, a gardener could ask for longer blooming flowers and fewer weeds;)

Walk2Write, I'm thinking about going to a once a week post. Just not that much more to talk about.

Bill S, thank you for the kind words.

Hi Gail, I need to start making notes and schedules. I never remember these things until they bloom and then it's too late for that year.

Marnie

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi TC, mine has been pretty long lived too. It hasn't seeded or increased much.

Troutbirder, I don't see any of the wild liatris here either but then I seldom see much but the non natives that are taking over the wild areas here.

Hi MissRobin, I don't have a big success rate with liatriss bulbs either--good thing they are plentiful and cheap.

Beckie, my cleome always does great. Most years when it is dryer and warmer the cleome blooms earlier and the plants are larger.

Hi ShySongbird, the sea holly is pretty easy to fit in. It is very vertical and won't take up much room in the garden. It doesn't have a long period of that lovely blue color but when it turns brown you can cut it back to the basil rosette and it virtually disappears till next summer.

Marnie

Q said...

Lovely!
I have a package of Sea Holly seeds and I just did not get them in the ground this spring...maybe next year. They are so pretty.
Sherry

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Lovely shots of your garden in its summer glory. You may not need to buy any more Liatris. Mine self sow, although I have to move the corms further back in the bed. Adding white ones would look lovely.

trailrider731 said...

hay hay, I did go and read The Hornworm Stomp, have to admit I don't care for the critters, they are beautiful, but wow can they damage a tomato!

lm
the best is yet to come!!!

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