Cream colored Hollyhocks
There are days that I believe I will never get this computing thing down. Guess that is why I am a gardener and not a computer expert. So today I present the latest beauties to appear in the garden. Mine is a three season garden that has blooms going from early spring through late fall. Which means a surprise every now and again.
- Hollyhocks
This year the holly hocks have spread farther out although they contain the same color range of last year in the marron family. Once again I have a beautiful cream colored flower as well. My neighbor has a beautiful pure pink in a lighter hue that may lead me to steal seeds.
Snapdragons and Petunias
My porch steps have their usual pots filled with snap dragon volunteers and petunias from the store. The only successful herb from seed planting I had was the cilantro with the small white flowers. I told my husband not to move them as I had wanted some potted herbs up front. That way the chives that are sharing a pot with geraniums will not be all that lonely.
Clematis
Here is the current showstopper – The Jackmani Clematis. I made sure the string was set in so the vine would go even higher this year. This is the big bloom and later in the season I will get a smaller gang of flowers.
Purple Cone Flower
This cone flower glows, it has been so wonderful. But that is not even the best part of the garden. Now for the surprise.
Evening PrimroseThe closeup.
This evening primrose was a volunteer and a complete surprise once it started blooming. I thought this might be a Joe Pie Weed when it first arrived, which I wanted in order to attract butterflies. This blooms in the evening once the sun goes down and I am enjoying it.
What surpirse volunteers have come to your garden?
Notes from Rumbly Cottage 
Beautiful! My favorite: the clematis.
The clematis is my favorite as well – such a gorgeous purple!
Love your summertime flowers, Rumbly. Your thumb is a vibrant green!
Now if only I could do the same thing with indoor plants. But I think that requires children growing up and leaving home.
No, you and your brother have been gone a long time, no cat to eat the cactus and I still have mostly dead houseplants. I did better with vegetables than flowers anyway
Yeah, but the dog would dig the red beets out of the garden.
Love the way your mind thinks…”the chives that are sharing a pot with geraniums will not be all that lonely.” PS I think I saved Saturday morning to snoop around your lovely cottage. I’m two cups in so far. Thank you.
I like mixing herbs with flowers. That way beauty is also functional. Oh and the husband mixed some chives into our hamburgers last night. Tasty!
Whenever I am fiending for my garden fix this is my first stop. 🙂 Can you tell me what that purplish flower is in the Evening Primrose pic?
The purplish flower is a purple cone flower. This picture was taken at dusk because that is the bloom time is in the evening primrose. That is why the flower has more of a purple tinge than the pink color we usually see.
As you can see, I’m really enjoying your blog!
Someone told me you could cut back clematis after the first bloom and get a second so I tried it this year and got nothing. Is there an extra step I’m missing????
I have never done that with Clematis. I let the plant go and usually get a second, less furious, bloom period. This year I place a tied string loop to give the vine more room to run and that helped as well. I have heard that tidbit about cone flowers and day lilies. I have not been successful with the cone flowers, I think I wait too long to do dead head.