Summer In Pictures

Hey, garden blog.  Long time, no see!  I've been busy enjoying the warm weather and sunshine of the past few months.  I thought I'd write a recap of the summer and post some photos.

In April, the hummingbirds arrived!  I got some great shots as they braved the chilly Spring weather.  I watched them visit on a daily basis all summer long.  They not only sipped nectar from the feeder but also from some potted mini petunias, and then later in the season from prairie dock and the blooms on my blue mist spirea shrub.  The weather has been getting quite chilly at night for the past couple of weeks now.  Most of the hummingbirds have migrated south already.  I did see one at the feeder today fueling up for it's long flight.  I will leave my feeder up until mid October to aid any hungry stragglers. 

I had some new successes in the gardens this year.  My native bee balm bloomed for the first time!  I have not seen any hummingbird action on it yet, but the bees certainly took notice.  The blooms are so interesting looking and a beautiful pale lavender.  Unfortunately this plant later succumbed to a wicked case of powdery mildew as they are known to do.  Maybe I'll have better luck if I transplant some to an area that gets full sun all day long.  I still consider this a success since the foliage did not develop the mildew until long after the blooms were spent.

Another gardening success this year was our vegetable garden.  We created two new raised beds and planted pole beans and peppers in one, tomatoes and chives in the other.  The tomatoes suffered foliar damage from early blight but still produced a decent crop.  The pole beans grew up a trellis structure we purchased from Burpee.  It worked out really well and we were able to harvest plenty to eat fresh and some to freeze.  It was an excellent year for peppers!  Jeremy was thrilled.  Typically we do not have a long enough growing season to get much of a crop.  This year the weather was nice and warm in early May and I think it helped them get a good jump start.  The cajun bell pepper plants from Daddy yielded the biggest crop and had a subtle but tasty heat.  We also grew yellow bell peppers, jalapenos, and a mini bell plant.  Our cucumber crop was the best I've ever grown.  I can say with great certainty that beans are not the only musical fruit. ;)

In other exciting news, Jeremy built the entire back side of the privacy fence!  He finished it in early May and what a difference it has made!  Now when I wander out to the bird garden in my pajamas to refill the feeders, the hungry birds are my only audience.  I can lie down in the grass to photograph from interesting perspectives without worrying my neighbors will call 911.  I can wander braless back to the veggie garden to check on my plants.  Oh, sweet freedom!

I'm not the only one enjoying the privacy.  The birds and the bunnies seem to enjoy it too.  I snapped this shot of a flicker hopping around the backyard in search of a buggy snack.  See how the marking on the back of it's head forms a perfect heart?  Yes, little feathered friend, I do love you!