Nature's Ways

You can say one thing about a heat wave followed by rain. The flowers love it! Most of our flowers and bushes are bursting open.

We grow many hydrangeas for cutting and seem to have them everywhere. Most were started using the hydrangea plants purchased around Mother's Day that were cut to the bone (using the blooming stems for floral arrangements); literally, we planted little stubs. With generous watering the first couple of years (hydrangea.... from the word for water in Latin... they love all the water you can give them), they grew just fine. The hydrangeas are now about six years old.

The hydrangea lane in the front of the house:

and along the side of the back:

And even some at the back of the house!

Hyrangea closeups:

This is such a soft lavender:

Enough about the hydrangeas! Here are other flower closeups.

Joe Pye Weed

Oriental lily

 

Honey rose

 Just Easy rose

These are European ginger babies. If you need a ground cover that is a rich shade of green and will go in both sun and shade, try this! Once you purchase (or, even better, share with a fellow gardener) a few plants, the following year you'll be able to split each plant into several. Soon, you'll be sharing with the neighbors, but the plant is not invasive at all. 

This is a baby lime. Really. Wait 'till you see the next photo.

So, that's what pops off the end of the lime (and lemon and orange, etc.)!

Last, but not least, our back yard is watched over by the robin as his babies are still in their nest high in the trees.

Thank you, Cindy, at My Romantic Home

and

Jessica, for Favorite Things Friday.