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Wednesday, July 7, 2010

I COULDN'T DO IT BETTER

I couldn't do it by myself. Mother nature had a helping hand in the profusion of color in my garden. Now, well into July the flowers are still coming.

Alyssum, skullcaps, blanket flowers and black eyed Susans manage to find the perfect spot to grow making a tapestry of color. Gomphrenas are moved from unsuitable spots in the gravel to fill in any spaces.

Of course some of them can be a bit pesky, like this amaranth. Several are growing in a not so perfect spot at the foot of the steps to the herb garden, but who can resist their gorgeous pink, bristly plumes in the fall. The birds love them too. That's a Russian sage, Perovskia, which is growing at the foot of the amaranth.

This morning two rain lilies opened. Sometimes they are hard to spot, buried among the other flowers, but these ones are growing out of a clump of creeping thyme.

I certainly love the cleome which seeded right at the front of the bed behind the pool. The long, snaking stems with deep pink flowers. I even like the seed heads. I'll be saving some of those for next year.

As long as this morning glory stays on the fence then it can stay, but I know it's not going to do that.

9 comments:

  1. Lovely, as usual.

    I have NO luck with alyssum, even in cool weather. Is there a secret?

    The Gomphrenas are happy little flowers. All those colors look like a fiesta.

    ~~Linda...

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  2. Beautiful wildflowers - those first two pictures are great. Such an abundance of color and stone. Bet our recent rains perked them up some.

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  3. My allysum did well all winter, but it's definitely past its best now. I just haven't got around to ripping it out of the ground yet. Hopefully it will surprise me by reseeding itself :-)
    I love the Cleome. I tried starting seeds this spring, but they didn't take. I wonder if seeding directly into the border would work better next year.

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  4. LOL on that rule breaking Morning Glory!!! :)
    Too bad it will have to go...are you sure??? It's so pretty!!!

    I adore Cleome!!!

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  5. Ruth- Thanks Ruth. It never seems to matter to me which colors go together. They all look good to me.
    Linda- Alyssum just reseeds itself. The only problem is that it tends to revert to white or the paler colors. Very rarely do I get the deep purple that I love- even when I get new seeds. Maybe the pill bugs and snails eat seedlings but we have so many that some always make it to adulthood.
    RBell-They did take on a new lease on life with all the rain but the ground seems to dry out so quickly here. It's dry again. Glad we are going to have more rain today.
    Jayne-Cleome is fussy about the temperature at which it germinates. One year the seeds on the ground all germinated in the fall-then died over the winter. This was a stray and the spring this year must have met its needs.I'm sure your alyssum will reseed.
    Julie-I'm going to try to keep it on the fence but I can see lots of others popping up all over. They will have to come out.

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  6. What a riot of color and textural interest! I adore cleome and it's spidery form. Btw.. that cantelope looks juicy good.

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  7. Thank you for visiting my blog Jenny. Your photos are breathtaking! Truly :)

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  8. Wow is just not the word. Your garden is just fantastic. I am such a fan...lol. I love to see everyones plants and enjoy visiting. It's the best thing on the net!

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  9. Teresa- Yes, how does she get those seeds into all the right places?
    Bacon seed- Sometimes when I visit a blog I don't make a note. I'm afraid there is no link to your blog as you have not enabled your profile!
    Brooke- I took a look at your seeds. Gosh, you have some gorgeous flowers. I may just put in an order for those that might work here in Texas.

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