Persisting in the face of death and destruction

Before we delve into the ugliness, here is a lovely arrangement of salvia, lavender, and Shasta daisies on July 3 that still looks pretty good today.

And now let's get real, below: the vile deer have chomped the blooms off my new hydrangea. I don't think they've ever been after the hydrangea in back, so it didn't occur to me this was among their interests. But I looked it up, and sure enough, deer "occasionally severely damage" hydrangeas. So I have set myself up for failure, or a lot of anti-deer spray.

But now back to the soothing things that have not been eaten (yet) (and only thanks to anti-deer spray).

Cornflowers and zinnias.

Zinnias background; peppers foreground. Peppers are flowering now too.

July 3 - the unmolested hydrangea in back.

As it did last year (http://aylwardgarden.blogspot.com/2017/07/late-bloomers-and-revolting-beetles.html)  this rhododendron bloom so much later than the others. This is on July 4!

Speaking of late bloomers, the magnolia threw out a few additional blooms in the past few days, too. I'm not complaining. But I'm maybe a little confused.

The first tomato has been born in defiance of the squirrels that will surely spell its demise, not that I care, because I absolutely am not attached to my accidental tomatoes. [Inwardly steeling self for impending tragedy]

What is this hen-and-chick doing? Is this normal? OH MY GOD I JUST LOOKED IT UP AND IT'S GOING TO FLOWER AND DIE. No one prepared me for this agony.

This grasshopper(?). I have nothing good to say about him.

Accidental tomatoes and other adventures

Select Seeds was selling plants for $5 each so inevitably I bought some.

Three primroses, which are inexplicably blooming now.

Looking at the dark soil spot to the back, there are three new anemones, and then on this side of the lavender (which is not new) is a delphinium.

My beloved foxgloves are looking glorious.

This four-lined plant bug was on Emma's zinnias. I don't want to make the picture too large because yuck.

Remember the dianthus that was mixed in with some sort of super-enthusiastic grass? Well I ripped out the grass, and now it looks *great.* Ha ha,

Here's the other one, looking all alive and whatnot!

For weeks, amidst the zinnias, I have been eyeing some mystery plants. They look like tomatoes, I told myself, but naw, how could they be tomatoes? Must be a look-alike weed. They got bigger, and they still looked like tomatoes. I considered and rejected the idea that tomato seeds might have been mixed in with the zinnia seeds. They got bigger still, and it finally hit me: THESE ARE TOMATOES. And then I came belatedly to the realization that my compost must have had some tomatoes with seeds just waiting for a spot in a garden.

Even if they grow fruit, I fully expect the accursed squirrels to make off with them, but still, it's a little exciting. Since they are amidst the zinnias, they probably feel staked, but I am wondering whether I should truly stake them. But that would be admitting I care, and then I'm just asking for my heart to be broken when tragedy befalls them.

See, this is why I don't grow vegetables.

See also the grassy-looking gypsophila, and the tall cornflower appear poised to bloom.

This is the general scene of Emma's plants (plus tomatoes!). Note the anti-deer spray in the foreground, which has clogged up every spray bottle I've had it in, so I've taken to painting it on the plants, which is a total pain. But darned if I'm going to lose the zinnias, cornflower, and balloon flowers to the wicked deer.

Finally, last year I cut back the Shasta daisy stems, and when they grew back this year, it was to the side of the dead stem stumps. I just pulled those stumps out, and look how beautiful they are!

Diabolical wildlife attracted to thriving garden

Let's just start out by saying my garden looks amazing. I believe we can thank the very frequent soaking rains that have continued since the end of winter. They'll bring hordes of mosquitoes, I'm sure, but I can gaze lovingly at my gorgeous thriving garden from behind my window screens.

Iris and allium

Baptisia

Emma makes notes in her garden journal, with her plants in the foreground

Peony! I didn't stake it this year and sure enough, a few days later when all the rest of these buds started blooming, they did droop. Stake next year! 

All the rhododendrons bloomed at once this year, and they were stunning. Remember when I feared the heavy snowstorm would kill them? Not so fast!

I am bursting with pride that ALL the foxgloves in the back plot are on the verge of bloom.

But now for the bad news: the deer and who knows what else have been feasting on more of my little plantlets than ever before. The zinnias, the cornflower, and balloon flower have had it the worst, and I don't know whether deer or something else is to blame for the unfortunate demise of my parsley and the foxglove seedlings in front. Frustrating. I see that the same fate befell the parsley seedlings I had planted last year, so I guess the lesson is that parsley needs to be well-protected, or abandoned.

Parsley, uprooted.

 The alliums in the back tipped over, but the alliums in the front did not. Probably worth staking all of them next year, just in case. Side note: I cut one of the ones in back for a flower arrangement, and it has lasted and lasted! Love these plants. Need more of them next year too.

Garden happenings

Allium in the back plot, on the verge of bloom! 

Foreground: Larkspur. Behind that are virtually invisible allium (like blades of grass), and then foxglove. UPDATE: The foxglove disappeared within the next couple weeks. Eaten? Died? No idea. Sad.

The fall parsley seeds! UPDATE: these died within the next couple weeks. I think something pulled them up.

Peppers

Spanish bluebells. Should really plant some more of these bulbs in fall; they do well and are pretty.

I must confess it took a while to dawn on me that the sweet peas would not climb a huge lamp post; they want something small they can attach too. So I put strings along the lamp post in two different configurations to see which works best.

Funny story about the dianthus, above and below: I was so confused why the one below only bloomed on one side and then I realized (lots of realizations lately) that the brighter green leaves are actually a huge mound of some type of vigorous grass. Must pull it up.

Foreground to background: Zinnias, cornflower, baby's breath (not really visible, so short) and more zinnias.

More zinnias! Up to our eyeballs in zinnias.

Endless enchantments of spring

Every time I walk outside I see exciting progress among the plants, and the temptation is there to photograph everything. So I do!

I could not possibly be more delighted that the allium in the back plot is now two alliums, both with buds.

The foxgloves in the back plot are looking very robust, and you can see also the other things looking good in the back (left to right: forget-me-nots, artemisia, lungwort, aster, the small white allium).

Our cherry tree has always been a little half-assed, but nonetheless, its blooms are appreciated.

The two-year-old daffodils in the back didn't all do so well this year - especially the frilly stinky ones. Maybe because of the weather.

These look good, though! I really need to get rid of the last of the leaves. They are all piled in corners like this.

As the early daffodils on the right are spent, the ones on the left are in their prime, though not so great this year.

I should have captured these a week or so ago at their peak, but they did well. The little ones. None of the grape hyacinth  made it though - deer?

See the red peony shoot in the front! I thought it had perhaps been uprooted or simply didn't survive, but I am so pleased to be wrong.

This is the lavender I cut all the leaves on in the fall, wondering whether it was better to leave them or cut them. The one one which I left them is below, on the top right of the photo. I am still not sure what was the better course of action.

I like this little spot in the front, with the stones and all the different colors and textures of plant, all very close together. Want to replicate this everywhere.

The poppies! I am so proud of the poppies! Also the onesie daffodil in back that really needs to be dug up and propagated (scooped/scored/scaled) because a onesie is ridiculous,

Front left

Front right

Emma and I transplanted the zinnias, cornflowers, and gypsophila today.