Crazy tomato lady

This anemone (front right, when you're facing the house)  is lovely.

My crepe myrtle is also lovely, and it's a shame I find this color too red. Interestingly, the smaller one, closer to the house, scarcely bloomed this year.

Delightful delphinium, with adorable anemone in background.

The lilac has started its second bloom of the year [and update from early October: still blooming! Not nearly as prolific as spring though.]

The state of zinnias and tomatoes. I know what you are thinking: what are those shiny bits? Our neighbor heard tin foil repels squirrels. What do I have to lose, I figure?

A few monarch butterflies have visited the zinnias.

I will acknowledge that the tin foil bits make my tomatoes look like they've visited the salon for some highlights. But if it keeps them safe, it's all worth it.

And hark! What's that we see tucked in there? Woohoo!

Harvesting peppers and seeds

Our shishito peppers have ripened and we have made our first harvest. We have found them good charred in a frying pan over high heat, with canola oil. [Update from September: when they turn red, you can also char them and then blend them up with stock and spices and ripe tomatoes, for a spicy soup.]

And you have to love the twirly appendage on that one.

This butterfly is a silver-spotted skipper.

The sweet peas are looking very done and messy, but we have harvested some of their seed pods, when they get kind of brown and dry.

Finally the pinkish tinge on the hydrangea buds.

Sweet pea seeds

 Very promising! How long does one leave them on the vine, I wonder? At what point are they too irresistible to the squirrels?

Garden Happenings

A few notes from my garden to keep in mind for next year:

• The basil from the Maplewood Garden Club plant sale has been great in the front. Oregano and rosemary also did fine there, but I used them farrrrr less frequently.
• The back plot needs more plants with height. The foxglove is good but short when not blooming.
• Begonias did great in the back plot and the lungwort has been a terrific performer.
• The front needs larger plants. I love the brachyscome and portulaca, but they're very small. 
• The verbena, of which I think I planted 5-7, did a great job filling in and bloomed all summer, so that's a winner if you can do enough of them to get a mass effect. But again, very short plants.

Anenome has still not bloomed, though buds have long been present

Basil, portulaca

Brachyscome, portulaca

The crepe myrtle is blooming

Lavender, artemesia, brachyscome

The mini-lilac is blooming again! Did not see that coming.

This is not from my garden - it is a fungus in the reservation. But isn't it pretty?

Garden happenings

Some time ago I pulled up a straggling piece with roots of one of the mystery shrubs in front with red blooms, and stuck it in this pot. For a long time, it looked to be dead. But now it seems fine. Maybe next year I'll stick some other red plants in there with it, though that pot is a magnet for the squirrels. Also: I did some research and think the mystery shrubs are crepe myrtles.

Crazy story: I was actually trying to identify some of the plants in front, and thinking dark thoughts about Birch Hill Landscaping since they hadn't replaced the missing anenome after I alerted them on May 9, when I heard a noise: they were out replacing the plant. And they helped me identify some of the ones I didn't know (purple coneflower, catmint).

The Carolina Wren was back yesterday and I got a characteristically excellent photo of it.

Here we have the state of play in the back plot: I have had a crazy misunderstanding that this Allium Ampeloprasum was going to bloom in the spring with the Allium Globemaster, but guess what? Mixed reports on the internet suggest it may (or may not be right on schedule). I am gobsmacked. And pleased!

The one foxglove is blooming nicely and the other plants look healthy but no sign of blooms.

Coming up to the front door. Basil is thriving. Portulaca doing well. I trimmed the vibernums the other day.

Catmint

Hydrangea has started to bloom 

Salvia and lavender

The darned parsely looks scarcely better than when I planted the little seedlings. Not a good spot for them, I guess.

Purple coneflower, one thinks. This is the one that had a bloom eaten off it a week or so ago. I have been spraying it with anti-deer spray.

Shasta daisy. Lovely.