My goodness, the flowers have grown so tall with huge blossoms, with all the rain and summer heat this year. They certainly have made my gardens look amazing, and I have so many creatures enjoying all the blooms.
These daylilies had more blossoms than I ever remember seeing.
Even these under the Bradford Pear had more than usual, and they are in the shade.
The plants along the front of my house are so laden with flowers that they are falling over from the weight.
I don't know how I mixed up the types of zinnias I grew, but somehow I got taller varieties mixed in with the border zinnias. This year the flowers are extra tall in the front gardens.
Even with the mistake, it still looks lovely, and the bumblebees are loving them.
It was colder than usual yesterday morning, and the bees were resting on the flowers, trying to warm up for the day.
Back by the pond, the larkspur and crocosmia are almost done for the season. There are still a few flowers that the hummingbirds are drinking from, so that is nice to see.
I just love these tropical flowers, and am so happy that the winter weather didn't kill the bulbs. I only lost one clump of them in the butterfly garden, but that may have been due to the squirrels digging them up.
The butterfly garden's daisies and larkspur have all finished, and I had to cut them all back this week. It looks a bit bare now, but I did save larkspur seeds for next year.
My container garden with the lobelia and vine turned out beautiful. I've been looking closely for seeds from these so I can grow them again next year. I do love the blue trailing flowers.
The Mandavilla vine has climbed to the top of the tower, and it has multiple blossoms at a time. I may try to save it over the winter, but I need to see how to do so before I untwine it and repot it to bring it inside. That container is too large and heavy for this old gal to manage, lol.
This Swallowtail butterfly has been coming to all the zinnias every day for nectar. Plus, the Monarchs finally showed up this past week. I did a post on gathering the eggs and rearing them to release in mid-August. I will keep updating on that process.
This is bronze fennel, and the Swallowtails may lay some eggs in it. Last year I found two caterpillars on it, and they wintered over in my garage. They hatched earlier this spring, and I released them. I'm hopeful to find more this fall.
Enjoy your day and have fun gardening, all of my fellow green thumbs.
