New Blooms in Mid-June

In the Pond Garden

The butterfly weed, but where are the monarchs?

the water hyacinth

A water lily

and then a few minutes later it looked like this:

In Mom's Garden

the lavender

the lamb's ear

the hydrangea

Next to the porch

the red hot poker

The Glen Garden

astillbe and hosta

In the Perennial Garden

daylilies

Asian lilies

thyme in the pathways

astillbe

remnants of  earlier bloomers, alliums

My Book List Mid-Way Through the Year

I'm not reading as many books as I have in past years. Just finished #26 "Clara and Mr. Tiffany" by Susan Vreeland.  At this rate I might get to 50 by the end of the year.  Last year I read 70 books so that's definitely a slower rate.

If you're interested in learning about decorative stained glass and how those Tiffany lamps came into being you might want to read this historical fiction.  It was quite fascinating especially because Dan once blew glass as a hobby and I have a brother-in-law who makes stained glass windows and other objects for a living.

For other books I've read this year see my sidebar on the left hand side.

Morning Work in the Vegetable Garden

Hot and humid here so the only good time to work outside is in the early morning.  Did that on this Saturday morning.  I think I was out there by 7 am and worked till 9 am.

All the lettuce and spinach had bolted and needed removing.  The weeds had grown along the outsides of the raised beds.  Thankfully the black plastic mulch is keeping the weeds out of the pathways.  Here's how it looks weeded.

These peppers are doing well.  There is a tiny row of Little Gem lettuce there between the tomatoes and the peppers.

First tomato blossoms are on the Juliette.

These peppers are not doing quite as well,

A bed full of tomato plants.

Some blueberries are ripening.

This bed got another row of beans after I cut down the snow peas. 

Garlic going gangbusters.  I have a full bag of scapes to use up.

Cucumbers will be climbing soon.

Butternut squash in a bed where the blueberry bush didn't survive.

It was a good morning of work.  But the humidity is too high to work any more out there today.

Granddaughter A goes to the Zoo

My granddaughter just departed this morning after a wonderful long visit with us.  High on the list of things to do was to take her and her mom and dad to the National Zoo in Washington, DC.  A is enamored with animals, especially elephants, lions, gorillas and panda bears.  

We arrived fairly early on Sunday morning and though the panda buildings didn't open until 10 am the pandas we were told were in the yard so we avoided the later crowds to see them.

The youngest panda was on its morning stroll and came by the glass viewing area where we waited for the building to open in 5 minutes.  And no, A is not feeding the panda.  She was feeding herself a snack.

Here is A admiring the flamingoes maybe even trying the one legged stance.

On her daddy's shoulders in the elephant community house.

Watching the lion.

And checking out the poses of the gorilla.

It was a very fun day.