Ed's beds are filled with the most wonderful soil. It is a fabulous environment for plants to self-seed. This is a sample of the bed next to the stone patio.
The fuzzy deep green plants are dill. I just let the plants drop their seeds last fall. I always figure who knows better when to plant seeds than the plant itself. I love dill, butterflies love dill--it's a great plant, but planted a bit too thickly here.
The plant in the upper right is a sunflower. This is not an ordinary sunflower, but more of a sunflower bush. This plant originally came from some budgie seed that I planted years ago. It comes back wherever the birds, especially goldfinches and black capped chickadees, plant the seed. It's a real favorite of mine and of the birds.
The pale green feathery plants are gorgeous double pink poppies. These also come up every year. They are a sign that the soil is warming.
The plant in the upper left is lamb's quarters. It really is a weed, but one with some good qualities. It's quite tasty in salads and is full of vitamins. In fact I saw it for sale in NYC at a very high price. However, it does not travel well and wilts very quickly. That's where the gardener who can cut greens right before serving has the advantage.
All of these plants are too close together and need to be thinned. It's definitely not my favorite thing to do. It would be nice to save them all.
It's getting late, really late, but there is still time for a single pink poppy. The rest went to seed weeks if not months ago .
Most of the gloriosa daisies are dried up and brown. This one is gorgeous! Several of the plants that should bloom next year are giving it a go now. Will they bloom again next season?
One remaining flower stem on the Stella d'oro lilies is blooming.
This mallow is looking great. You might say their timing is off. Perhaps these particular blooms have a big ego and wanted to be noticed, and so they were!
