July 1: Bloom List

This Art's Pride Echinecea is blooming so beautifully especially since it was once declared dead. Roots and Rhizomes even issued us a credit. Last year towards the end of the summer the dead looking plant came to life. Amazed, we mailed a check to pay for the " plant that lived". As you can see this year Art's Pride is our pride as well!

July 1,2010, Bloom list: Ingeborg's mallow, purple cone flower, morning glory, lemon finger bowl geranium, bluets, Robin's plantain, spider wort, Dianthus, Valerian,coral bells, meadow sage, Viola "Rebecca", red creeping thyme, lemon thyme, evening scented stock, German chamomile, nasturtiums, Jane's Rugosa rose, Ptilotus Joey , Gallardia, lady's mantle,Johnny jump ups, spotted lily, garden sage, Nicotiana, Stella D'oro lily, rose campion, catchfly, Peppermint stick zinnia, pink foxglove, baby's breath, Pyrythem daisy, peas, strawberries, sun drops, Anchusa, "Pretty Belinda" yarrow, snapdragon, heliotrope, blue Delphinium, orange spotted lily, lavender, pink poppies, sweet peas, Clematis, Red Lupine, Susan's day lilies, "Destined to See" day lily, wood betony,lambs ear, Iris enstata, "Who Dun It" Dahlia, Landini lily, Rudy tritetelia, hens and chicks, Aclepsis tuberosa,sea holly, yellow sedum, Aclepsis curveceps, Art's Pride cone flower, anise hyssop, gloriosa daisy, Madonna lily, cosmos, red and mahogany bee balm, orange turk's cap lily, smoke bush, catnip, hollyhock, French thyme, green beans, milkweed, cinnamon basil, "Mardi Gras" Helenium, Alpine strawberries

Flowers still in bud are not listed, at least one open flower is required to make the list.

Evicted!

Yesterday we were horrified to find a nest of hornets living in the stone wall just to the right of the southern opening to the square. I gave them a very wide berth. I have had nasty experiences with these mean bees before. It was cool last night and Ed came up with a plan. Early in the morning before the hornets warmed up and left the nest, Ed donned his bee suit and got his propane torch. I remained inside the house observing the eviction behind the safety of the bedroom window. The bees warmed up fast, but Ed seared them with the flame of his torch as they exited from openings in the wall. When the bees stopped coming, he lifted the cap stone.




This is the nest after it had been well seared. We hope none of the bees got away. They seem to be a vindictive variety who carry a grudge, and who wants angry hornets in their garden?



You can see where the nest was attached to the underside of the cap stone. This wall was one of the first constructed here. Now Ed is careful to fill in the gaps between the stones with sand. This cap stone had been carefully placed so that is was level and solid but unfortunately a cavern like space, just perfect for a nest, was created. The space has been filled in with sand now. No new tenants will move in under this stone!