Eye Of The Beholder

This Italian parsley plant is not having a very good year.  It is small and now it is being eaten by a parsley worm.  On the other hand this caterpillar will turn that parsley into a beautiful black swallowtail butterfly. I have a passion for black swallowtail butterflies

The pink hibiscus has been frosted , dried out, then drenched and skeletonized by bugs. I think the Japanese beetles did it, but I didn't actually see them and I won't since there are no leaves left for them to eat  Pressing on regardless the large pink flowers open to show off their beauty just the same.  It is quite magnificent for this plant to put on such a display under these conditions.  The large pink flowers with pleated petals flowers look perfect!  To give credit where credit is due, we borrowed the expression "press on regardless" from Sue Hubble.  She used that expression as the name of her old pickup truck.  We read her books when we were trying to define what our retirement life would look like.

Things being what they are this year the garden has gotten away from us.  There are plenty of weeds in this picture.  In this case Ed's stone wall and the red cardinal flowers look so sensational it's difficult for almost anyone to see weeds.  I have always loved the lush overgrown look anyway!

By now I hope you are seeing beauty in the garden and feeling serene! WARNING: If you really get freaked out by snakes STOP reading here.  If you are looking for a different kind of beauty and some excitement in your life, read on!

We have more tools than the shed will hold.  As a result the three wheelbarrows remain outside.  Stored up side down and propped up on large stones or an abandoned bale of hay, we know that creatures live under them. I went to get a wheelbarrow and let out a piercing scream when I righted it.  This was no ordinary scream.  I was still making noise when the sound returned after echoing off of the ridge. Ed knew that I had uncovered an impressive snake, one worth seeing!  When the snake straightened out to slither away, it displayed more than three feet in length.  That is about as large as milk snakes get here.  This one had recently shed its skin.  That is apparent because of the sharp lines of separation between the colors.  The skin is also blemish free.

Later in the day the serenity of the garden was broken with another of my snake shrieks, but it wasn't nearly as intense.  After all these years, Ed could tell it was  only a garter snake and less than a foot long.  He didn't bother to come to see it and the snake was long gone anyway!

One of our lawn tractors must also be parked out of doors.  It has been transported to the dealer twice this year to try and repair the damage done by nesting rodents.  We now park that tractor near a stone wall where we know milk snakes gather.  We are counting on these beautiful constrictors to decrease the number rodents living in the immediate area.

Super Sweet Scents Of Summer

Daylilies hold a great deal of space in our gardens now and are likely to expand their holdings next year.  Fragrant flowers with ruffled edges are personal favorites.  Mid morning walks focused on snapping off yesterday's spent flowers are made pleasant by the sweet scents of the newly opened flowers.  The first round of blossoms are coming to an end.  We will enjoy some re-blooming but those flowers will be few in number here.

The plant in the portrait is an unnamed variety that was included as a free gift.  It has so many favorable characteristics that it is hard to understand why it remains a cast off.  Its white petals are tinged in yellow near the green throat but the plant is tall, hardy, scented and produces many flowers over a long period of time.  Divisions of the original plant have been placed in the garden down by the road.  This remains high among our favorites despite its humble origin.

Oriental lilies still hold places in our garden despite their preference for warmer climates.  Pollen stains and a petal knocked free by the weeder mar the visual presentation of this Muscadet but its scent fills the area.  Working near this plant is incredibly pleasant even when the wind blows from the neighboring cow barn!.  This is its first year in our garden.  We hope that next year the blossoms will be closer to the height of our noses.  We can still bend over but going down on one knee is now an issue.

Casa Blanca's are also in their first year here.  Simplons had held this spot for several seasons but disappeared after I separated their huge bulbs.  They were also a white flowered lily that had exceeded six feet in height.  We hope that the new variety attains taller growth next year.  These flowers are also huge and sweetly scented but we would like the plants to be taller.

The nearby purple Heliotrope also features a pleasant aroma.  The only negative is its nearness to the ground.  One must assume the position of a prayerful bow to enjoy this beauty.

Summer sweet continues to fill the area around the garden with its aroma and cover the wall with spent flowers.  Out early this morning to try and get some work done before the heat knocked me out, I found a honey bee sleeping among its flowers.  I know that she was sleeping rather than dead since she moved when another bee already at work walked across her.  That was when she awakened, moved and started to work the flowers.

A summer sweet sucker plant is visible on the near side of the stone wall.  All that can be done is to cut off the new growth year after year.  These suckers will continue to appear long after I am no longer working here.  The nearby milkweeds are another testimony to my inability to ruthlessly garden.  Milkweed roots run deep and long.  They are impossible to remove so why do I allow them to grow in the garden?  Someone's fascination with butterflies and caterpillars is at the root of this dilemma!

Speaking of milkweed, I do mow a large area of wild given over to this important plant.  The plants continue to regrow after each mowing.  My purpose in repeated mowing is to supply tender new leaves favored by Monarch butterfly caterpillars.  The wild leaves are tough and falling now but the Monarchs need them as a food source.  Another bonus to me is late milkweed flowers.  Their scent is sweet beyond description and I get a second chance to enjoy them.