The Backyard: 6/23/15

You guys, it is hot here.  HOT.  Like, 90's and 100's hot.  It's not even close to being normal for us to have this kind of heat, for this many days in a row.  Too much for this Oregonian.

I took these photos last week, but just haven't had a chance to sit down and get a post written.  We're headed to the Rock Farm for our annual 4th of July bash, so this mom is busy getting everything ready.  Why does it take a week to prep for three days out of town??!!

Anywho, I'll start with my new favorite geranium.  Every spring, Fred Meyer has their Fuchsia Saturday event, where they sell starts at a reduced price.  And every year, I buy some geraniums.  Then I spend the rest of the summer cursing the bud worms.
The plants are always so tiny, so you're goin' off the color on the tag, which is never accurate.  This one was new to me, so I figured I'd throw a few in the cart and see what they did.  They turned out to be SO pretty.  I've got 'em in a couple different mixed pots around the fire pit area. 

The buds are vivid pink, then they open up to be barely blush pink on the inside, with the brighter on the back and edges.

I love them.

I was gonna save sharing my new Eryngium until next year, but he got a bud stalk, so I couldn't leave him out.

I got this on our nursery trek down south and didn't care about the flowers, I loved the leaves so much.

The stalk is so long, and so heavy, that it's floppin' clear across town - you'd never know which plant it went with.

I need to get out and stake it.

 The poor guy is being taken over by geranium leaves.

Another thing on the to-do list - whack some of them back.
Ya know, when it's not 900 degrees out.

Have you listened to me the last two years and bought some of this annual Salvia?

I only got the white one this year, but the peach is just as good.

It's such a fantastic plant.

I've got it in pots and in the ground, and it goes non-stop all season.

Another geranium that I'm smitten with.

I think you call these Martha Washingtons, no?

I only got two flowers off my Ixia bulbs this year, and both are yellow.

Booooo.  

I'm buyin' more next spring.  I love them.

Mixed pot shot.

Astilbe buds.

I don't know what variety this is, but it doesn't grow, or bloom, like the others I have.

It's less wispy and feathery.

I'll get some shots of it in full bloom, too.

This is one of my favorite mixed pots this year.

I had never grown Torenia before and I'm kinda diggin' it.

I put it in with a yellow tuberous begonia, a white and lavender fuchsia, that you can't see in the photos, and a coleus.

Speaking of fuchsias, a couple more on the patio have started to bloom.

I moved my Monkshood this spring, thinking the spot he was in had gradually become more shaded over the years, so it was getting so tall and lanky every summer.

Clearly the shade had nothing to do with his height.

This sucker is reaching for the stars.

And last, Grandma's Phlox is bloomin' its little heart out.

Last year, my plant out front got mildew so bad, so early, that I decided to move a piece to the back.

This year, they're both doing great, knock on wood.

And that's it for plant posts this week.

I headed to the grocery store this morning for all the weekend stuff, now it's food prep, laundry, packing, and cleaning for the house sitter, all day tomorrow.

Woohoo.

If I don't pop in before we head out, have a fantastic holiday weekend!