I really do enjoy growing calendula, they are softly pretty, the buds are so cute.  Now there is a fair amount of
mildew on the plants and quite a few seed heads but they keep on keeping on.
Calendula has an interesting smell which I quite like, it is edible and has been used as a natural medicine. It is commonly used in skin salves to treat irritated skin.



This is the end of summer in my wildflower garden. There is some

beauty left in these poppies and I actually enjoy the seed heads.

We've had some rain so the foliage is looking better than it was

 a few weeks ago but many of the other flowers are losing

their ability to withstand the rain and are starting to look

bad. No matter, the poppies sure do pop!

My apologies about no post yesterday and today's late

post. Our Internet provider had an outage!

 



Yesterday's flower finally opened up for me. It is nice to still have something flowering



This black eyed susan has been stuck in this

half open state for what seems a couple of

weeks. I am waiting impatiently for it to open.





Sometimes I can't choose just one

photo to stay in line with
the One A Day!
These leaves are in a parking lot

down the street from our house.
Don't you love the leaf color?

German Chamomile is a widely grown and used herbal medicine,

I on the other hand grow it for its smell and flowers!

It smells sort of like green apples and it's pretty,

I should harvest it - maybe next year.



My cosmos are fairly tall but they are now laying on the ground,

we had some heavy rain and all the taller plants are laying down.

I need to go out and do some staking it would seem.



Lantana for most is a summer annual, myself included.

It is a flower I try to always grow, such a cheery flower

it reminds me of the sherbet ice cream of my childhood.

In warmer climates the Lantana can be grown as a perennial and

is referred to as Lantana Shrub. If you have a warm place to keep it

you can keep it growing over-winter.

These flowers are an attractant for hummingbirds and butterflies,

a wonderful reason to grow this don't ya think?



It's a roly poly/pill bug but do I see another bug?
Didn't know that one was there when I took the photo.

I'm fairly certain this is a native honeysuckle although I haven't been

able to id it as to which one exactly it is.

I am loving how it is flowering all summer long.



A few years back I planted a wild rose in a semi shaded area of the yard

hoping that it would bloom soon. When I bought it the description

said it would bloom in partial shade and it finally has!

It is growing like a weed which made it especially

nice to see some blooms, why grow a weedy plant

that doesn't flower?!



Sometimes a litttle different is a good thing which is how I

feel about these seed pods. Fresh from blooming, looking like

they are fat and full of seeds, another reason to grow the Alliums.



Isn't this a lovely combination? The White Bellflower is in

the background which self-seeds freely but doesn't overtake the garden

and the plants are easily removed.

Cape fuchsia is a wonderful summer blooming shrub,

pictured here are the unopened flower buds.

                                   The shrub can suffer die back in our PNW gardens

but always comes back, just clean up the deadwood in early spring.

Dead-head and you will be rewarded with blooms

late into fall.



Although I've said that the daylilies I grow are rather common,

every now and then the flowers amaze me.



Peppermint Flowers

Peppermint is what's flowering right now! When my kids were much younger

I would make them teas using various herbs from the garden, mint

always played a strong role in that tea. As winter seems to be soon upon

us in the PNW it gets me thinking that it's time to bring in some mint.

Yes, I have read the advice to harvest herbs before they flower and

yes I tend to ignore that advice. Of course I could have harvested

the tips to keep the blooms away and prolong that harvest

but why would I? I love the flowers and so do the bees!

Indian paintbrush

We visited Bend, OR earlier this summer, while we were there

we stopped in Sunriver to go bicycle riding. It was quite

enjoyable with amazing views, if you check out the photo gallery

at Sunriver Resort you can check out the bike trail views yourself.

One area was boggy and I swore I saw a flash of red as

we flew around a curve on a 2-seater bicycle.

I warned the "driver" that we would be coming to a screeching halt

at the next glimpse. I am so pleased to have been giving a

magnificent viewing by Mother Nature of this Castilleja.

I have been unable to id which variety this one is though.

 



                                          Found this little bugger hanging out on the Hops!
                                        Does it have some camouflage skills going on or what?!

While I don't know what this little bugger will turn into one

day I left it to munch away and hopefully live happily on the hops.

We spent a few days in Westport, WA. These flowers were

growing in a pot next to one of the shops, I'm too tired to even

think about what they are!!!

This summer's rather cool weather cut into the raspberry harvest, oddly enough though they've fruited longer than in past years. I suppose it's a trade off, less berries but a longer harvest time.

Today I'm showing you what popped up in my garden and someone else's garden. The potatoes grew in the finished compost and some volunteers in the garden beds. So far this summer's volunteers have been pretty awesome.
 The tomatoes and peppers come from a friends whoes Father grew these tomatoes in a warm and sunny area of WA, obviously not in the cloudy rainy Seattle area. Beautiful tomatoes and peppers.

As I've mentioned I'm in love with the Poppy this summer,

as you can see from this photo there are some bachelor buttons in there.

I've been wanting to grow them for some time and for

some reason this was the summer. There are lots of seed heads

so I'm wondering just how many there will be next year!

Oh okay I do admit to editing this photo a tad but in my

defense it is pretty this way.

While day lilies are not one of my favorite plants they are still

useful to me in the landscape. The plants fill in an area well

and bloom in the middle of summer when other flowers

are starting to wane.

I also think these flowers are a bit comedic in their half bloom.

In the spring our Fred Meyer stores sell Fuchsia starts rather cheaply.

The plants are quite small and it does take awhile for them to bloom,

even so I enjoy them and sometimes I am even able to over

winter them. I will be trying to over winter this one as I am

quite fond of it.

I've probably shown you more than a few poppies this summer

but honestly I cannot help it. I am in love with the poppy this summer.

I don't actually know much about poppies but am learning;

I think this is a corn poppy which makes it an annual

but it will self sow quite well and I shouldn't need to plant it again.

 This may or may not be a good thing, we will have to wait and see.

I have been deadheading to help it keep going and I have been rewarded.

This won't be the last poppy you see from me though, like I said I just can't help it!

The Hen and Chicks sent up a tall flower stalk and surprised me

with these cool green flowers. Sadly the plant dies after it flowers

but it has sent off a bunch of chicks so all is not a loss.

I wasn't kidding when I said the Queen Anne's Lace had taken

over a bed. There is also some yellow hawkweed in there

and the pumpkins of course. While I realize this Queen Anne's Lace

could be a problem I have let it grow, the bees really seem to enjoy it,

I enjoy it and it looks great in bouquets on the front porch.

I can dead-head which is quite a task considering how many

flowers there are, I am trying anyways and hoping for the best.

This pumpkin looks perfect in it's home of clover.
I couldn't have planned this if I'd wanted to!

I'm looking forward to watching this color up, now if only

I could remember what type I planted!

After yesterday's hidden flower I couldn't help but show you

a better one of the pumpkin flowers. Honestly I think

all flowers are amazing, if you look closely they are even

more amazing! Obviously I like the pumpkin flowers!

In the last year or so (who knows maybe it was 3 years ago!) a

Queen Anne's Lace came up in the yard. Now there is a lot of

Queen Anne's Lace and while I do like it quite a bit

I have some concerns about it taking over. Right now it is

in one patch where I left it grow for now, I also planted pumpkins

in said patch. I'm happy to report the pumpkins are doing just fine!
As if pumpkins would do anything else but grow well.

I never tire of the pansies perfect little face.