Velvet and Other Miscellany

A visitor to my yard yesterday is all gussied up in velvet.

Just as a reminder, the Staghorn Sumac gets its name from the velvety coating on young stalks, reminiscent of the stag.



Someone was running big equipment out back today, so I went to see if the railroad was being worked on. Nope. It's on the next property south- behind trees, so I don't know what they are doing.

But recently, new ballast has been added on the tracks. I think they are going to replace the regular rails with welded rail (as discussed in the link below), but not yet. Actually, thats why I went back to check out the noise- I'd love to see this process in action.

The only other interesting thing was that I noted the tiny boxelder tree back there is starting to look like a real tree. Not a high quality tree, but hey.

I worked well on all my projects again, and started the second weed-through of the rock garden. It's looking shaggy. A lot of things need trimming!

See Welded Rail Sections

Coleus Capers

Well, the coleus may be a moderate success this year. At first, I thought maybe it was going to turn out to have too much afternoon sun where I want to put them. They did not look happy at first- kind of sunburned.

But they have been in the ground for almost 2 weeks now, and they are getting better.

As a reminder, I bought one, the 'Inferno,' that was deep orange when I first put it out.

Very interestingly, the orange color has changed to almost a ruby red. It's really doing the job to brighten things up there, but it needs friends.

Nine of the coleus I managed to keep over the winter are planted, and a few of them are perking up. This one is doing the best. And most of them are this color pattern. It is tall enough now, and is contrasting nicely with the violet leaves.

Here's an example of the condition most are in. This is another of the bi-color ones that is brightening up and looking better, and above and left of it is one that is all dark. It will be great if it manages to get bigger. It might. The last time I tried significant coleus there, I got some end-of-season ones that were too small, too late, and they never filled in.

I have three more stalks rooting. I think one is rotting, not rooting, but I may have two more to put out in a couple of days.

Seen from any distance at all, the only one you can see is the 'Inferno,' but hopefully that will change as the season goes on.

The thunderstorm yesterday evening dumped another 1.2 inches of rain and there were high winds. We're supposed to get one more round of that tonight, possibly with damaging hail. I have staked the tall lilies that are in bud. I'd hate to lose them, but it could happen.

I did projects, I edited on both manuscripts I have in house, I did a little deadheading and weeding, but it's awfully wet! Not surprising.

There are so many jobs I need to do, it's pretty hopeless no matter what. And the lawn needs mowing again. But I can only do what I can do.

See Orange and Gold

Two Little Green Friends

These pictures were not taken today, not even this week, but this is a good day to share them.

First up is a six-spotted tiger beetle, Cicindela sexguttata. These can be ferocious if you are a small arthropod like a spider, insect nymph, ant, fly, etc. They might bite a human if they are handled, but only defensively. They may have six white spots or more or fewer. Here's another picture of a tiger beetle from 2019.

I have a funny tiger beetle story. Because of their bright metallic green color, they are easily seen. I was riding my bike when I was a kid, and there was one flying toward me. I was moving fast on the bike toward it, right? Suddenly, I had swallowed it! It happened so fast I didn't even react except for the funny feeling afterwards that was sort of gross, although it had to be all in my imagination because it went right down my throat.

You'll have to look harder to find the other little green bug.

Did you find a grasshopper? It's almost perfectly camouflaged. And it's fully grown- the wings extend past the body. I looked closely to be sure it's not a katydid, but it has muscular grasshopper legs.

The humidity level today pretty much made me non-functional except for a few things. I have picked up a small job this summer that will only take a few hours a week, and I need the money. I did that this morning. I took my car in to have a brake job. I had a zoom meeting. And then I had to walk to pick up the car this afternoon. Dang, car repairs are expensive!

We just had that promised line of severe weather. Strong winds, thunderstorm. One lightning strike was very close. Water overwhelming the eave troughs. Things seem to have calmed down now. I don't think any trees broke near me, so that's good.

Miles walked in 2026: 181.8
Just a road walk to get the car.

See Grasshoppers

Sedum Failures

It's really interesting to me that some sedums, even though they are supposed to be hardy, just don't seem to thrive for me.

And then, there are others that are too aggressive.

I'll start with the worst one of those. The yellow seaweed-looking thing is Sedum sexangulare. The rock garden is full of it, and it all came from one 3-inch pot. Right now, it's looking close to its best. But when it's done blooming, the stalks all have to be trimmed or it looks awful. And I have to rip it out of everwhere or it crowds out anything. If it weren't so aggressive, I'd put up with trimming it.

Here's another that I did manage to get rid of. This is Sedum acre. You'll see it all over people's lawns here in sandy west Michigan. It's nice in the spring, and then it gets bright yellow flowers and is beautiful, and then it just looks awful for the rest of the season even if you trim it.

Also in the running for a medal in the agressive category is the Sedum album. But it rips out easier and doesn't crowd other plants as much. The blue spruce sedum (Sedum reflexum) is not far behind, but it also rips out easily.

Then there are the ones that just fail to thrive. This is 'John Creech.' This is the second time I've tried it, and this patch is alive, but it just doesn't fill in well, and has never bloomed. It's supposed to get starry pink flowers and form a dense mat, but it just looks scraggly.

This one makes me sad. It is the 'Sea Urchin' sedum. It's not really hardy, although this little bunch did overwinter. Good thing, because the ones I brought in the house didn't do well. They really don't look any better than this one. I gave them a spot that should have had enough light, but they just got sadder and sadder. This is what Sea Urchin looked like the year I bought it.

And this was my second try at Sedum dasyphyllum. This was last year August, and there's even less of it out there this spring. It really should be happy here, but it's sure not.

Well, a nice garden involves a lot of trial and error and experimenting, right?

Here's an experiment. I bought another little sedum this year. It's very dainty, but if the patch is big enough it will work in my large spaces. Some sites say it's hardy and others say not. We shall see. I'll probably leave some out and bring some in this fall just in case. This is Sedum 'Little Missy.'

We got 3 inches of rain last night! Everything was way too wet to work outside today, but the temperature stayed tolerable. Tomorrow is supposed to be steamy again with even more rain.

I edited on two different manuscripts, went shopping (where I ran into friends and visited a while), and then worked on the other project I'm trying to get caught up. All in all, I get gold stars today.

See Sedum Successes

Rock Garden Reds

The Dianthus 'Brilliant' from the old rock garden started blooming today. Most of it is this deep rose-red color.

Some of the same plant isn't as deep a red. No idea why. And so far, none of the white 'Arctic Fire' has showed up this year. Had some in 2024. I was gone last year, so I don't know if they bloomed.

And this is the Dianthus 'Eastern Star.'

I also discovered that some of the 'Red Mountain Flame' Ice Plant are opening. The Ice Plants don't seem to like my rock hill. But it's alive.

It has been hot and muggy miserable today. We are supposed to get thunderstorms tonight and the next couple of days. That's probably OK. I need to seriously get busy on some overdue project needs. I actually started working on one of those today in addition to editing. Spent about an hour on it. Not nearly enough, but getting started is often the hardest part for me.

And I figured out why the last plant I ordered hasn't arrived... I forgot to push the order button. haha. Now it's on it's way.

See Orange and Gold