Garden Fun

I'll have to share the hiker statistics maybe tomorrow. I'm trying to get it right, and I didn't have that info already in my spreadsheet. I'm going back through the blog and figuring things out, but it's going to take a while.

Today, I continued the plan of working, alternating with gardening. The gardening is bringing me a lot of joy. This peony bush has never looked so good! I sure wish it wasn't pink, but I'll take any bit of color.

The purple globe bellflower, Campanula glomerata is also blooming. I really thought it would be all done by the time I got home, so this makes me pretty happy. There should be white ones too which always bloom later than the purple ones, but I don't see any buds. These were free from a surplus plant table years ago.

I did almost miss the spotted deadnettle, Lamium maculatum. This comes in a variety of leaf colors. In fact, I don't care a thing about the white flowers on this white-leaved plant. I grow it for the bright leaf color that loves shade. The thing is... it does better some years than others. I'd like to have it grow all around the base of the birch tree, but it keeps getting thin patches and then sending a runner out far away from the place I want it. This year, surprisingly, it's looking fairly good. I moved a couple of erring clumps back to where I want it. Honestly, it's only ever looked really good one year. But I keep trying. This came from the cemetery gully where someone had thrown it at the end of the season.

You can see it here beside the Heuchera I bought three weeks ago. I really like them together.

Interestingly, these plants are called deadnettle because the leaves look something like stinging nettles (not so much the spotted ones), but they don't have the stinging hairs, so they are "dead."

My border of tiny miniature hosta is sending up budding stalks. I may have identified it as Hosta venusta 'Tiny Tears.' The only reason I'm not sure is that the flowers on mine are darker purple than the pictures on line. That may not mean much. But there are SO many cultivars that it's hard to be certain. This was free from Ester and it is very happy. From a small puddle I now have about 10 feet of border along the front flower bed, and I even gave some to Betty. I'll show you that when it blooms.

The yellow mystery lily has three buds. One may be open tomorrow.

I also wrote another news article today.

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