Coneflower trials continue

“Most folks probably think that gardens only get tended when they're blooming. But most folks would be wrong.”
― Shannon Wiersbitzky, What Flowers Remember

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 Damaged or not this picture is so pretty.
I am beginning to think that I am not supposed to have a lovely garden area of coneflowers.  The flowers were beautiful and promising more.  I hoped for no rabbits (still fenced in)(flowers,s not the rabbits!) I looked forward to butterflies and bees visiting.  Not this year either.

Heat is bad enough, drought and very sandy/powdery soil and 100° or more have made a sad mess of the area.

The new culprit?  Caterpillars!!!! They were tiny black and spiky.

I had noticed black leaves and black edges to the petals.  I had no idea what was going on.  Then, I spotted
the telltale droppings. I knew then it was caterpillars.  A Silvery Checkerspot butterfly to be exact.
http://www.beautifulwildlifegarden.com/silvery-checkerspot-butterfly.html

I am not sure if the caterpillar is eating on the petals or this is a result of serious damage

"A perennial is a plant that would have come back year after year if it had survived." I use that when my husband asks "How long will it live?"

There is a caterpillar in the center

Spring joy

 A garden is always a series of losses set against a few triumphs, like life itself. ~ May Sarton

Spring  promise

After cutting away damage, small flowers bloomed

Same flowers in August

"We go in withering July
To ply the hard incessant hoe;
Panting beneath the brazen sky
We sweat and grumble, but we go."
-   Ruth Pitter, 1897-1992, The Diehards, 1941

Poor sunflower, poor birds

8' and counting

This is a predictable all be it a sad story.  High hopes for future seeds.

The  plant reached at least 9', I had high hopes and fears that it was too heavy for the stem.
Sadly, I was right.
A day or two after taking this picture, I came outside and found the stem broke from the weight.  No tears or wailing though.  I expected no less.

So now, the blossom head is hanging from a crook waiting to dry out and feed the birds.
It was fun to watch this flower reaching for the sky and waiting, waiting for the first sign of the blossom.

Sunflowers for the Birds

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"Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get" - Mark Twain

We woke this morning to rain.  Plans for getting out while still in the 70's and overcast, as well as humidity in 80's have changed. This rain looks as  it is going to be here all day.                 

I have taken pictures of these sunflowers that have come up underneath the bird feeders  for weeks.  The first week showed plants about a foot high. Poor planning on my part here.  My intention was to follow the progress from seedling to full blossom. I was concerned that the plants would bother the birds.  Just the opposite, they use the leaves for shelter in the rain and the leaf stem to perch on to eat the seeds.

May 28, 2014

We were gone to visit family about  the time the plants were 2 or 3 feet tall.  A week later when we came home, they (one in particular) were 4+ feet.

In watching these plants, I find things to think about regarding how they germinate after a good soaking rain, how tiny the new sunflower head is and that when the seeds begin to swell towards ripening, the flower gets larger and larger.  Fascinating!
The old fence is 6' tall and it gives a good gauge to see how tall the stalks grow.

June 21, 2014

The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. ~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"To dig one's own spade into one's own earth! Has life anything better to offer than this?" - John Beverley Nichols, 1898-1983, author, playwright, journalist.

June 20, 2014

June 22, 2014 .. 7' tall

June 23, 2014

"There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments." - Janet Kilburn Phillips

 

June 27 2014

 This plant has to be 8' tall and finally 
blooming!

Arbors

"Necessity is the mother of invention" author unknown

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 These photos were taken mid June.

 I "lucked" into these arbors for less
than $100.00, end of season at Big
Lots.

We tried a couple of ways to stabelize
the arbors to stay upright and be able
to hold vines. Hubby even came up with
a "driver" idea that works just fine.

"The most noteworthy thing about gardeners is that they are always optimistic, always enterprising, and never satisfied. They always look forward to doing something better than they have ever done before." - Vita Sackville-West

 This light weight, unfinished
wood one spent one year
laying on the ground after a summer of trying to come up with a way to keep it from blowing over. It would never be able to support vines that way!


I spent many wee morning hours mulling, looking at photos in books and magazines.....................
Not a good idea if you want to go back to sleep.  I have to "pick my garden magazine" reading times as I tend to get so inspired, I can hardly wait for daylight to get out there and plan.

 This metal arbor came with a gate which I repurposed to another site.

We came up with a Rube Goldberg arrangement that reinforced the knowledge that hubby is not a builder or inventive gardener. It worked, but not aesthetically pleasing.

My idea is probably not new, but just a "Why not?" one day while pondering how to have pots with vines (dream on) or lush vines growing from the ground (dreamer me).

I bought 4' T-posts at Lowe's. They are heavier metal than the 3' ones.  With the help of hubby and his clever driver, we stabilized each leg by setting post in the ground and my ever present cable ties for attaching. I will change the cable ties to black that are supposed to be less susceptible to sun's rays.

So far, they have withstood 35 mph wind gusts and hours of wind.  The real test will be when (ever the dreamer) I have vines covering them.

A 2 ½" piece of pipe and an end cap

"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." - Gertrude Jekyll 1843-1932 


 "Gardening is always more or less a warfare against nature. It is true we go over to the 'other side' for a few hints, but we might as well abandon our spades and pitchforks as pretend that nature is everything and art nothing." - James Shirley Hibberd, journalist and gardener, 1825-90.

Very photogenic peony and others

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order. 
nature quote by John Burroughs

A visit to Illinois for grandson's graduation from High School led to time spent in my daughter's beautiful gardens.

Sometimes, there are some flowers that are more photogenic than most.  The Zinnea for one, pale roses for another, and the peony.  There were plants of different colors, but one takes my breath away!

These are just an assortment of blooms in her gardens.

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Half the interest of the garden is the constant exercise of the imagination.
Mrs. C. W. Earle

'Just living is not enough,' said the butterfly.
'One must have sunshine, freedom,
and a little flower.' gardening quote / saying by Hans Christian Andersen

The best place to seek God is in a garden.
You can dig for him there. garden quote / saying by George Bernard Shaw

An addiction to gardening is not all bad when you consider all the other choices in life. quote / saying by Cora Lea Bell

I remember when I was a little girl that peonies had black ants on them.

My green thumb came only as a result
of the mistakes I made while learning
to see things from the plant's point of view.  garden quote / saying by H. Fred Ale