Return from trip to Wyoming to Summer garden

Bees do have a smell, you know, and if they don't they should, for their feet are dusted with spices from a million flowers.”
― Ray Bradbury, Dandelion Wine 

Butterfly Weed remnant

Seeing plants in various stages of dying, this one actually is "promising".  I set this little plant out a week before I took off for Wyoming.  It had leaves and even flowers.  I choose to believe that a Monarch butterfly caterpillar had a feast.  There are other things that could have caused this, I am opting for the caterpillar. The hopeful sign is the sprout with leaves.  I will watch this plant and see how it does.

The 2 year old Butterfly Weed beside this plant is healthy.

Other plants that may look sad and hopeless to me are the promise of things to come.

This is a seedling zinnia from SPENT blossom that I dead headed several weeks ago

 “One benefit of Summer was that each day we had more light to read by.”
― Jeannette Walls, The Glass Castle

I had Four O'clock's many years
ago and thought I'd try again.
They may be my summer staple
if I continue fighting summer
heat.
They benefit from deadheading
and will likely bloom all heat
long.

 Summer has set in with its usual severity. ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 Heat, ma’am! it was so dreadful here, that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones. ~Sydney Smith, Lady Holland’s Memoir

  I set out watermelon rinds a few weeks back for the butterflies. The seeds germinated and the vine(s) are huge.
I started cutting back and pulling out.
Then, I saw a bumblebee.

Plant stays!

Last but not least, 2 sweet potato vines.  These were set into the hole of concrete blocks.  Not a lot of soil, not much water....I have cut it back as it was creeping out to conquer the whole court yard.

In the end, hubby (not a gardener) would tell me when we talked on the phone that things looked so bad.
I said don't worry about it.
I came home to not a sad sight, a promise of fall and spring.

Trip to Devil's Tower, Wyoming

 Don't forget to click on a 
picture for larger view

My niece and I finally made the trip to Devil's Tower. Plans were in the talking stage for a long time and due to my sister's injury (she is getting better) I was in Wyoming with time on my hands.

When we took off that morning, there was an over cast in Cheyenne and nothing unusual about that. Miles later, beautiful, ominous clouds were in our view for  miles and miles.  I took pictures because we had never seen this kind of cloud formation.

Things got a little wet and exciting about an hour later.
There is a picture of my niece and a lowered window.
We finally were rolling into the clouds and it was raining so hard the wipers could not keep up.
Fortunately, she had a beach towel in the back seat.  (You see, the window is stuck in that position) I rolled the towel into a thick roll and she stuffed it into the space.  Only a little damp before she got it settled.

The odd part about this adventure?  We were listening to an audio book called A Walk in the Woods. A story of two hikers and their attempt to walk the Appalachean Trail that runs from 2180 miles from Georgia to Maine.
The reader was at the point where the two trekkers were soaked to the skin and descriptions of being wet. It seemed apropos to our view out the window(s).

Arrived finally at the ubiquitous pull out area with this sign. It is the "perfect" beginning of a trip into history.
Tourists aside, a person cannot help but think of why this place is here. Pictures do not quite capture the size of this tower and immense rock fall surrounding it.  I am sure there is an explanation of how they chose the path they constructed. It is a bit steep at times but with perfect stopping places to take pictures and catch your breath.
I think my niece and I dawdled a bit more than necessary, but it really is a place to "think" of when it was discovered by the first Indians.  What must they have thought?
There are numerous trees with colorful ribbons tied to them. This is, after all, a sacred space.  I understand that the month of June has been deemed a time to honor the traditions of the various tribes that worship here by not walking the trail during the month.

Half way for this old gardener and darned proud of it!

This is a web site that explains the tower.

https://www.nps.gov/deto/planyourvisit/upload/american%20indians%20&%20the%20tower.pdf

gardening in the hundreds

This past week didn't hit 100°, but the "feels like" was over 100 every day.
More of the same this coming week.

There is not a lot I can do except wander through the remaining gardens and worry. I have zinnias and marigolds blooming like crazy.  Some of the zinnias are short, stubby things and they must have been intended to be 12 inches or better.
That said, even in their stunted state, they are blooming profusely. 

There are taller ones that wave in the wind (no breeze here) weeks of very windy mornings and afternoons.  Makes it difficult to get a non blurry flower.

July 4th RAIN!

 The trouble with weather forecasting is that it’s right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young

Went to bed last night, no hint of rain in forecast.  Rainy morning and still dark at 7AM. 73° makes for pleasant weeding. (til I got too wet)

For weeks now, I have pondered just how to actually reduce the size of my garden(s). Winter and spring no real thought, just pull winter weeds, transplant sprouting cone flowers and sow some seeds.

Reality hits in the wee hours and keeps me awake. This morning, I think I have a workable plan.

The center of the gardens is a circle with a large mailbox for garden tools surrounded by Salvia Greggii.
The last three seasons have been hard on them. They have finally given up. I don't plan to replace them. It takes several seasons for them to be beautiful blooming, bee and butterfly attracting plants.  Not enough time anymore.

That said.  Salvias all come out. I will leave mailbox in the center. The hard part is clearing all weedy stuff out and keeping them down.  I cannot use corn gluten meal to deter seed germination as I plan to sow wildflower seeds in the whole bed.  This is sort of full circle.  The area once was a joy of wildflowers from Spring to Fall.

Extreme heat and drought took its toll and 3 of the beds are more or less given over to nature.  With a bit of weeding here and there. 

It will be another hard summer of trying to keep up.  Just hope the back and hands hold up.

Wren up date and summer is here

We still have infrequent night visiting wrens.  Most of the time I don't even obsessively watch the dusk deepen in hopes to catch tiny bird settling in for the night.
These bits of nature are what keeps me interested if not actually as garden crazed as when temps are below 80°.

Summer is hard on us all. Aging knees, back or hands seem to be a good excuse to put off quick dressing and slipping out before hubby wakes.

That said, there are still things of beauty in the garden.

Visiting Wrens

Right side of patio

Left side of patio

The visitors came in early and I caught these pictures.  I think the change in sundown and sunset has confused them. They were on "their time" last night.


We have been enjoying our overnight guests for weeks.  I have not gotten a good picture as they arrive at dusk and leave at barely daylight.
Normally, there are 2. One in each corner of the eaves of the patio. The other night 3 cuddled together in one corner.  It is the most fascinating thing to anticipate their nightly visits.  They don't stay every night and I worry when they don't appear.

Aphids on Butterfly bush

I found this idea on Pintrest.  The suggestion for the orange color was a plastic cup. I looked and none to be found.
I painted one plastic bottle and placed it next to the bush.  A few days later, aphids appeared on one leaf.
I pulled the leaf off and got rid of the aphids.
I painted a second bottle and so far, no aphids.  The little buggers are just gearing up to attack this plant.
Same time every year.

We will see. This plant was one of the few survivors of the heavy rains followed by hot dry summer. This plant looked dead in July.  I did not dig it out. Let it sit all winter and was so happy to see it come back.  Hubby just nodded and smiled when I reported the tiny leaves popping up.  No gardener, he.

We don't have many butterflies because there were no flowers for them last year. I am assuming that is the reason.

Hopefully, when things start really blooming, butterflies will find them.