A Tuesday night in the garden

I'm just going to bore you with more flower photos.  I love the setting sun and the colors that come from the flowers in the late afternoon and early evening. 

This is floribunda rose called Moondance and its smell is divine.  It is in its third summer in my garden.  I really don't do anything to the roses but trim them a bit. I don't use any pesticides and let them live as they will.  The japanese beetles will have a feast later in the summer during the second bloom, but the first bloom is my time.....

This is one of the few flowers in my garden that I don't remember what it is.  It grows on two foot stalks and will bloom through July.  Shoot,  if anyone knows, please tell me....

Purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), has always been one of my favorites midwestern native perennials.  They are now about six years established in the gardens and the seeds are propagating and speading.  Never quite sure where they will pop up.  But I always leave them to grow as they might

This year I planted some annuals throughout the back garden to add some color boosts.  Some annuals, I found, are preferred food of the rotten rabbits that seem to have invaded the garden this year.  Fortunately, tonight I found two of about 12 zinnias I planted in May.  They are now blooming after surviving being munched one early in the summer.  Yay!

Here's another zinnia that has just popped up in the garden - surviving the vermits....

Oh, did I mention how much I love Cosmos?  This is one annual that never fails me.  They come in several colors and make a good filler in several spots each summer.  They will grow up to 5 feet tall and flower all summer long. 

And finally, a comeback story.  This cosmo is a surprise from last summer's bumper crop.  I had a few in planters around the patio.  This year there were about a dozen seeds that sprouted.  I pulled several but left this one just to see if it would flower.  And guess, what, here the flowers come.   

Kinda of cool that an warm-blooded flower's seed can survive a harsh Wisconsin winter.  I think I can find inspiration there.  

Flowers are my time of year

What a difference flowers make in my world.  At dinner the other night, Todd, Raine and I were talking about our general state of being.  I said I was an 8.5 on a scale of 10.  Warm, sunny days full of flowers brings me to this level.  When I'm in the gardens working with my flowers, I'm actually closer to a 9.2.  Above is a nice close-up of my Foxglove I planted last year.  It has grown two spikes this summer, yippee!

Oh my gosh,  the intensity of the magentas in the Cosmo flower lording it over the Sedum takes my breath away. I think I'm going to frame this one.

I love the common Day Lily, also known as a Ditch Lily in these parts because of their absolute bounty in the area.  You'd be hard pressed not to find a patch of them anywhere there is sun and a ditch....

Love how the setting sun gives such a warm glow to the flowers. Life is so much better with flowers. Don't you think?

Reason 743 to Love Madison

There are so many reasons to love Madison.  It's a great place to live, work and play.  With lakes surrounding us, there's always ample opportunity to get out on the water.  To tell the truth, it's also the best place to watch a sunset - like I did just the other night.

Amazing. Beautiful. Peaceful.

The first salad of the season

Harvested the first of the fast-growing lettuce the other night.  What a difference a fresh out of the garden salad makes.  I picked up some Bibb, Red and Green Lettuce plantings at the farmers market in early May.  We can eat salads just about every night now.  The leaves grow quite quickly in the warm sun.  We do have to water them pretty regularly though as it heats up.