Welcome to six photos from my garden this week. Walking around to take SoS photos gets me to notice things I would otherwise miss.
- Now I know why I didn’t pull out (I almost did) the bronze fennel. This morning there were three black swallowtail caterpillars munching on the lacy foliage. I had been watching the parsley and almost missed them.
2. I stuck some Joe Pye weed cuttings in a pot a month ago. Some have rooted. They are destined to an area where I took out some large old Joe Pye plants last fall. That turned out to be a mistake. Joe Pye didn’t mind being in that soggy bed by the shed. So these will get planted there. There is a cultivar that doesn’t get as tall which I need to source. I typically cut back the wild Joe Pye to half to keep it in check.
3. The fragrant hostas are blooming. Can anyone tell me what the blue flowered plant is? It self seeds and can get aggressive in this bed, but I like the blue spikes at the same time this hosta blooms.
4. Monarda “Grand Marshall” has finally bloomed. I bought three plants from a catalog in the spring and when they came the plants were so pathetic I knew I couldn’t put them in the ground. They survived and thrived in the pot and will get planted out next spring. Grand Marshall is not as tall as the other monarda I have in the garden and is not supposed to be as susceptible to mildew. I love the color.
5. The load of chips arrived. What we get depends on what the crews are cutting. This time it was a huge pile of red cedar. You see the fan my husband set up to cool himself off when he was loading the wheel barrow. It wasn’t that hot, but very humid. Typical Maryland summer weather. I like the contrast of the cedar chips on other paths in the garden. It will weather, but for the moment it’s pretty and fragrant. I lifted the slate and then replaced it once the chips were down. It’s a little wobbly to start but will settle.
6. A task for next week. I had taken metal hoops from a couple of half wine barrels that rotted away. I put down some landscape cloth beneath them and filled them with driveway gravel. They are sinking into the ground and I need to get the gravel up before it gets lost. I’ll cover this path with cedar chips. To the right front in this photo is the variagated liriope that the rabbits like to snack on. I have that same liriope in other parts of the garden and they don’t bother it. Perhaps these small clumps are closer to their den which I suspect is under the shed.
That’s my six for this week, a meme started by The Propogator, a UK gardener. This is the link to the rules if you’d like to join in.
I love the caterpillar picture.
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This morning there were six on the fennel.
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I’m impressed by your upcycle of the barrel hoops – the path looks wonderful.
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The hoops came from a neighbor’s trash. I knew I could do something with them.
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Great idea with the hoops! I miss seeing those caterpillars, we had the same ones when I was a kid. I never see them anymore. You have such a beautiful place!
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This morning there were six munching the fennel. I am so glad I didn’t pull it out. It will have a permanent place in the garden.
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The blue flower looks like a campanula. My plant App told me that it could be the Lobelia Siphilitica.
Otherwise great caterpillar picture and good hoops idea!
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You and another gardener agree. I need to write it down.
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The blue is lobelia syphilitica…a common wildflower, a cousin of cardinalflower. Hummingbirds like it as well as the hosta blooms. Pretty photos. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks!
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You get much more photogenic caterpillars than I seem to find over here! Mostly the ones that are willing to ‘pose’ for a photo are just brown & not all that interesting to look at
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That caterpillar is amazing…I’d love to see the butterfly. I very much like the look of your path winding through the garden to a shady place to sit.
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Unfortunately that path leads to the back of the garden. Old pots to be used another day, compost piles, etc. But I like the idea that it might lead somewhere.
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I also love the color of that Monarda!
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That caterpillar is a good thing? It looks scary.
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Yes. A beautiful butterfly will be the result. I think they are quite beautiful.
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That is probably why it is happy in your garden and not mine.
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Someone else was talking about the tomato hornworm a while back. I was so impressed by them when I was a kid that when one showed up in my former garden, I just left it to see what it would do. I never saw it again though. I do not know if a bird got it or it moved away. I just never saw it. I have not seen one in many years.
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Wow that’s some caterpillar! I also love the barrel hoop upcycle, such a great idea! Your garden looks fab.
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Another vote here for the hoop upcycle. Too bad they sunk, becuz they provided a nice stepping stone pattern. But on to the new! Great caterpillar, too. And love it that your husband brot the fan outdoors. What a hoot. Got me thinking Joe Pye weed. My word, what my garden’d look like if I planted everything SoSers got me to thinking about.
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I suppose I could have lifted the hoops, added more dirt and new landscape cloth…but it always bothered me that there were only four and I really needed one more. I’ve been watching people’s trash bins.
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Lovely Six. The paths look great with the new chips. Love the caterpillars – I found elephant hawk moth caterpillars in a pot this week. Scary looking but not as pretty as yours
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