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Saturday, August 23, 2014

Continuing Bloom, August 23, 2014

Wildflower Wednesday, August 27, 2014, hosted by Gail, join other bloggers to see their wild and native flowers!  For my wildflowers scroll down to the middle portion of this post.

In addition, I am linking with-

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma Wiseman and Mystical Magical Teacher

Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sally

A new flower blooming in my garden is the pink Persicaria (Polygonum) capitata, that I grew from seed.   I hope it will live through the winter.   The flower looks like an annual weed in my garden except the weed's flower is long instead of round.


Annual Persicaria weed-

Rozanne hardy geranium is amazing, growing into a very big plant and covered with blooms all summer, here with long-blooming ground cover rose Baby Blanket-

Wildflower Wednesday part of this post here-  As for wildflowers, a couple of native plants are blooming now, Monarda citriodora, which I grew from seed, and hope it will return next year, it seems to be listed as not very long-lived-



Another Wildflower-  Pearly Everlasting, which comes up by itself here, the flowers have a papery texture-



Surprise blooms on a new Vernonia fasciculata grown from seed and planted in 2013, and blooming for the first time, I hope it will do well.  It is with some post-bloom Liatris, and Yarrow-


Another surprise wildflower was this volunteer from out of the blue, now 7 feet tall, I guess an Oenothera, Evening Primrose-


I did find one of the adult Thistle Tortoise beetles on the same thistle plant the larvae were on last week.  These beetles are a biological control for the pesky thistles, isn't it cute?

One of my favorite butterflies, not for beauty but for friendliness, is a small Skipper, which has wings that remind me of jet fighter airplanes.   This one insisted on landing on my shoe, and peered at me over its antennae, kind of like over glasses, don't you love those big eyes-

And being something of a decorator in ambition, on my peach Dahlia, looking like a near match for color-

My peppermints are now blooming, they make great tea but also have a lot of appeal to the honeybees.   I usually have trouble with the plants flopping, but accidentally remedied this situation by putting an extra roll of welded wire fencing on the bed on its side to get it out of the way, the mint grew up through it, and Voila! no more flopping-


The problem with mint is that Crab spiders who prey on bees have been heavily infesting it with tiny baby spiders, but they have a gift for finding and climbing up on whatever flowers are in bloom.  The adults can kill bees, which for me makes them the bad guys, bees have enough problems, and are my friends.  Here on an Anemone japonica flower, predator and prey-

For a cheerier topic, one of my favorite vegetables, always on the grow list for its delightful buttery taste and texture, Crookneck squash.  Does it remind you of a mother penguin and her chick, aww-

This week I got my new cool season vegetable bed planted, last year it was lawn but we killed the grass (at the point the grass is laughing evilly, as its many stolons start to grow) with piles of leaves over winter and grass clippings this spring-

This week I had to clear the beds and mattock them to remove remaining grass roots and dig the rows, which I sprinkled with rough scratchy lava rock to hopefully repel moles and voles-

I planted seeds for cool crops- 4 kinds of Broccoli Raab, my favorite Round Black Spanish radishes, and mixed fall radishes, all from Gourmet Seeds, plus Collards and Giant Red Mustard.  I am actually a month past my cool season vegetable planting deadlines for getting the plants big enough to withstand frost, but can use some of my tunnels to keep them warm later.  Have you planted any vegetable crops for fall?

Another part of the quilt from the local fair for a dash of blue-

Summer is still hot and dry here, I'm trying to do a better job with watering, how is summer treating you?    -Hannah

                                                                  or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.   I like to visit and comment on your blogs, but I cannot comment if the only choice is google+, so I will comment here instead or on an email link.

74 comments:

  1. Dear Hannah, thank you for sharing these wonderful photos with Today's Flowers.

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    1. Thanks, Denise! I enjoy the critters in my garden.

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  2. Beautiful flowers and critters! Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Gunilla, insects certainly add a new dimension of enjoyment. I enjoyed your lizards, I just wish I saw more of them here.

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  3. Love the insects and moths especially the small skipper.
    Beautiful colours in your quilt.....

    Happy weekend!
    Ruby

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    1. Thanks, Ruby! It's great to have one kind of friendly butterfly around. I haven't seen their caterpillar. I didn't make the quilt, it's from the fair. I would like someday to make something like that.

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  4. Lovely series of flowers and insects.. The skippers are pretty.. Great photos. Thank you for linking up to my critter party..Have a happy weekend!

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    1. Thanks, Eileen, I don't seem to get many photos of the bigger critters. I guess insects are easier to approach. Thanks for hosting!

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  5. How did you get the skipper to stay long enough to have its photo taken? They move so quickly!

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    1. For some reason the skippers in my yard are sometimes really friendly, unlike all the other butterflies sailing on by.

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  6. Hi! Some great critters here! I have never seen a tortoise beetle before, but I have plenty of Crab spiders amongst my garden flowers, and have seen them capture large butterflies. The Skipper is a pretty butterfly, and I do like those large eyes, kind of appealing in such a small dainty creature.
    Greetings from Portugal.

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    1. Thanks, Sonjia. I have a personal war on Crab spiders. I love your Peacock butterfly photos!

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  7. I love the cute little skippers too! I haven't planted any seeds for fall crops yet. I think I may skip that this year.

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    1. Aren't they just so cute! I guess you could always grow something in your greenhouse.

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  8. I'm so glad you are late with seeding, makes me feel better about my turnips. I have carrots, parsnip and beets in the ground to harvest through winter. I'm putting in broad beans for an early spring crop, I have yet to look at the sowing instructions....? I hadn't thought of anything leafy, I'll try next year. I'm enjoying the challenge of trying to grow something for most of the year.

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    1. Thanks, Susan. Some of the greens like kale can make it through the winter, though they tend to stop growing. The Round Black Spanish radishes are so dense, they do pretty well through the frosts. Lots of the plants make it through the winter to make some early greens then go to seed, but I don't think Broccoli Raab is tough enough to do that, it's more of just a fall green.

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  9. Thanks, Felicia, I like little jumping spiders, is about all. The garden spiders are starting to make webs everywhere and I tend to walk into them and get a face full of web.

    The quilt was one I photographed at the fair, I didn't make it. I could wish...

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  10. The tortoise beetle and the crab spider were fascinating! Great macros of them...felt sorry for the bee! Lovely flower shots, and oh, yes, crook-neck squash is also my favorite! And that QUILT!!!!

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    1. Thanks, Marie, I feel sorry for the bees, too. There are so many spiders! You must have good taste to appreciate crookneck squash too. I enjoyed your chipmunk photos, so cute.

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    2. Wow, you presented a lot of plants they are so beautiful.And your blog is very interesting. Thanks for visiting. Greetings from Europe.

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    3. Thanks, Gosia, I enjoy the insects and wild plants in my garden. I enjoyed you magpie photos, I used to see Magpies in Denver.

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  11. Wonderfull plants and flowers, nice shots,Greeting from Belgium

    http://louisette.eklablog.com

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    1. Thanks, Louisette, I studied French so it's fun to read your blog.

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  12. That beetle is pretty neat, I almost missed him!

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    1. Yes, Freda, that is probably why I hadn't seen one before, they are quite camouflaged.

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  13. Nice photos, great flowers! marvelous colors !! I want to be bee!

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    1. Thanks, Leovi, sweet praise from a wonderful artist. Being a bee would be a lot of work. I have tried taking their places with a brush sometimes to get more squash or apples. But I do have a lot of busy little workers so don't have to do that now, I try to plan a succession of flowers to keep the bees fed, and get great fruit set.

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  14. the first photo is a plant I was weeding this morning (birds planted it) ~ Gorgeous photography of your beautiful garden and love that quilt ~ Happy Week to you ~

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

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    1. The wild Persicaria, also known as Polygonum, can look a lot like the first photo, my wild one doesn't have as cute leaves, with the lines and bronze chevrons. The flowers are cute, kind of like some generic artificial flowers I've seen. I can't take credit for the quilt, someone else work of art from the fair.

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  15. Wonderful post with all you have going on in your gardens.

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    1. Thanks, Janice, I'm basically just a yard slave. I work for the plants, they reward me with food and flowers. Everybody wins.

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  16. Pretty pictures! I just got me a Monarda citriodora from the sale rack of a nursery by my house. It looks up and alive but I think its all done blooming. Can't wait 'till next year!

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    1. I hope it does well for you, I can't tell from descriptions if Monarda citriodora is a dependable perennial, I hope it comes back next year for me and you but I'm not sure. I am looking into other Monardas to grow next year too.

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  17. Wonderful post! Like your flowers!

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    1. Thanks, Birgitta! It's nice to have some new ones starting up blooming for fall.

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  18. Great photos.
    It's a lot going on in your garden.
    All the best.
    Mormor

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    1. Thanks, Mormor, a lot of things are blooming anymore but it's nice to have some just beginning.

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  19. really nice collection

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    1. Thanks, Bruce, I enjoy your great bug photos.

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  20. Lots of lovely shots there - I love the Skippers too :)

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    1. Thanks, Suzy, I enjoy butterflies but so many are unapproachable.

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    1. You're welcome, I enjoy your crystalline and fluid colorful creations.

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  22. Great varieties of flower and insect shots. You're surely very busy there.
    www.1sthappyfamily.com/2014/08/sellers-around-mountain.html

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    1. Thanks Lina, yes, busy but never enough, the weeds get away from me, the vegetables need picking, the plants need water. But in a month or two when fall comes it will start raining.

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  23. Hi Hannah
    I'm not sure I'd really fancy zooming in on some of the critters around my garden especially when they are on my shoe, they do make wonderful photos though. I love your voila fix -it solution to the flopping peppermint, it's my favourite drink It would be great to have fresh mint tea from my garden. Talking of tea thanks for your e-mail comments on my blog, it is always much appreciated :)
    Wren x

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    1. Thanks, Wren, the little Skipper was so adorable landing on my shoe. I actually had to shoo her off. It's so much more fun that patiently sneaking up on a butterfly only to have it flit off at the last moment. I didn't intend to solve my flopping mint problem, it was just a propitious event.

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  24. Hi Hannah,

    Thank goodness for your lovely quilt. Isn’t it fun finding blue?

    Happy Blue Monday!

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    1. Thanks, Sally, don't totally discount my blue sky and blue captions on my sidebar! Happy Blue Monday, thanks for hosting.

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  25. Oh your garden is lovely! I love, love, love squash so I could eat it all day long! I grew some last year but it tuned out too tough to share! :-(
    Your photos are lovely. Always fun to see you here and thanks for sharing. Hugs, Anne

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    1. Thanks, Anne, hugs to you too. I tend to leave squash on a little long, liking the big sizes, so have to be tolerant if they are not as tender, but some can stay tender to pretty big sizes. But I noticed the crooknecks tend to stop making new female flowers develope if they start setting seed so I'm trying to be better about picking them smaller, which makes them more delectable too.

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  26. Beautiful blooms and your insect macros are terrific!

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    1. Thanks, Karen, I was blessed to have cooperation from my tiny guests. Or maybe they live here and I am the guest.

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  27. Great macros! Your Persicaria is beautiful. Usually they winter over with no problem. Your skipper is sweet although I haven't seen a lot of them in my garden this year.

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    1. Thanks, Peter, I keep wanting Persicarias but they are hard to find. I hope this one does well. The Skippers have recently appeared, I think they are a late summer butterfly.

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  28. Thanks, Loredana, the Rozanne geranium is amazing. I liked you poem about enjoying what's left of the fleeting summer.

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  29. These are beauties among the ordinaries.

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    1. Thanks, Rainfield, it is a gift to see beauty in the tiny everyday things.

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  30. I adore quilts and pearly everlasting which is about to bloom here...great plant.

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    1. Thanks, Donna, I enjoy having some native plants present that just come up and bloom without any help or supervision.

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  31. How nice to have Geraniums blooming so long! They share a lovely shade of purply blue with your Monarda. You're very busy with your cool season edible garden--that's fantastic. I think I might try to plant more Lettuce. My Tomatoes and Cucumbers are still producing, so I hope the season will last until early October. Great post!

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    1. Thanks, Beth. I've had lots of cucumbers this year, they should keep going a while, and the tomatoes haven't been producing very long so hopefully there will be a long season of them as well.

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  32. Yes. Rozanne is a wonderful Geranium :-) I use Persicaria capitata in pots. They do not survive winter, but self seed a lot.

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  33. Thanks, Villrose, that is disappointing about the Persicaria capitata, but I am going to try to bring the containers in that have it so maybe I can keep it alive indoors, if I don't also bring in too many pests like spider mites and aphids.

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  34. Wonderful series Hannah! Thanks for sharing the love up-close with I Heart Macro:-)

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    1. Thanks, Laura, it's always fun to try to find something that looks really good at macro size. Thanks for all your thoughts of peace and for hosting.

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  35. I had the same Evening Primrose come up in my garden this year, but I decided it had to go! I also have the annual persicaria which we call smartweed. It took me a long time to realize that other Persicarias really are pretty:) My crookneck squash have outdone themselves this year--I've been looking for new recipes to use them in all summer!

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    1. If I had cut it off at a short height, maybe it would have branched and looked better. I have tolerated the annual persicaria because the flowers are cute, so it is coming up a lot in one bed. I am frustrated because it is so hard to find some of the cultivated varieties, I've tried to get the local nurseries to find certain ones like Golden Arrow or Firetail for me but they haven't. I tried roasting some Crookneck squash with butter and onion, it was very good. I usually just boil it and eat with cheese or butter.

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  36. What a lovely post! I have Rozanne in my garden too but never thought of pairing it with a ground cover rose. Your combination looks so pretty.

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  37. You found some stunning flowers & nice critters for this serie!

    Thank you so musch for your last comment, i enjoyed every word. Really!
    I'm also depressed, that the summer is alreday gone. It feels like it was'nt there already ... But maybe we will have some sunny days in this week or the next ;-)

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    1. Thanks, Frauke, maybe the summer will still give you some sunny days. I'm tired of heat and sun myself, it is supposed to rain tomorrow in our dry season!

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  38. Thanks, Paula, normally my Rozanne would spread in a big circle but I had my wire fences around my roses too close so she spread up the wire fences instead, such a vigorous geranium! So, Baby Blanket being a ground cover rose doesn't prevent it from growing a little tall, 3', so the flowers intermingled well this year.

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  39. I enjoyed your post, but my favorite part was about the accidental prevention of flopping mint. I don't know if pearly everlasting is native here in Nebraska, but it's one I've tried t grow a couple times without success. I must not have the right conditions for it.

    You mentioned some bees in my post may be sweat bees. We have seen those around, and I think they are smaller than the ones in those photos, but I am terrible about remembering which are which bees, so they could be. I like skippers, too, but can't identify which are which.

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    1. Yes, the flopping mint is always distressing, so it's great to have part of it upright, even though it means I can't use the fence for a while. I'm becoming resigned to not being able to grow a lot of the wildflowers the east coast people all love, I think it's the difference in pH, summer moisture, etc. What I'm looking for is just flowers that like it here and do well, though I prefer that they be natives. All your wildflowers are so inspirational.

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