Welcome, it's been over 100ºF / 39ºC here the last couple of days. I was driving in a non-airconditioned car and visualized sitting in a sauna, soaking up the heat. Today I am linking with-
Wild Bird Wednesday hosted by Stewart M.
Today's Flowers hosted by Denise
Saturday's Critters hosted by Eileen
I'd Rather B' Birdin' hosted by Hootin' Anni
I Heart Macro hosted by Laura
Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher
I've been adding some Euphorbias to my garden because of their tolerance for drought and their toxicity which protects them from rabbits and voles. Euphorbia x martinii 'Ascot Rainbow', variegated plus with variegated yellow bracts, the flowers are the tiny red structures in the center-
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Euphorbia polychroma, Cushion Spurge, a rather skimpy option from the nursery but hopefully it will fill in to make a nice cushiony plant, the yellow bracts will someday look like flowers-  |
I grew some creeping Thyme from seed 2 years ago, one seedling really took off and made a nice carpet-
The Thyme has spread to 18" / 500cm by 15" / 450cm. It has tiny fragrant leaves and surprised me recently with some tiny flowers-
I do have to pick a few weeds out of the Thyme every few months, but now that it is a dense carpet it is very hard for weeds to get a foothold. I'm wondering how far it will spread and whether I have the nerve to remove some little plugs to make more starts.
Other plants I started from seed last fall are starting to bloom, Scabiosa columbaria 'Blue Note', a cute little plant with dainty rounded foliage, and something unusual among perennials I start from seed, ground-hugging instead of tall, lanky and floppy, perhaps my most exciting new seedling-
But not what I would call blue! The nursery industry is tireless in it's efforts to find blue where it does not exist, as though the color Magenta or purple is somehow inferior, though a very common flower color.
A Mourning Dove graced my deck and path with its cute coos, apparently thirsty in this heat-
Blue Moon from last night
I'm getting lots of beans and squash out in the vegetable garden, and some lettuce, here is a "weed", bear in mind that the definition of a weed is an unwanted plant, so it is not a weed in my garden, Purslane. I was reading that it has more Omega 3 fatty acids than any other plant in the Solar System. Impressive. Plus a lot of other good nutrients. I'm also going to try cooking it with greens.
What wild plants do you find useful in your garden? Hannah
or cameras are macro
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Hello Hannah, your plants and flowers are pretty. I like the Blue Note blooms. And your dove are sweet. The moon shot is awesome! Great post! Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Have a happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Eileen, I had a Scabiosa before that kept blooming a lot so I hope that Blue Note can do that too, I'm pleased with how low it is so far, it is having to cope with a lot of heat and drought.
DeleteSuperb images Hannah.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Bob, I finally got photos of a bird.
DeleteYou got a chance to get a photo of the blue moon...incredible.
ReplyDeleteLove your herb garden...thriving they seem!!!
And the dove...they're a very pretty bird and I love their song.
Thanks, Anni, I couldn't resist trying to get a moon shot, but didn't use a tripod. It seems like a long time since I got a photo of a bird. I like the sound that the doves make when they fly, too, I guess just the air moving through their feathers.
DeleteGreat moon and doves. The 'blue' plant is what we call a pincushion plant. Your other garden plants look lovely and healthy.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Betty, I guess I've heard that name too. I'm so enamored of the flat round foliage and flowers. My similar Knautia is so naughty, growing so tall and lank and leaning and flopping all over the place.
DeleteLovely moon, Hannah. Good to see your success in the garden.
ReplyDelete~
Thanks, Thunder, I like it when I find a plant that succeeds and doesn't require much care.
ReplyDeleteI love the full moon.
ReplyDeleteThe mushrooms have found and returned to their home, safely.
Thanks, Rainfield, the moon still looked full tonight and was yellower, perhaps because the mushrooms had returned.;-)
DeleteHi! Both Euphorbias and Scabiosas are very familiar in our country too. But the the shapes are a little bit different from our country's ones.
ReplyDeleteIt is said that the Purslane is very good for health.
It's my joy to read your posts, because You know plants thoroughly well. Thanks for sharing.
It's kind of you to say so, Minoru, I am a biologist so I seek to know as much as I can about plants that live in my yard, many are useful.
DeleteDearest Hannah; Wow... your Euphorbias really amazed me, Dear friend♪ Before reading, the first one with only picture I thought you're introducing us another orchid p:-) And I checked the word 'variegate' and ’bract’ to understand better(*^_^*) Happy for your Scabiosa columbaria, really beautiful and I think it's new for me.
ReplyDeleteOh, the Mourning Dove must have been a LOVELY guest and I wish I could hear its cute coos♬♬♬
Reading 'the definition of a weed is an unwanted plant' in your post; it reminds me the Emperor of Japan (His Majesty is Botanist) once said "there is no plant called weed" when explained so for a plant, haha. I love to eat "Fuki 蕗, Giant Butterbur”、my mother used to cook from our tiny old garden♡♡♡
I really appreciate your sweet comment, Have a wonderful new week;
Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan to my Dear friend in America, xoxo Miyako*
I looked up the Fuki, dearest Miyako, it is a wonderful large plant but takes a lot of skill in preparation, the Japanese people seem to have a lot of skill in using plants and knowledge of proper processing. That is lost a lot in western culture.
DeleteI imagine your sweet dove probably sounds a lot like the ones here.;-) They really look a lot alike. Hugs from the PNW.
Some flowers can do well in the heat and drought, but the Clematis and daylilies are mostly done now. I was excited last year when the local Mourning Doves finally decided to come live in my yard.
ReplyDeleteVery nice and so beautiful photos! And thank you for your kind words :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Birgitta, you macro of the bee in flight is wonderful.
DeleteI meant to try a moon shot, but fell asleep and when I woke up was too tired. You managed a great one! Love all the flowers. Doves are such beautiful birds.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, Roan, I enjoyed your goldfinches and hummers visiting your sunflowers. I'm growing some for the first time this year but have no bird blind there to take photos from...
DeleteGood morning Hannah! Your photos are all a delight, from the first to the last. I am impressed with your moon shot. I can never quite take one as good as that. Thanks for sharing and I wish you a great week.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Denise, I used my Canon SX50 HS. I bought it based on a moon shot partly. I was just holding the camera against a support instead of on a tripod, so I couldn't zoom in higher so the craters would be clearer, but it did well. The Aroma cooktops are for sale on Amazon.
DeleteI must introduce more of the creeping thyme. It really is a lovely, as well as useful, plant. Your unblue Scabiosa is a charmer too, I have never understood what the fuss is about....seems to me there are quite a few blue flowers, especially inspring.
ReplyDeleteI was impressed with this patch, I checked the new ones and they are spreading but more in long trailing runners, I'm wondering if I have to pin some down and put soil on them to get them to root. I like this one better, I may try making plugs and try spreading them this fall when the ground is damp again, right now it is like concrete. Back when I was a daylily enthusiast, the hybridizers were madly in pursuit of the color blue and naming daylilies with blue names, but daylilies simply lack the genes to produce a real blue, and I kept thinking they should just go plant some Delphiniums. Or Brunnera, etc.
DeleteI wish I had time to learn about plants, especially edible herbs and spices. We do have damson trees in the garden and a very old Bramley apple tree which I am loathe to chop down. I'd love a gooseberry bush - no one seems to grow them anymore even though they are a simply wonderful thing to eat.
ReplyDeletePhil, I started out as an edible plants only gardener but branched out, I planted gooseberries 20 years ago that eventually turned into a big thorny bramble patch and I spent some time chopping them all down and uprooting the stumps, they sucker and spread. Then I planted grass so my husband could just mow it, trying to make the yard easier to care for and get rid of plant disasters. While gooseberries are tasty, the yield per plant is very low.
DeleteThe Ascot Rainbow is such a beautiful plant. Our flowers and vegetables are suffering something terrible in the heat, even though we water daily.
ReplyDeleteGail, I hope to plant it soon, and look forward to having a low-care plant, hopefully, that can handle heat and drought. I planted some Euphorbias a long time ago and some self-sow and spread, some have stayed in their place, and others probably died off.
ReplyDeleteLovely thyme carpet and I like the structure of the Euphorbias.
ReplyDeleteLovely thyme carpet and I like the structure of the Euphorbias.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Abrianna, I love the tight tiny carpet, I just hope I can help it spread. The Euphorbs hopefully will make a nice border.
DeletePurslane grows here as a weed, which delighted me since I don't often find plants here that are found in the East. I almost bought a potted one in Virginia before I left, then find it constantly in my sandy back yard! :-) It has a pretty yellow flower, as well as being edible and good for you, so I think of it as "volunteer" not a weed. :-) Thyme is one of my favorite herbs. You have some lovely thyme, as well as other plants!
ReplyDeleteMarie, I've actually bought purslane seed in the past and gave up on growing it because it would get leaf miners, but strangely some wild purslane popped up in my garden this year so I'm trying to use it more. The Creeping Thyme is so small it would be hard to use it in cooking, but I do have some taller regular Thyme too.
DeleteNice photos! Euphorbias are fscinating plants.
ReplyDeleteWell, I make nettle pesto occasionally...
(If you can't beat it - eat it!)
Thanks Villrose, now I'm just trying to decide where to plant them. I have stinging nettle here as well. I dried some for tea.
ReplyDeleteEven though they are common, I always enjoy seeing mourning doves -- their call is so lovely as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat, I kept seeing them up the street for years but they finally decided to come to my yard, so I'm happy to have them around.
ReplyDeleteThat's great you have those saucers out for the critters to grab a drink:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Chris, it was hotter then too.
ReplyDelete