Bloom Day June 2012...

Thank you for stopping by on Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by May Dreams Gardens.

This post is for the birds ~ hummingbirds, that is!  I love growing flowers for the hummingbirds.  I have one main hummingbird garden below my deck, but I've also planted hummingbird plants throughout my garden.

 One of my favorite hummingbird plants is Bog Sage. It is the tallest, pale blue in the picture above.

And then there's good 'ole  "Black and Blue"~ Salvia guaranitica.

"Grandpa Ott" morning glory reseeds itself and vines through the hummingbird plants.
 


Cleome also reseeds itself, as does Salvia coccinea (the red flowers).





This is a Penstemon.  I don't remember its name.  Since it likes well-drained soil, I planted it with lots of Perma-til so hopefully it will survive the South.

Another Salvia ~ this one is a greggii and part of the Heatwave series, but I don't remember which one.

 Salvia coccinea ~ it reseeds in red, white, pink, and variations of these three in my gardens.

In the hummingbird garden below my deck, I have a wire/metal globe on top of stone pedestal.  I put it there so hopefully one of the tiny birds would find it a pleasant place to rest.  And guess what!  One day, I saw a hummingbird sitting on it!

I have Salvia guaranitica "Argentina Skies" in my hummingbird garden, but this particular plant is in the front of my house. 

I have three different native honeysuckle vines growing up my deck.  This one is in the hummingbird garden.

We can see this one from the kitchen window.

And this vine is visible from the dining room sliding glass doors.

This Salvia greggii was sold as an annual, but it lived over the winter.  The stripped petunia is a "HeatWave" petunia.

An Agastache.  This one is in a pot on the deck so I can see it from the sliding glass doors.




Nasturtiums.



Torenia.



Also know as the wishbone flower.

I'm not really a "red" person, but I love this plant!

It's Bat-faced Cuphea.

These plants are across the path from the official hummingbird garden, but they include Salvia "Black and Blue" and a couple of Buddlieas that the hummers visit.

Buddliea "Miss Ruby" and Feverfew.

Have a beautiful day!

Potful of herbs...

At the bottom of the back door steps, I have a large grey pot that I fill with annuals.  Of course, it has Johnnies during the winter.  For the summer, I usually try to do a red, white, and blue combo in honor of the Fourth of July.  (The white blob on the deck is Princess.)

This year, I did something different.   I used herbs.  There are four kinds of basil:  pesto basil (the variegated basil), African Blue basil (my favorite basil plant), lemon basil, and Thai basil.

I also put in variegated thyme and variegated marjoram.

I like the way the variegated Lirope looks with the variegated plants in the pot.

In the front is a mini petunia.  I think it is so pretty! 



Have a beautiful day!

In my garden...

So, here's some stuff blooming in my garden.

These three photos are all of the same balloon flower bloom.

I think it is so amazing!

My Venus Flytrap is still alive.

And it is blooming again!  I'm pretty tickled.

 
My Molineux, a David Austin rose. 

This is a cluster of blossoms on "The Fairy."   You can see part of this rose bush in the first picture in my post about Clover.

And last, but not least, a gorgeous hydrangea bloom.  This is "Mini Penny."

Have a beautiful day!

Prickly Pear...

On my neighbor's property, or maybe it is his neighbor's property, there is a clump of prickly pears growing underneath tall pine trees.  The clump is in the center of the picture below.

I am still fascinated by the sight of prickly pear growing here in North Carolina.  I always think of it as growing in Arizona or California.  But not here.

Obviously, it is very happy here under the trees because it continues to grow and spread out.

And this time of year, it blooms.

Prickly pear cactus is edible although I don't personally care for it.  I'd much rather look at it.

This cactus doesn't seem to have spines on it; just bumps where you would expect to find spines.

When I first started taking pictures of this bloom, there was an orchard bee or a sweat bee inside of the blossom.

Then a HUGE bumble bee flew in to collect pollen, too.  If you look carefully, you can see the orange pollen it has collected in its pollen basket in its back leg.

So intricate!

It seems to glow in the late afternoon sun.

Have a beautiful day!

Kitties on the rail...

This is how Clover sits on the deck railing!




Tiger came to visit her.




 Switching postures.

Just hangin' out.

Awww.



Have a beautiful day!

Clover...

Nope.  This post isn't about red clover or white clover.  Not the weed, clover, nor the cover crop, clover.  This post is about our kitty, Clover.  She is a little over a year old now.

 

My co-worker got her from a lady who rescued her.  When Clover got to be too much for the apartment she lived in, she came to live with us.   She was almost six months old.

 Obviously, she has adjusted very well to living outside in the pretty-much country.

She is a very cute kitty and is always doing amusing things.

Like sitting in a birdbath that I hope to one day make into a fountain.

Aren't her blue eyes pretty?

Have a beautiful day!