Blooming This Week in My Garden

It's a very hot, very humid day today, far too miserable to do any gardening. I usually post photos from my gardens on Sunday, but I didn't have time as I went to my cousin's eighth birthday party. It was a lovely, fun, relaxing, family afternoon. My seven little cousins enjoy getting together and the adults do, as well!

This blue hydrangea didn't look good in the early spring, but though it is smaller in height than usual, it is bursting with blooms.

I rescued this yellow hibiscus from a sales rack; it was shriveled up and desperate for water. Another hibiscus plant now looks equally green and healthy, but as of yet has failed to bloom. I buy my plants from regular garden centers, but I can't help sometimes checking out the bargains on the sale racks at Lowe's.

 

This little teapot was a quick craft project last week for my deck. If you have been following my  blog, you may remember that I made two similar teapot features last summer. You may view them here and here. Those were a bit more involved than this simple little one which involved a string of clear beads, a dollar store teapot,  E6000 glue, clear fishing line, and a small shepherd's hook. 

My stand of bee balm did not fare well this winter, but a few stems have produced flowers. So far, no hummingbirds have been visiting them, but I really get a kick out of this flower.  Doesn't it look like a hairdo for a punk rock star???

 

Quilting and stitching-wise I have been fairly lazy. I have 'ditched' quilted a few rows of the artful log cabin quilt begun in the Katie PM workshop and have begun a hand stitched wool project which will  either be a tad late for the Fourth of July or very, very early for next year .  :-)

How about you? Are the lazy days of summer making you lazy, too???

Another Teapot for My Garden

 My friend Janice had given me this teapot to use in a garden art project, and so I decided to make another teapot feature for the front border of my large garden. I didn't want to go to the expense of purchasing the copper pipe, copper fittings, and floor flange again, so I decided to simplify the design.  I followed the instructions given in the link indicated in one of my recent posts, but this time all I did was hang the teapot on a small shepherd's hook. Instead of a china cup and saucer, I used this bright over-sized mug.  A short length of a bamboo fishing pole was substituted for the copper pipe. (You could go to a craft store and get a dowel with the right thickness and then cut it to the proper length.) Truly, the hardest part is lining up both elements so the beads cascade into the mug/cup.

 I wanted to show you this hibiscus in my large garden. When I bought this plant, it was just starting to form buds. Imagine my delight the other morning when I saw these luncheon plate size blossoms. Wow!

My daylilies and bee balm are also in bloom. I have bee balm in shades of red, pink, and magenta.

 

Just look how much more color there is in my small garden since last week's post.

It rained in the early hours of this morning, so I was able to capture the drops on these plants before heading off to my flute lesson.  

 

 

The weeding and mulch spreading will just have to wait for another day, and since the forecasters have indicated that hot, humid weather is moving in, I plan to stay inside tomorrow and do some quilting. :-)  

These images were all taken with my iPhone; sometimes I am just too lazy to use my "real" camera, even though I should. :-)

This Week in My Garden

     I grabbed my camera a couple of times today when I went outside with Emma. These first few shots were taken with my Tamron 90mm macro lens. Though I absolutely know better, I was too lazy to use a tripod. I love how these balloon plants look in my smaller garden with the red bee balm and the yellow black-eyed susans.

     The coneflowers are also beginning to bloom.

     Bee buzzing bee balm . . .

     Later I switched to my 70-300 lens  . . . still too lazy to use a tripod. The black-eyed susans are making quite a statement this year.

      Finally, here's my sweet Emma just back from the groomer late this afternoon. Cheryl at Pooch Paws in Rockland always does such a wonderful job.