Moody Skies Make for Good Pictures

If there's one tidbit I've picked up from all of my hubby's tech-speak on the subject of photography, taking photos with overcast skies results in even lighting and no harsh shadows.  If you're taking photos of people, they don't squint, and if taking photos of flowers, the color is even more bright and wonderful.

It's a hot Monday afternoon, but the temperature is dropping slightly, and the skies are darkening.  A thunderstorm is eminent.  The daylilies have started to bloom.  Tonight's dinner, ribeyes grilling on The Big Green Egg, waft across the yard.  It's kind of an ideal sensory situation all around.  Also a perfect night for some pics and a post.



We lost 3 crape myrtles this winter.  The loss was also a gain -- in gardening space, that is.  It's now primarily a tomato bed.  But part of this is Tyler's garden.  He wanted the orange Zinnia and pink petunias.



I asked Tyler to pose next to the yarrow so you could get a sense for how tall it is.  It's huge and wonderful.  A Mauna Loa daylily is blooming in the foreground; pink shrub roses in the background.



Tyler is enjoying a close-up of daylily Atlanta Full House.  At his feet, the purple flowers are cousins of Lamb's Ears, a low-growing perennial that I can't remember the name of... I could dig up the tag I guess.  All I remember is that I saw them at Missouri Botanical Gardens last Spring, found them at Lowe's a month later, and immediately snapped them up.  I recall they were pricey, but the long-lasting bloom more than makes up for it.  I'm loving the rock path that I installed at the end of last summer, with rocks we found on our property.

Atlanta Full House daylily

White Swan coneflowers.  I am anxiously awaiting the day that this fills in.



Moody Skies



Shade garden in front.  Still looking crisp and nice... nothing is burned up... yet.

What's Blooming - June 17th

It's been a busy few months here.  Now that the temperature is really heating up (90 today), it's time to start sitting back, stop the mass planting, and get into maintenance and watering mode.  We had a great week of rain and everything still looks pretty fresh, but I don't expect that to last.  So, I snapped a few pics to remind me how beautiful things look in the middle of June.

The front garden still looks nice. Hostas and hydrangeas are starting to bloom, while Iris Pallida Variegata is winding down.

So, I had really good intentions here.  For those of you who like to do those puzzles where you stare at the page and see the hidden element, see if you can guess what's here.  It's our family monogram "S".  Note to self: Pick a new flower combination for next year, maybe something perennial, like a low growing herb.  Yellow finches thoroughly enjoy plucking the yellow petals off the zinnias, thus the reason you can hardly see the shape!!!

Incrediball hydrangea 1/3 starting to bloom.

Orange Marmalade hosta

The pink flowers are rose campion, the white is White Swan coneflower.

Sedum blooming

A type of sedum that I can't recall the name of... but stunning.

Brag picture... check out the view, and that is only a slice :-)

All plants I got from the distressed plant section at Lowe's. They don't look too stressed to me!

That's basil growing tall on the left side.

Coneflowers Cherokee Spirit (?)... the package says different color flowers on the same plant. I still say that's impossible and that it's just a mix of flower colors all put in the same pot.