a brown thrasher...

taking a bath :)

butterflies and blossoms...

It never fails, once the coneflowers are all blooming I have lots of fluttering visitors.

These are the kind of flutterbys I love, not those giant puffs of cotton constantly fluttering by as I work outside.






Besides enjoying the butterflies today - I am loving all the lisanthus currently blooming. I have pinks, whites, purples, yellow & a purple/white variety - they look so nice in combo with the mexican shell flowers and victoria blue salvia. I was also happy to spot the first sunflower bloom of the season.

wordless Wednesday...garden shots

Garden shots...this morning's favorites!

Oh how I love to see new things blooming and today I was surprised by this huge pink lily blossom. It was planted from clearance bulbs at a big box store this spring so I wasn't expecting such a huge blossom the first year. I know I have the label around somewhere for the name but can't find it this am.
This one is Lady Alice and I bought several bulbs off ebay this spring. Love it :)
Of course the old fashioned tiger lilies are near and dear to my heart and I really like that they multiply so I have added them here and there around the gardens.
This particular stand is planted in the new butterfly garden along with some yellow tiger lilies also purchased off ebay this spring.
The butterfly garden also includes lots of phlox and currently I have 2 varieties blooming.
A tropical hibiscus, a gift from my sister-in-law.
Three varieties of salvias planted in the hummingbird garden area. Black and Blue, Wendy's Wish (pink) and a red variety that I also need to find the tag because it is a wonderful grower & bloomer.
Jayme wanted this purples, lime green & orange combo for one of her planters this year so I copied it and I must say I like the unusual combination as well.
The pond is looking great with water hyacinth & lilies both blooming...
But, my very favorite thing in the garden on this morning's walk wasn't a blossom - it was this new addition to Pine Hollow. A fairy potting arbor.
I just love browsing thrift stores for little finds for the fairy garden and this week I felt like I hit the jackpot with this find for $3.99! Of course it was covered in artificial vines and flowers but I ripped them all off and gave it a coat of outdoor UV spray. This winter the bottom will probably become stone covered as well.
All those tiny little gardening tools for fairy sized hands just make me happy today. The moss filled urns were a thrift store purchase as well - in fact on a recent garden tour a fellow gardener interested in starting a fairy garden asked me where to purchase everything I had. All I could tell her were where I got the glass teahouse, the rose cottage & the fairies because everything else are objects made for other purposes and found at thrift stores & garage sales.

"Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da BATMAN!"

Instead of "bats in the belfry", I have bats in the garden this year.
They are oh so tiny but look at their beautiful wings, fuzzy ears, eyes and sharp teeth!


It is so fun to show them to kids and see if they can recognize the resemblance.
Batwing Cuphea is just too cute :)

garden shots...

This morning was the first morning I dared take the camera outside with our high humidity levels this week. The lens stilled fogged up but I let the camera sit on the patio table long enough to acclimate and took enough photos for 2 posts since its got to be hard on the lens.

First up is one of my 3 Annabelle hydrangeas loaded with blossoms. I purchased one plant 10 years ago and have since divided it into 4 plants. Two summers ago, I gave one of the divisions to my daughter, Jayme, and this year she was so excited as it really had taken off and was covered in blossoms. This morning I received a picture text of her Annabelle as the deer had eaten all the blossoms off overnight. I'm glad my garden is deer-proof thanks to Hershey & Ruger :)
I love the color combination of this shot! Ville De Lyon and Venosa Violacea clematis with a few pops of orange from the honeysuckle vine.
An awesome view of the leaves of Peter Wonder coleus in the sunlight.
Annual Coreopsis and...
Blackberry Lily.
Hawaiian Blue Eyes evolvulus and...
Dianthus.
Little Grapette daylily and...
an a pretty red I don't have the name of.
Tigridia Pavonia - Mexican Shell Flowers in red,
yellow and ...
pink. What is that inside?
There is an abundance of these in the garden this year and...
with a shake of the stem, the flower looks much nicer :)