July 29

I was surprised to find another new one today

Another allium


The baby birds are still with us, but I'm not sure they will stay here much longer

This morning, one of the parents was in the nest with them


This afternoon they were by themselves


And they're beginning to look a little more sleek with feathers more filled out


When I checked this evening, the parents had not returned to the nest; but then I saw them both up on a wire keeping an eye on it.

July 28

We finally got a new bloom today. Marie thinks there may be only eight to ten left for the season, and she's busy planning for more late bloomers for next year.

Clethra (Hummingbird)


There are also more bird pictures

In the morning, the adult seemed to be giving the chicks more room


By the afternoon, the adult was leaving the next for a while (I scared it off once, but it came back later - I wasn't very close to the nest and I think that it's just getting ready for the chicks to be on their own. Or, more likely, it had been extremely brave when sitting on the eggs and protecting the new-hatched chicks and doesn't have to be brave any more).

One chick seems quite brave.


The other one, not so much


The adult bird kept an eye on things.

July 27

There haven't been any new flowers for a few days - the season is definitely slowing down. On the other hand, we do have some new baby birds.

We think that mourning doves built this nest on the pergola last year, and some robins used it earlier this summer. A few days after the robins left - their mission accomplished with new babies gone off on their own - we saw a mourning dove in the nest. Recycling, we hoped; but the bird just sat there for days and days. Unlike the robin pair who exchanged places regularly and dive bombed us if we got too close, this bird just sat motionless. It didn't even turn its head that I ever saw. We never saw a bird exchange, nor did we know if there was a second bird.



This morning as she got to the garage to go to work, Marie noticed baby birds in the nest and called me on her cell phone to let me know.

I could see them, but I couldn't get a good picture because of all the thorny rose branches.


I had to go under the pergola - isn't s/he cute.


There are at least two - the second one is more shy


Click on the pictures to get a closer view - I'll keep checking them and post pictures if anything exciting happens.

July 23

One new one today:

Another phlox

July 22

Just one today -

Allium

July 20

Two new ones in the back garden today that I almost overlooked.

A different echinacea


And a white phlox

July 19

Three new ones today

Star-Gazer Lily


Another phlox (this one is by the driveway)


Aster

July 17

July 16 there were no new blooms, and July 18 it was pouring rain when I got home from work so I did not check (but I doubt there were any).

There were none on July 17 either, but I took another stitched picture - this is of the Boulevard Garden (the stitching is not perfect - if you click on the picture, you'll see a carved stone in the right center foreground; it says "Peace," but the stitching removed the P)

July 15

There were none yesterday, but there are two today


Another day lily


Another phlox

July 13

There are three new ones today

Including two day lilies





And a different astilbe

July 12

There were no new flowers today so I decided to take some views of the gardens in the back yard. Each of the following was "stitched" together from three individual pictures:

South Fence Garden


Garage and Back (East) Gardens


North Fence Garden


West (House) Gardens


If you click on a picture, you will see a larger image and maybe even pick out a flower or two. And you'll probably notice that my attempt to lighten the shadows in the Garage/Back Fence picture was not much of a success.

July 11

Three new ones today

A hosta in the front garden


Another hosta - this one in the back along the south fence

July 10

Just one today

"Rocket"

July 9

There was nothing yesterday (at least I think there was nothing - I didn't notice anything in the morning and we had a very hard, but much appreciated, rain in the afternoon and evening).

Today there are four

Three day lilies
Along the south fence


Along the back (east) fence


And in the north garden



This flower was outside the back fence next to the gate - there are more of them in the north garden but I saw these first

July 7

There were no new blooms yesterday, but today there are four


Another fancy day lily


A lily hiding behind the Russian sage


The Russian sage must be good for hiding - here's another one (every picture I took of this bloom had a bee in it)

July 5

Just one new day lily today

July 4

Seven new ones for the Fourth - five of them are day lilies and one is a lily

in the back fence garden


The Lily hiding in the garden by the driveway


In the north garden


Along the north fence



This one sneaked in from the yard to the north


And this one sneaked in from the south