Egypt4u

Few more garden shots
Not too sure if I like these or not.
Quite like the 'whiteness' of this clump.
I don't recall buying this day lily in this colour (might have been one I got at the Horticultural Club) but the colour is definitely interesting.
These guys definitely seem to attract the bees
I checked around when I was in the States for a Mason Bee House but didn't find any nor did I find any hollow bamboo tubes so am still on the hunt for a way to make a small hive.

All looking really nice LLL

Brought the camera out for a quick walk about the house to show the daughter in Quebec how I'm doing.

These are my day lilies. They've all finally decided to bloom so for the first time I'm seeing all the different colours I've got. The first one, the dark orange I've had for decades. Not sure where I originally got it but had it planted around my old houses when I lived up Island. I dug out a couple incredibly root bound shovel fulls of orange day lilies, split them up more when I got them here and now they're finally starting to look lush and bloom out.
I acquired some day lilies through trading at the Garden Club but never realized I had a cream coloured one
This one is more dark purple than anything else
AND my hollyhock finally has 2 stems with flowers with the first flower blooming black
And I think I'll be picking peas next week when I get back. These are "Little Marvel" so not going to grow super tall but they produce well. The crew love them fresh too.

By way of comparison (again) cause I'm still thinking on why the difference in colour - the back yard hydrangea are now fully blooming and looking lovely in bright pinks. Might even have to think about how I can dry these out for a bouquet over winter.
The front hydrangea is rather blandly blah.....however the hydrangea in the lowest part of the backyard is usually blue but still in a tight bud.

LLL, Hydrangeas colour is purely down to soil conditions, Alkaline (lime) soil gives a blue flower and Acid soil (Peaty) gives a red flower with variants in between. By making the soil any of the above you can change a plant from one colour to another.

On the old railway embankment there are a number of mature sweet chestnut trees. We have one next door and there is another about 3 houses along. Sitting outside I noticed that the furthest one is covered with those annoying sprigs (don't know their proper name) that shed all over before the chestnuts start to form. Whatever they are called, they are a damned nuisance which can block downpies on flat roofs.

I think they are called 'Catkins' Grandad the same name as for Willow flowers.

Hmmm - I don't think I've ever seen or noticed the catkins. We don't have very many chestnut trees here (can't think of one anywhere) and don't think I've ever noticed catkins.

We do get "Cottonwoods" and cottonwood season has now almost ended. It can sometimes almost look like it is snowing outside there is so much fuzzy white wooly bits floating about on the breeze. Makes it real terrible for allergy sufferers.

A Monday morning ditty for all you gardeners out there:

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
You're nearer to God in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

I remember having that on a plaque or something in my garden some years ago.

@Ruby Slippers & @Horus - yes the poem is cute. Last trip to the States I was in a store and it had quite a few reproductions of old signs mostly for the garden. I looked at them thinking one on the front of the shed would look nice but didn't find any that I liked. Many were based on Gas Station logos, lots said "Man Cave" but nothing that really represented a garden so the front door of the shed remains without.

On another note the Buddleia ha started to bloom out front. Should bring in lots of butterflies - hopefully. I bought it as a dwarf thinking it would stop at the 3' high as on the tag however it has definitely exceeded that height. Think it was mis-labelled.
The lavendar is full of bees. They love it and it really seems to like where it is planted.

I love Buddleia but Mrs G does not like them so we have not yet added any out back.
Whenever I see Buddleia my mind is taken straight back to the early forties when those plants were always seen on bomb sites.

@Grandad I had a large really dark purple buddliea years ago. It used to attract lots of action. This one I bought as a dwarf however after it took hold it definitely isn't a dwarf although I kinda think 'dwarf' to a buddleia mean 'tall'

Interesting they grew on bomb sites which is your association.

Here we have "Fireweed" that only grows after the slash is burned off of logged off areas. Beekeepers will even move their hives to the area as that honey is crystal clear unlike clover that has a brown/yellow tinge to it.

The thing about Buddleia is that they will grow just about anywhere, in the cracks and crevices of old buildings and just about anywhere they can take root. I have two 'dwarf' Buddleia, but the dwarf bit is a joke, any Buddleia given half a chance will roar away into a full blown tree if it gets the opportunity. The secret is to restrict them either in a large pot or to give them a severe pruning now and again to keep them small. However they will never stunt their trunk size so eventually you get a very thick trunk after pruning it for several years, but it can be contained in size.

The plant you call 'Fire Weed' is what we call 'Rose Bay Willow Herb' I quite like them.
Looks like this:

@Horus - Yes that is the 'fireweed' we have here.

Buddleia is also known as the butterfly bush because it attracts them. In these days of disappearing wildlife, maybe we should be growing more of them.

Mine is now 20 ft across and 12ft high - The shops in the converted garages behind my house hate it. I love it because of it's flowers and it gives me a bit of privacy. They did try leaning over the fence and cutting it back, but as we know Growth follows the Knife.

@Mad Dilys that is what I'm worried about that the Buddleia will end up towering over the red japanese maple tree. The tree is growing and giving the buddleia a good run for the money but the Buddleia is winning. I cut it back severely which just caused it to shoot out lots more branches. It is nice but I may end up having to be moved. Silly me thought when it said 'dwarf' that it actually was.......

I did read somewhere that Buddleia are really easy to root and grow. I'm thinking of trying to sprout a few and then planting them .... ....... No I mean composting them across the fence ...... I think they'd look nice growing up back there and they'd definitely have the space to grow as high as they want........Will think on it.

Was at the daughter's house yesterday so we went out to see her garden. She is already picking and eating green beans. She has one or two small pea plants the kids started but they have pea pods actively growing. Her lettuce is doing lovely and she'll be getting zucchini (we seem to have a natural fungus here that kills it) that is growing really green and healthy and pumpkins for the kids for Christmas.

My own pea pods are starting to form the peas but my beans are only flowering.

I bought a packet of mixed short Sun Flower seeds. Planted them and none have even germinated. Not too happy about this as was hoping to get some big little Sun Flowers.

Talking about the garden at The Salutation and I mentioned that my daughter in law is a keen gardener. This is part of her garden right now, pretty good I think Of course my son claims it is all his own work My own little patio backyard, to use LLL's description, is probably looking as good as it will this year. And there is a welcoming pot on the front door step

All looking very nice Grandad, your daughters garden invites you to sit in it and relax, nice planting and design.