[gardening] What's blooming in Mid-July

After coming back from San Diego, I had to go around and see how all the plants were doing.

The lovely dark red dwarf asiatic lilies exploded:



These daylilies just won't quit. I don't know the cultivar name but I bought them at Olallie Daylily Gardens a couple years ago. The have been so long lasting, blooming since late spring.



Common orange daylilies. These are are from my co-worker:



I love these for their height- they are so tall that you can still see them through the window when you're sitting on the couch in the living room. I have some growing wild down by the brook and dug some up last year to plop here and there. I put a little bit into the wild are just outside of the mowed lawn and it flowered this year:



I think I'm going to go dig up some more and plant them here and there.

My favorite flowers this year are definitely the delphinium:



So tall, so violet. This is a nice, thick clump that can support one another so I don't have to stake them.



Shasta daisies started blooming. The flowers of these are much larger than the wild oxeye daisies:



Blanket flower:



I said I was going to divide it this year but I didn't. I should- it would do so much better after being split into 5 or 6 pieces. The woodchucks nibbled it a bit.

My hosta corner is doing well:



The lamium in the front is looking a little dead in the middle. I put it in last year. Not sure if I should divide it or what. A few of the small hostas are blooming now. 

Walked outside and went: "Whoa- I forgot I planted these!"



Yellow dwarf asiatic lilies. My asiatic collection is doing really well.

Astilbe over in the shade bed:



So pink and fluffy. 

My tiny little clematis:



I put this in last year. I think it grew about 14 inches tall and there was one bloom. This year it's gone all the way up the 4 or 5 foot trellis with 10 blossoms. Who knows what it's going to look like next year if it keeps growing at this rate but I'm already envisioning a bigger/sturdier trellis.

Many of the sempervivium are flowering:



The first balloom flower popped open in the shade bed yesterday:

 

Bee balm in the front yard, just barely started to get it's crazy bloom on:



Something ate the heads off all the bee balm in the back yard. Sigh.

The wild black raspberries are ripening:

 

Something beat me to all the ripe berries last year and since these grow in and around the massive rock pile (read: woodchuck condos), I assume it's those little monsters. I found a large patch of blackberries on the other side of the lawn- maybe I'll be able to collect those instead, since they're higher off the ground.

I found this on the ground, in the shade bed:



I gotta start putting up some bird houses. This is the 2nd nest I've found on the ground this summer. I assume they've fallen out of the trees after particularly bad weather.

Lastly, this guy (or gal):



Driving home from work, Dollar saw this on the side of our dirt road the bottom of our driveway. I stopped the car and we got out to check it out. It definitely wasn't like the snapping turtle we've seen in the past. It was smaller, smoother, more colorful.

I googled it at home and learned it was a painted turtle. Very common but this is the first time we had seen one. It was making it's way toward the brook, which eventually empties into the pond. Dollar picked it up and moved it out of the road, closer to the brook. After we drove away, we saw it continuing on it's journey.

[vermont] Turtle Power

A few days ago Dollar and I were wondering if we would see any turtles this year. Yesterday Dollar saw Penny at the window, freaking out about something outside. We looked and saw a snapping turtle in the driveway!

So, I think this is the same turtle that we saw years ago. The pattern on the shell seems identical. This picture was taken June 16, 2012:

Nice that this turtle's still alive and kicking. And probably biting.

Then we spotted ANOTHER turtle further down the lawn:

This one seemed a lot more nervous having us near, so we didn't get too close. We left them alone for a bit. I couldn't resist checking on the nervous one again later- because it moved out of sight and I was curious where it went. She dug a hole into the lawn and I assumed she was laying eggs.  The other one spent the remainder of the evening going up and down and up and down a gravel pile. I was worried she'd lay her eggs at the top- which wouldn't be ideal. We have someone coming to do all kinds of drainage work down on the lower marshy lawn. Not a good idea to be laying eggs anywhere near there.

So this morning, I go look and there are not eggs but lots of new holes dug up around the lawn where they were looking for places to nest. Thanks a lot, guys.

Old Familiar was still messing around on the gravel piles:

Nervous Nellie was still around as well- finding more places to tear up. Please don't mess up my flower bed:

"I do what I want!"

These turtles need to lay eggs, leave me a note as to where they laid the eggs, and move on. I'm obsessing over them too much.

[crochet] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Finished the TMNT in time to give them yesterday:

These were the only project I worked on for two solid weeks. I'm glad I did all four- they look great together.

Pattern is free (rav link). Unfortunately, even using two full balls of Plymouth Galway Worsted in green for the bodies, I ran out of yarn for the feet. All the other yarn is already in my stash. And I had the safety eyes. I didn't need to buy anything- my favorite kind of project!

The next project is a crocheted doll from Frozen.