Goosenecks

Gooseneck, or loosestrife, is a very energetic plant that blooms in June.  The reason I say it is energetic is that when turned loose in a flower bed it needs only one year to take over.  This year it had competition from the sundrops in the fight for territory.  You need only to look at a gooseneck to see how appropriate its name is.  A cluster of the plants looks like nodding geese.  I have never seen it for sale in a garden center.  I think I know why.  It is just another passalong plant that once obtained makes itself at home.

Southern Harebell

I was hesitant to sell one of these flowers at my plant sale because I couldn't remember its name. 

The best I can now determine it is a Southern harebell of the campanula family.  The one in my wildflower book is a bit daintier, but others seem to be this large. 

Previously I had to search for names for comfrey and for Persian cornflower.  They seemed easier to identify.

Spider Weed

Yes, I called it a spider weed, not a spider flower, or cleome.  My husband refers to it even more unpleasantly as it takes over our little garden space and reaches out to grab him with little stickers.

It seeds itself like a weed.  It drops hundreds of seeds from its little pods and takes over territories of other flowers.  So why don't I fight it harder?   The flower in the picture is not a fair show of its beauty.  A large pink crowd of them is beautiful.  Notice that the flower in the picture is past its prime with little seed pods mixing with the blossoms.

Where did I get mine?  I don't know.  It may have just wandered in with a friendly bird, which can be a member of the passalong plant crowd.  Oh, I guess there is progress in marketing.  I saw one single plant in a garden center priced $5.95. 



This white spider weed is less common and is
from a pack of seeds I bought.

Father's Day

Happiness is fatherhood.

Our son Michael and his newborn son Alex on October 14, 2010.

Next  a secure little guy takes a nap.

Finally what a difference almost eight months makes. 

No Rain

The weather has been so dry this summer that I thought of how useful this barrel is.  We bought it late last summer during a hot dry August.

We paid ninety dollars for it, but I noticed that Lowe's now has them for eighty dollars.  It comes with connections to fit it to the downspout.  It does great under the corner of our screened porch.

It has a place to connect a hose, but we usually just put a bucket on the concrete block. It is surprising how much water collects from just a small shower.  Since we are on city water, this rain collector is really great for us.

Sun Drops

This little drop of sunshine is one of my favorite early summer flowers  It too was given to my mother by a neighbor, who received it from some one else and so on.

It is a very hardy perennial which bloomed a little late this year because of a late freeze.  Of course the freeze didn't really harm this plant.

Supposedly it seeds itself, but its main method of multiplying is by sending out runners.  It is not as likely to take over a bed as its goose-neck neighbor, but it is a pretty busy fellow.

Little Blossoms, Big Rose Bush

This rambling rose really rambles.  It annoys my husband by sending out ten-foot long runners into his tomatoes.

 It is another passalong rose that came from my mother's house.

It has hundreds of small pink flowers in large clusters.  It is very hardy, and if it is cut to the ground this year, it will be back full-force next spring.

Old-Time Red Rose

This beautiful red rose has lived at my late mother's house for at least forty years.  It grows on a small bush on rather small stems.  Some one gave it to her many years ago.


My husband caught this beautiful blossom on a rainy day.  The bush bears perhaps half a dozen blossoms at a time.

I plan to try to root some cuttings this summer from the pair of these roses I have.

A New View

I showed you these awful looking sinks earlier this year.  Both held dormant plants--the enamel sink , hostas, and the cement utility sink, zebra grass.  The hostas have almost hidden their sink, and the zebra grass has reached about half its expected height. I also have a piece of culvert with an angel trumpet in it that I will show you later when the angel trumpet, which I had to plant anew this spring, gets a bit bigger.