Heat of the summer

My blue/black salvia is blooming now. I have had two moon flowers so far. The vine is doing pretty well, going up the light post, but not heavy with blooms yet. The weather has been a bit dry the last two weeks. It would like more moisture.

Last week I noticed a blue flower blooming out near the airport. I got some pictures of it, but have had trouble making an identification. Saturday morning while out walking I saw some in a neighbor's yard. She happened to be out watering, so I asked what it was. She didn't know, but gave me some small off shoots. I planted them, and have since found that it is Ruellia brittoniana or Mexican petunia. Not a petunia at all, actually, but a woody perennial with a blue flower. I think I will enjoy it, as I always like a passalong plant.

Oh, the photos here are the blue/black salvia, moon flower vine and sedum "Autumn Joy".

New blooms

As much as I dislike the heat and humidity of mid summer, I love the fact that nearly everyday something new is blooming. We have had a rather wet summer so far, so the yard is growing wild. I can't keep up with the weeds, but all the good stuff is growing well too.

My angel trumpet has just the one bloom right now. I'm sure it will have more. It is a huge plant this year. I like the pale salmon color and the wonderful fragrance in the evening.

The red crinums are now blooming. I got the bulbs from my late mother-in-law's yard in Edenton. It took a couple of years for the plants to establish, but now they are huge. My husband called them 'flame plants'. They have several other common names, such as Confederate lily, angel lily and candystick lily. They were very popular plants in the south decades ago, but seem to have lost their popularity. I really like such heirloom plants.

I have morning glory all over the place. The are growing up in my abelia bushes. I should pull it up, but I like the morning blooming.

I think the bees and butterflies feeding make nice pictures. They love my flowers.

This week

Its that time of the summer when most of my time in the yard is spent pulling weeds and swatting mosquitoes. I am doing lots of both.

I have a bare spot in the front yard where grass just doesn't want to grow. So, this weekend we planted a Sizzlin'Pink Fringeflower bush (Loropetalum chinensis). It has nice dark purple leaves and bright pink blooms. Around this I planted a variety of lantana. All should do well with that full sun.

I picked my first cukes and squash. The pond hyacinths and the sun flowers are also just beginning to bloom. Some nice picture of all of these are below.

I had a comment that I should show my compost bin and my water collection system. The compost area is great, as in I have great compost, but it isn't very nice to look at. We will work on that. Our really nice water collection system is almost finished. Just have to get the gutters installed on the tool shed. Photos will be forthcoming. Now that I have rain barrels we seem to be having lots of rain!