Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[SquarePeg]

We've had such a long, chilly spring that extended into June - I'm glad summer has finally settled in!

It's hot, and I was in the backyard watering the garden when something fluttered in the corner of my eye. So glad the cellphone was in my pocket!

Can you spy the butterfly? I have three very tall Swamp Milkweed plants in the middle of the daylillies- the favorite plant of the Monarch butterfly.

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She stuck around so here's 2 more shots.

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I hope to see some Monarch caterpillar action soon.

I’m jealous. Have yet to see a monarch this year and only briefly spotted an Eastern Black Swallowtail. My EBS caterpillars have left the dill so hopefully they went of their own free will and are in chrysalis somewhere in the garden!

The monarchs should be here soon as the cone flowers are starting to pop.

The butterfly garden is just budding up - only the butterfly weed is in bloom.

My astilbe is on steroids this year. It’s taller than the hydrangea!

This sweet crimson salvia was shared by a neighbor who grew it from seed. It’s a really beautiful color.

This clematis has taken off in year 3. I’ll need a taller trellis for next year. So many buds!

I made this fountain a few weeks ago. It’s a WIP - it needs a stronger pump but the pot was so pretty I had to use it for more than just a plant.

 

[Digger...]

We just got a turtle for our daughter...

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He looks great there, but that fellas definitely a big old tortoise, this little ones a turtle. Myrtle the turtle .

 

[terri]

I’m jealous. Have yet to see a monarch this year and only briefly spotted an Eastern Black Swallowtail. My EBS caterpillars have left the dill so hopefully they went of their own free will and are in chrysalis somewhere in the garden!

The monarchs should be here soon as the cone flowers are starting to pop.
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The butterfly garden is just budding up - only the butterfly weed is in bloom.
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My astilbe is on steroids this year. It’s taller than the hydrangea!
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This sweet crimson salvia was shared by a neighbor who grew it from seed. It’s a really beautiful color.
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This clematis has taken off in year 3. I’ll need a taller trellis for next year. So many buds!
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I made this fountain a few weeks ago. It’s a WIP - it needs a stronger pump but the pot was so pretty I had to use it for more than just a plant.
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I've a feeling those butterflies will show up soon - without a host plant starting to bloom, it's hard to lure them in. Keep looking!

I have an astilbe with similar color but yours is the biggest I've seen! Gorgeous. Love that crimson salvia, too - looks like a Hummer magnet.

Cool job with the little fountain! Beautiful pot.

Your garden is in full summer mode.

 

[SquarePeg]

Garden updates. This hydrangea has finally started to take on that purple color that I love. I added lime this year to stop it from reverting back to blue.

Some foxglove seedlings. Hope to get them planted in the fall for blooms next year. I don’t know much about foxgloves - open to suggestions and advice on where and when to plant. There might be some goldenrod or asters mixed in here.

First year getting flowers from this Nelly Moser clematis I planted last year. I’ve found clematis to be unreliable the first 1-3 years after planting but then they become amazing. Worth the wait!

Both the red and the hot pink bee balm are in bloom. The hummingbirds are happy.

Cone flowers are also coming in abundance this year. This is my only hybrid color. The rest are the traditional purple.

 

[jeffashman]

My Major Wheeler has finally produced some flowers. For now the vine is very sparse, so hopefully it will fill in over the coming years.

 

[jeffashman]

In its third year, my "Sugar Shack" button bush is looking full and gorgeous.

Finally developing the famous "button" blooms that pollinators will enjoy for months.

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It's back in the area that has flooded in the past; it can certainly take it and dare the skies to give more! My kinda plant.

Around here they grow along the edge of the lake and are frequently under water.

 

[SquarePeg]

My Major Wheeler has finally produced some flowers. For now the vine is very sparse, so hopefully it will fill in over the coming years.
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You won’t have long to wait. I just checked my photos to see when I planted mine - which is actually 3 vines growing on the same trellis. I planted 2 very small starter plants in the fall of 2022 (3” pots with just a few leaves). In spring 2023 I added a larger plant (1gal pot). Made it about halfway up the trellis in 2023 and all the way up and full of blooms in 2024. I feed it with Neptunes fish emulsion in the spring.

 

[Jeff15]

Bees on the Sea Holly

 

[terri]

Around here they grow along the edge of the lake and are frequently under water.

Yep - Native plant to North America with a huge range.

 

[terri]

You won’t have long to wait. I just checked my photos to see when I planted mine - which is actually 3 vines growing on the same trellis. I planted 2 very small starter plants in the fall of 2022 (3” pots with just a few leaves). In spring 2023 I added a larger plant (1gal pot). Made it about halfway up the trellis in 2023 and all the way up and full of blooms in 2024. I feed it with Neptunes fish emulsion in the spring.

I hope so! I didn’t think it would be a waiting game. I have 3 smallish plants on the same trellis, too. The one that's been in the ground the longest did not bloom this year, but the foliage did and it looks healthy.

I'm looking forward to seeing them all take off. I love their blooms, but so far this varietal has been a wee bit disappointing.

The Scentsation honeysuckle was awesome this year, growing like a weed.

 

[terri]

From the backyard this morning:

I thought the landscaper had smothered this Sugar Buzz bee balm, but it has struggled through and getting just enough light to bloom this year. They're very small, and scattered around the base of the Joe Pye Weed in a very naturalized way - I'm charmed.

The buttonbush is starting to open up:

This Monarch is a regular visitor now that the swamp milkweed is flowering:

Random bee on the Magnus coneflower:

And a happy baby visitor in the side yard saying So long, and thanks for all the weeds:

 

[Jeff15]

Bees on the Sea Holly

 

[terri]

From within the last hour - anyone know for certain who this is?

Closest guess I have is an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail. I think I had a few of these are couple years ago. It's been more of the Black ones in recent history.

??

 

[SquarePeg]

Here’s a neat trick. Take a screenshot of your photo on your iPhone or if it’s an iPhone photo already… swipe up on the photo of the weed, flower, bird, insect etc to get the variety name

and click on the link to get more info.

Reasonable accurate about 80% of the time.

 

[terri]

Here’s a neat trick. Take a screenshot of your photo on your iPhone or if it’s an iPhone photo already… swipe up on the photo of the weed, flower, bird, insect etc to get the variety name

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and click on the link to get more info.
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Reasonable accurate about 80% of the time.

Cool!! My phone's an Android; I'll have to test this trick.

Anyway, looks like the eastern tiger Swallowtail is it!

I hope (s)he comes back. I think all that blue means a female. Caught one picture of her sharing a coneflower with the Monarch, who has apparently moved in for the time being.