summer flora

As it turns out, I made some excellent choices for the flower garden this year. Mostly by luck, with a wee bit of brainpower. I haven't really paid attention to my flowers for three weeks (thanks to the tadpole) and yet! They live!

It helps that in the spring we put down some mulch to discourage weeds, but apart from that, I think I just picked nice hardy plants that manage to thrive on neglect. They aren't worthy of a spread in Martha Stewart, but they are still blooming and not ugly, and that's all that matters to me right now.

At the top of our stone wall we have nasturtiums, lobelia, zinnias, and marigolds. (Most of the marigolds started out in the vegetable garden, where I planted at least two packets in hopes of keeping away pests. They all got enormous down there and were actually crowding out the tomatoes and chili peppers, so I transplanted at least half of them to this flowerbed, where they continue to grow.) Zinnias are one of our favorite flowers to plant because they are just so irrepressibly cheerful.

In the pine tree flowerbed-- that's how I identify it-- there are mostly shrubs, and nothing grows very well because the stupid trees suck up all the water. However, last year I discovered by chance that coleus will survive even in this acidic soil. So coleus it was, with its pink, lime green, and rusty orange foliage.

In the last flowerbed are my beloved lavender (done blooming now but still fragrant) and pink stargazer lilies (also finished for the season). Right now the chrysanthemums are taking over, along with autumn joy sedum. To fill in the gaps, I picked up some annuals on a whim: I liked the colors, really, and had no idea how they would turn out. I think they were called "cotton candy." Well, they took root and produced some lovely pink and white blooms!

So there you have it. I'm not much of a green thumb, but I have found that if you pick the right flowers, you can make things look half-decent despite your own ineptitude. And sickness. :) When we move-- hopefully this fall-- I look forward to transplanting some lavender and lilies to our new home!