An Abundance Of Summer Flowers

Two of the four Daylilies I planted last year: Chicago Arnie's Choice on the left and Pink Charm on the right:

And my multicolored Yarrow:

From what I've seen, I've come to believe that the various colors of cultivated Yarrow are grown together and they cross pollinate. That strategy seems to lead to a fascinating array of colors and patterns:

Remember the hardy baby climbing rose I planted beneath the frame which used to hold the farm sign? It is a variety called Darlow's Enigma and has begun to bloom, apparently happy in its new home:

When all the Asiatic Lilies stopped blooming for the year, these two mystery lilies appeared. I don't know what kind they are, but apparently not Asiatic Lilies. They were pretty but didn't last long:

Another of last year's Daylilies, this one called the Frans Hals:

The Rugosa roses have been blooming all summer long, pushing through the fence and filling the air by my back door with their perfume:

And the pale pink hardy rose I planted last year, called Morden Blush, is blooming heavily:

It's relative and neighbor, the Morden Sunrise, is almost as floriferous and twice as colorful:

The newly planted baby rose, called Sevillana, has so many flowers that I worry it won't have enough energy for roots and leaves. The pink and white rose just below it is called Watercolors Home Run:

The Sunflowers have outdone themselves, some of them now over eight feet tall and blooming rather heavily, though the flowers don't show much in this picture. It has certainly been a summer of flowers this year!

Busy Around The Farm

It came time to begin planting and I couldn't put it off any longer. I began in the spot where I'd removed the giant stump (well, most of it anyway), adding a bit of compost to get me started:

The Globe Thistles were the biggest seedlings, so I began with them:

Then the tiny Chives. Alas, I had to quit at that point, determined to finish planting the other seedlings as soon as weather permitted:

The fantail pigeons began nesting in earnest after I gave them some hay for their nests:

And one new baby was hatched and seemed to be doing well:

The farm was filled with aroma of lilacs and apple blossoms until one day when a skunk got killed in the road. I left it overnight for the coyotes, but when they didn't want it I picked it up by the tail and tossed it into the brush by the side of the road:

Mowing the lawn beneath the apple trees was like passing through a tunnel of flowers:

And the brand new lilac seemed happy with its new home:

The little rose which was supposed to climb up the old farm sign frame, however, needed more sun. So I got out the chainsaw and lopped off many limbs from apple, pear and cherry trees. Then I hauled them to the brush pile in the woods:

The two Flowering Crabs and the wild seeded Golden Delicious apple tree put on a glorious display:

Here are the red Flowering Crab and the apple tree blossoms:

The Prairie Rose Flowering Crab was taking its time to flower but had an extreme abundance of buds. I knew it would be spectacular when they began to open: