Hot..hot..hot..

Wow...is it hot this week! It's in the 90's and hasn't rained in over a week. I just heard some thunder, so perhaps we will get a little rain today. The lawn looks horrible. I think grubs got a hold of the back right corner of the yard, because the grass there looks really stressed out.

I keep seeing Japanese Beatles all over the front and back yard...and have even noticed some skeletal leaves on one of the ornamental trees in the back yard.

Our backyard neighbors have had contractors in their yard all week installing a brick paver patio. A week from now we will have contractors in our yard installing a 5 foot privacy cedar fence along the back border of our yard and a 4 foot picket cedar fence along the sides.

I still have to clear away some lawn in front of the back edge of the yard so that I can prepare a new bed for perennial plantings once the fence is installed.

I also stopped at Home Depot today to check out what's on sale and came home with 3 limelight hydrangea bushes. I couldn't resist...they were only $35 each and about 3 feet tall. I think I'm going to plant them in front of the living room picture window so that we have something nice to look at in the summer and to lighten up the front of our dark brown house.

I also came home some yarrow, tickseed and varigated grass.

What's growing this year

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  This is not a complete list:
  
  A = Annual, P = Perrenial
  
  Whites
  
  Obediant Plant 4
  Cosmos "Sonata Mix" A 1
  Dusty Miller "Silver Dust" A 12
  Dianthus "Telstar White" A 3
  Cleome Spider Plant "White" A 2
  Gladiolus P 12
  Sweet Woodruff P 1
  
  Yellow/Orange
  
  Moonbeam Coreopsis P 3
  Canna "King City Gold" P 1
  Tickseed "Coreopsis Early Sunrise" P 3
  Tickseed "Coreopsis Sunfire" P 1
  Gazania A 3
  Osteospermum hybrid "Orange Symphany" A 2
  Celosia "Fresh Look Orange" A 4
  Celosia "Fresh Look Yellow" A 4
  Lantana "New Gold" A 3
  Calibrachoa hybrid "Superbells Saffron" A 2
  Marguerite Daisy "Butterfly" A 2
  Winter Pansy "Yellow" P 6
  Blanket Flower "Gaillardia Arizona Sun" P 1
  Canna "Orange Beauty" P 1
  Lily P 2
  Tulips P 16
  Gladiolus P 12
  
  Red/Pink
  
  Pentas 12
  Bee Balm - "Marshalls Delight" P 4
  Zinnia "Profusion Double Cherry" A 16
  Geranium "Pink Sizzle" A 2
• Geranium "Americana Pink" A 2
  Veronica "Giles Van Hees" P 2
  Cardinal Flower "Lobelia Queen Victoria" P 1
  Cleome Spider Plant "Pink" A 1
  Hollyhock P 3
  Coral Bells "Peach Melba" P 1
  Scarlett Runner Bean A 5
  Sedum "Autumn Joy" P 1
  
  Purple/Blue
  
  Monkshood P 1
  Nemsia "Blue Bird" A 4
  Salvia "Victoria Blue" A 9
  Nierembergia "Robe Purple" A 4
  Flowering Cabbage "Osaka Mix" A 12
  Lobelia "Riviera Mix" A 6
  Verbena "Obsession Blue with Eye" A 4
  Cosmos "Sonata Mix" A 5
  Purple Fountain Grass "Rubrum" A 2
  Russian Sage "Perovskia" P 1
  Phlox "Emerald Blue" P 12
  Delphinium "Summer Nights" P 1
  Echinacea "Prarie Splendor" P 2
  Butterfly Bush "Pink Delight" P 1
  Pincushion Flower "Scabiosa Butterfly Blue" P 2
  Liatris P 6
  Forget-Me-Not P 12
  Balloon Flower P 2
  Campanula Flower P 1
  New England Aster P 1
  Bearded Iris P 1
  Japanese Iris P 1
  Clematis P 1
  Gladiolus P 12
  Tulips P 12
  Muscari P 30
  
  Greens
  
• Hostas "Aureo-marginata" 3
• Hostas "Golden Tiara" P 2
• Hostas "Guacamole" P 1
• Hostas "Krossa Regal" P 1
• Potato Vine "Marguerite" A 2
• Feather Reed Grass "Overdam" P 1
• Maiden Grass P 1
  

Vegetables/Herbs

• Basil - Genovese & Purple frilled
• Dill
• Fennel
• Thyme - regular & varigated
• Sage - regular & golden
• Green Oregano
• Parsley - curly & flatleaf
• Chives - regular & garlic
• Snap Peas
• Golden Beets
• Yellow Pear cherry tomatoes
• Simpsons Black seeded lettuce

So, here are some of the things that have been growing (or rather, overgrowing) in the side and back yard. The fennel is nearly 5 feet tall already and a big storm snapped the top 2 feet of the peas over. The yellow pear tomatoes have tons of unripen fruit on them. I think the golden beets will be ready to harvest in a week or two. The lettuce has bolted (because of a week of 90+ degree weather).

It's coming along...

This is one of the beautiful blanket flowers growing in the front island. I love the colors. They remind of the sunsets in Arizona. It looks like it would be a Southwest flower!

This is a (blue) hydrangea. I haven't altered the pH of the soil, so it's coming up pink now that it's planted out in the island.

We have been working on redoing the front yard of our new home. It's gone from being absolutely devoid of any color (other than green plants and ugly white rocks) to being full of perenials and annuals of all colors and various hydrangeas, dogwood and viburnum.

The pavers are not fully installed. We haven't yet cut any of them and we need to finish laying the row at the front of the house. Once it's done we'll be 90% finished with the front yard. We just need to pick out some shrubs to spruce up the front for the non-flowering season.