I know what you mean there.... Some jokesters thought I was “looking at a butterfly” when I was really trying to get set up to take a pic of Scotty Overkill climbing a tree at Backwoods Savage ’s 2017 GTG.... Yeah- here’s the link.... Gary the witty one. Live from the 2017 MI GTG @ Backwoods Savage's
Yesterday, while weed wacking, I spied something that started with a P and an I . Found it hiding behind the forsythia. I've had a running battle with this stuff since I moved here. Doesn't help that the swamp next door is filled with it (along with invasive roses, Japanese knotweed and bittersweet - all rampant invasives). Since it is tangled in the roots of the tree, I can't do a selective remove and smother as I did with the area that is now my roadside garden. So, the poison came out.
It does show up where it's not wanted. Here's directions for home made weed killer Make a poison ivy killer spray: Combine 1 cup of salt and 1 gallon of vinegar in a pot and heat to dissolve the salt. Allow it to cool, then add and 8 drops of liquid dish soap and put the mixture in a spray bottle. You can spray the poison ivy or pour it directly on the plant.
We don't know where this white variety came from, we didn't plant it. It could be a naturally occurring variation? Barb will save you some seeds.
I looked into a local goat rental place to clean the PI and bittersweet. Not exactly cheap. the PI does real well here too. Quick pic of the driveway flower garden. A bit informal, and it is just fine with me. Some type of grasshopper munching the mullein. Lots of daddy long legs climbing around here too.
Found this in the treeline a couple of feet from the surprise white foxglove. I looked it up and it seems to be a red campion. If anyone thinks differently let me know because I never would have guessed it is a campion. This ninebark in the driveway garden is the only ninebark to put out almost red flowers and it is stunning up close. Give it a couple more years to fill in (it has only been there 2 years) and it will be stunning from afar too. Had to take another picture to highlight the gold centers of the newer leaves like the one in the middle (leftish) That would be awesome - thank you!
Day lilies at the front of the house must have been stressed by the month of dryness as they aren't as nice as usual, but still putting out some color. These actually got watered some as I was keeping the hostas to either end, and the creeping phlox in front alive. Voodoo sedum starting to blush. This is a new plant for the roadside garden that I planted in the middle of June Day lilies in the side yard are just starting to go. They are in shade most of the day, and never got watered. That vine on the pillar is an Sweet Autumn clematis and won't bloom for a while. I put the pillar up early in the spring so the clematis wouldn't have to sprawl all over the ground (there is one vine across the stump and thru the day lilies). Been trying to train the vines but it looks like I should have found a 10' pillar though . Not sure what the name of this day lily is - it is a fairly short plant as far as day lilies go. It's the lone lily bloom in the driveway garden right now. The butterfly weed (orange flowers) is in the next tier down and it is just short enough to see the bloom from the front.
Oh yeah, got plenty of volunteer butterfly weed plants. Here is a small one that is growing next to my shortest baptisia (false indigo). Being so young, that BW plant is only about 1' tall, but it is in the lowest tier so easily visible. That is creeping phlox to the right, not grass/weeds.
Some bargain basement Oriental lilies and day lilies by our door. The bee balm are mostly out. Hummingbirds love them And the hydrangeas are putting on a show. After a few downpours, including 2 with small hail, they are a bit droopy, but looking well.
The wildflower patch over the septic field is slowly recovering with the rain from last week. A lot of the clover dried up around the edges. It is a scraggly-looking mess, but we should see more flowers popping in the next week or so. This would have otherwise been a dried out patch of lawn. There is one turkey hen with one poult staying in the area. They hens seem to flock up with three or four hens and up to 25 poults. They spent about a half hour in the patch picking bugs and grass seeds.
Purple cone flowers opening up, with balloon flowers The cohosh spires are looking stately The bees will be all over those flowers as the keep opening up. An unusual hosta flower opening. And the yucca is yuccing.
