Alchemilla mollis.  I really don’t think that name suits this plant.  I like its other name, Lady’s Mantle.

I have used this plant in the garden beds for many years.

Granted, some of them I didn’t actually plant there.

They kind of just decided to grow there.

Reseeding can be a problem.

But it’s such a tidy little clump, beautiful leaves, especially with drops of rain or dew on them.

I have this whole patch along the path.  It looks good in a mass like that.

And the frothy yellow blooms are good for bouquet fillers too.

When the blooms are finished, I cut them all off, and the plant looks good for the rest of the season.

Not everyone likes this old-fashioned plant, but I think there’s lots to appreciate.

How can you resist such delicate little flowers?

We have a big field of grass on our property.

A good place for groundhogs to hide.

It was decided that it should be mowed.

But I had noticed that there was a nice patch of milkweed growing in the one corner.

So it was left alone.

We know that milkweed plants are getting scarce.

So these are for the Monarchs.

I haven’t seen milkweed for a long time, and I don’t think I’ve ever watched it bloom and seed.

So I’ll keep you posted.

And hopefully the butterflies will be happy!

On my evening walk about the garden  I spied this little guy.

On the hydrangea tree.

He is about as big as my thumb nail.

 

This one visited the garden in another year.

Some kind of tree frog.  Sure not afraid of people.  I’ve also found them on the clematis vines.

I would have liked to have seen him make his way up the hydrangea tree.  How does he do it?

Anyway, he was easy to miss.  We have to be on the look out for God’s little surprises.

 

 

 

 

I really love the blue hostas.

This one has perfect, strong, heart shaped leaves.  Not too big.

Huge blue leaves. Makes quite a statement in the garden.

I love this one.  Medium sized leaves, amazing yellow markings.

Smaller leaves, more tapered and pointed.  Lovely colour.

Really big puckered leaves, with gorgeous yellow borders.

Big blue puckered leaves, shaped like scoops.

This one stands tall and strong. Yellow edging really pops out.

I don’t have much slug trouble with these hostas. Such a variety of sizes and shapes, and beautiful colour in the shade.

Over the years I have tried to grow rhododendrons.

It has not proved to be very successful.

With the cold wind and dry shade and snow load, well, let’s just say these aren’t ideal conditions.

We do cover them for the winter, but this winter was long and cold and it looks like only one bush is going to bloom.

But it sure is pretty.

The colour just begins to peek out.

Every day the petals become a little more visible.

They’re getting ready!

A few blossoms open..

a few more…

and then there they are!

Beautiful colour in a shady corner!

 

The viburnum shrubs are in bloom.

The high bush cranberry

The snowball bush

I was hoping the cold winter would have killed off the bugs, but apparently not.

The viburnum beetles are out in full force.

Here you can even see them in action.

I’ve sprayed insecticidal soap, but it’s not doing a lot of good. I’ve seen shrubs completely defoliated by them, so I’ll try to keep that from happening.

Here’s something beautiful to end with, in case tiny, leaf-destroying caterpillars are not your thing.

I like these snowballs much more than the other kind.

 

 

Through the years my vegetable garden has attracted various critters. The raccoons have ravaged the corn, the groundhogs have gobbled the broccoli, and the rabbits have razed the lettuce.  It’s discouraging to grow broccoli from seed started in February, only to feed a fat groundhog in July.

So we have come up with a solution.

The electric fence.

Two wires, close to the ground.

All the way around the garden.

When you find a groundhog hole inside the fence, you know it’s not foolproof.  (Don’t even ask.) But it works most of the time.

We’ll see how we fare this summer.

 

It seems that right now in the garden, many of the plants in bloom are purple, or a shade of  blue-purple or pink-purple.

Alliums

Lupin

Chives

Lilacs

Dianthus

Geranium

Cornflower

Columbine

Irises

So beautiful to see so much colour, after such a long season of white!

Oh, it was such a lovely and welcome rain shower this morning!  After planting the garden on the weekend, the seeds sure needed the rain.

And my water barrels were nearly empty.  For years I had one barrel, and I used the rainwater for all the deck and patio pots.

When it rained, I would rush out to fill up pails.  I didn’t want to see all the overflow go to waste.

Last year my handy husband rigged this up for me.  Now, with a good shower, I have two rain barrels full of water.  So easy.