I was in the vegetable garden for the afternoon.

Just finishing up about 4 o’clock, when I happened to notice movement in the trees close by.

I quietly picked up my tools and left.

To go get my camera of course.

And the telephoto lens.

Do you see who came by?

He came along the fence, and under it, seeming to be quite familiar with the route.

He checked out the compost, and half an hour later when I went out to check, he was gone.

It was odd to see him out in the afternoon.  I’m hoping it doesn’t become a regular event!

I’m thankful again for the electric fence around the garden.

Once in awhile in the morning or late evening I have smelled him, so I knew there was a skunk around.

I just wasn’t planning to personally meet him.

 

I usually am a little late planting the beans, but they are finally blooming!

Full of blossoms this year.  We’ve had lots of rain and sunshine, so they are happy plants.

Tiny little beans full of promise.

Nothing like those first tender fresh beans from the garden.   I usually pick every other day or so for the rest of the summer, and they keep coming.

I’ve planted two more rows for a little later crop.

Lots to eat fresh, freeze and share.

I have this giant silvery thistle growing in my flower bed.

On purpose.

It is the Scottish Thistle.

It is really prickly, and I avoid all weeding close to it.

I think it is biennial.  Last year it just grew to about 30 cm or so.

This summer it will be taller than me, and each plant spreads more than a meter wide too.

Those plants don’t come back.

Instead it reseeds a few here and there.

I have it just for interest sake, but it’s flopping over the other plants and I don’t want it to go to seed.

They’re fun to see once,  but thistles aren’t really one of my favourites.

I have some visitors coming and they might like to see these striking plants, but after that I’ll be tearing them out.

Very, very carefully.

Just something to marvel at today.

The tissue paper petals of the poppies.

That beautiful soft pink colour.

And the flower centre.

Well, just have a look.

So amazing.

The work of the Creator is wondrous indeed.

One of my favourite annuals is torenia.

It doesn’t need full sun, so it does quite well in the shade on my patio.

When it needs water, it visibly droops.

Torenia can be blue, or this mauve, or a dark purple, sometimes bicolored.

Pretty tubular flowers cover the plant.

But you must regularly deadhead.  I spend a few minutes every few days, picking off every finished bloom, and the little green pods left behind.

Like this one.

Or this one.

It’s kind of tedious, but if you don’t do this, it will soon be ugly, with less and less flowers.

So it’s not really an easy care plant.  Maybe that’s why it’s not too common.

But I still try to find one every year.

I have a very small raspberry patch.

Well, it’s not even a patch,  it’s about 5 little canes.

But look what I found!

We’re going to have some raspberries this year!

Maybe one bowl full.  With ice cream.

I love raspberries.

I can hardly wait.

 

Are you experiencing a chipmunk invasion?

I’ve heard from a few people that the chipmunks are wreaking havoc in their gardens this year.

High numbers of chipmunks.

We currently have four very active, very friendly chipmunks keeping us company in the yard.

Here’s three of them cleaning up the fallen seed from the bird feeder.

They do dig a few holes here and there, and even the pots get disturbed.

But so far I haven’t seen any terrible damage.

They come and drink from the pond, and children love watching them scoot around the patio, sometimes right under your chair!

Last year we had 3 or 4 big squirrels running around, but this year I see only one occasionally.

I do think the chipmunks are more fun to watch than the squirrels!

 

We had a short storm blow through here Sunday afternoon.

Not a thunderstorm, but a few strong gusts of wind.

Enough to bring down this big chunk of our old willow.

We were thankful the heavy trunk part fell on the lawn, and all the leafy stuff fell on the flower bed.

This happens regularly.  Our big ol’ willow has lost a lot of big branches over the years.

So Monday morning this was our first job on the list.

As more branches are cut back, I am always anxious to see how much damage was done underneath.

I had a dead corkscrew hazel that was some cool garden art.  It was really demolished.

Some big branches on my Magnolia tree got broken off.

A few hostas got a little squished.

But really, not much damage to anything else.

In about an hour, it was all cleaned up.

And it was time for coffee.

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!