I let some spearmint go to flower this year and here is a picture of it. The honey bees seem to love it above all else this year. In fact I had not seen any until just recently.
I just love this picture! Doesn't this ballon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) look like a sea star?
Johnny Jump Ups (Viola tricolor) are one of my all time favorite flowers. I have been deadheading them like crazy to keep them blooming.
This little skipper stayed still long enough to get his picture taken before skipping off to some flowers.
I love the color of this Rosenwein salvia (Salvia nemorosa). It is really beautiful and looks so nice next to the soft yellow blooms that are flowering close to it.
Corn in the veggie garden plus one bright blue sky equals one beautiful summer afternoon.
Finally there is this beauty. Prince John Viola (Viola cornuta) is such a lemony shade of yellow. I just love it. One packet of seed produced so many plants that there are now Prince John violas tucked in the garden where ever I could squeeze them in.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautiful pictures of summer!
Thank you Sheila!
-Cindy
Beautiful odds and ends they are.
-Cindy
Thanks Deb!
Gorgeous blooms! I love Johnny Jumpups, they have such cute little faces. I’m surprised you still have some blooming, they die back here once the heat of summer kicks in. Balloon Flowers are one of my favorite perennials, my boys like to pop the buds before they open, grrrrr.
Hi PGL, I love pansies too because of their little faces.
I’m actually rather surprised that they are still blooming but we have had such a weird summer with a lot of very cool days so that must have something to do with it. Your boys pop the ballon flower bud? Oh, boys can be so ornery! I can just picture my 9 year old getting a kick out of doing that! -Cindy
The balloon flower shot is lovely, showing all the intricate detailing on the petals. That lemon yellow viola would look good next to it. Isn’t is nice to an abundance of flowers to place?
I love the ballon flower pic because you can see all the veining on the petals. I actually did plant a one of the yellow violas next to it and it does look very pretty. I love tucking violas in everywhere I can as they are one of my favorites. -Cindy
I have tons of Johnny Jumpups too. I haven’t been deadheading them like you. I have no clue as to why they are still blooming. Must be the rain. I’ve been picking all my flowers off my mints. And you were right of course. They have started taking off. I love your yellow violas they are so cute.
Hi Daphne, I usually cut back my mint before it even gets a chance to flower but this year it got away from me! It is the first year ever that I have let spearmint flower and I am pleasantly surprised by how pretty the flowers are as well as to how much the honey bees like it. I knew it would be no time at all before your mint started taking off! I bet all that rain helped.
-Cindy
I love the Johnny Jump-ups. They give the illusion that srping is coming and we’re just getting started. Where did the time go? We still have plenty of good weather days here but the gardening is slowing down. That purple and yellow brightens everything up.
Hi, Jane Marie- So it seems I am not the only one that is very fond of Johnny jump ups! To me it feels like it should be early summer seeing as we had no spring this year- spring was unseasonable cold and very wet. -Cindy
May I ask where you live in that zone that can have Johnny-jump-ups? I thought they were a cool weather plant. When I go to Blue Moon Gardens, they tell me to come back in the fall. Also I love that balloon flower, and your sidebar is so restful and appealing. I’m going to have to remember that and ask my person who designed my blog about something cool/tranquil like that.
Brenda
Brenda,
) and I am always thinking I need to redo this blog. Then I get nice compliments from people like you and I wonder why I can’t just leave well enough alone!
Thank you for such nice comments! Especially the one about my blog design! I am the sort of person that is never quite satisfied with their work (I think a lot of gardeners can relate!
I am east of Portland, Oregon. The maps say zone 8a but I wonder sometimes how correct that is. We have had a very unusual summer when it comes to the weather and I think that might have something to do with why my Johnny-jump-ups are still going strong. Plus I never follow the rules, I saw we were having some cooler than normal temps so I went ahead and sowed some viola seeds that I had stashed away. The balloon flower is one of my favorites as it looks so interesting in bud and bloom. -Cindy
Your blooms always look so fresh and healthy. I can’t believe you said the temps were so high. Your garden looks like it get lots of rain and the perfect temps.
Hi Anna, To be honest with you I am amazed that I didn’t loose any plants with this last heat wave. It got to be insanely hot on my deck. I thought for sure everything was going to get cooked. A couple roses that are growing in containers did not like the heat. Their petals got all dry and crispy. Everything else handled it fine. Now we are back to the unsually cool temps. It dropped 30 degrees in 24 hours! I hate crazy weather. -Cindy
Wouldn’t it be great if all our odds & ends were as beautiful?
/krys
I agree Krys.
-Cindy
I really enjoyed your odds & ends post (and it opens up new possibilities for me; I always think I should have a theme). Cindy’s right about taking the flowers off the mint. They are pretty (in fact, I hadn’t known spearmint has white flowers, not lilac, because I always deadhead my mints), but once plants start to flower, they send their energy into the flowers and seed. This means that the flavor and texture of the leaves deteriorates, and also that the plant stops growing wider.
I’m intrigued by your violas. Until last month, I had violas blooming here in N California, zone 8. Might have been tough types of violas that did it, or weather, or who knows what? I love violas, so I was happy they went on as long as they did.
I am not too sure why my violas are still doing so well this late in the summer but I am happy that they are! -Cindy