Carrots

We found a swallowtail caterpillar, affectionately named "Carrots", on our dill earlier this summer, and after careful feeding had a successful chrysalis, followed by a butterfly!

Bridget is very much on her last legs (she's 19 this summer!) and it was a joy to have her follow us down to the dill where we released Carrots. She's old and frail, but still living her life.

Pumpkins

This was not a year for planting anything, but we appreciated a few volunteers. The front garden between the driveways sprouted a mini-pumpkin vine, and Reuben and I (with some help at the end from Gloria) picked ten mini pumpkins yesterday. The vine dried up early - not sure why - but we've still got 10 babies fully orange on there.

 And, courtesy of my phone without any intention on my part, here's a photo of the larger pumpkin plant (still green) a little further down, next to the dill that seeded itself last fall. We've enjoyed that fresh addition to our lunches here and there, and also found "Carrots" the caterpillar, which just over the weekend formed his chrysalis.

Astilbe

They don't have as extended of a bloom time as some other things do, but they're still fun. These particular astilbes have lived in at least three locations in our yard before we finally found a place where they are predictably happy. As you can see, they are quite well settled here, and we enjoy them every year when they're doing their thing.

New blooms in great-grandpa's garden

Last year the lilies Great-Grandpa shared with me came up, but weren't sturdy enough yet to bloom.

This year, however, we're going to get a decent showing, and I finally get to see what color they are!

From the looks of it, they're going to be a beautiful deep pinkish corally red.

Garden help

With a week long visit from my parents' friend from Wisconsin, we were able to get the front garden by the driveways weeded and mulched (with a thick layer of newspaper - free and ugly - and a thin layer of Menards' cheapest mulch), despite my being 36 weeks pregnant.

The girls were often swirling around nearby, and I was grateful for Rinnah's help throwing a few more annuals into the gap at the bottom that's just a little too close to the salt and the plow to be good for much. I've still got to figure out which perennials will be good down there.

I also gained a few plants (down here all sedum) from our neighbors who are moving and wanted a place to stash some perennials until they find a new place. Even better, she planted them for me, since the ground is a long way down these days! The sharing is definitely part of the fun of a garden.

Hydrangeas

"Mom, can I pick one of your white flowers - the big ones?"

Garden style

Who knew that disassembled bleeding hearts could make such great dress-up jewelry?