This is my best oriental poppy, but not the best of photos. I have not had much time to spend on my pictures lately, sorry to say. I have these poppies along by the garage. They were there when we moved into the house. They are very easy care plants, once established. Very showy blooms and they need something to cover the dying foliage. I cannot seem to propogate this one. I have bought a few and have them along the driveway and with the roses at the front.
This is an old bloom on one of the new perennials in the bed at the back. Its a painted daisy. Behind, and to the left and right of this plant I have 2 minature roses, a balloon flower, a pink and the dying foliage of the bulbs. The other new perennials are in front of this one, and a few across the cement stone path. Including one that likes it dry and gravelly but looks very much like a moss. I must get these names recorded in my plant lists!
Dan brought his oldest Smart car over to Three Point Motors to have it gone over by them. The wind up key in the back is one of a kind and needs specail attention. This one is Agent 99, their other one is Maxwell, of course. Was good to see him, but Irene did not come along. Stayed home to babysit Hagar and I guess she is very busy with quilting. Thanks for the apron, my dear Irene! Dan was the first one to try out the new guest room, but its P I N K oh no oh no. But you don't see that when your eyes are closed! We ate out, except for breakfast which was a guys only thing... healthy oatmeal and coffee. The car had to be down to the garage before my get up time, and they were just going to gamble, tell stories and drink coffee in Chinatown -- a guys' group. Brrrrr scary stuff!
This was another hot hot day. Yesterday was 31 and I think today was the same. Yesterday, before Dan's arrival on the Coho I managed to transplant the last of the perennials I had purchased about a week or so ago. Two of them are in the front by the magnolia tree... a rock rose and a little one that looks like a tiny geranium. The rest are at the back, in the little garden I made last year. The soil has quite a lot of clay, but I know that beneath this clayish top there is the turned over sods, so once these plants get their roots down they will be in some good nourishing soil. The 4 thymes, the achillia, the allysum, the lithodara, and the aubretia from last year are growing good. I think I lost one primula... drumstick one, and a dodecathenon from last year's plantings. So, today, after Dan was back on the ferry with his car and we were home, I watered front and back, except the woodland.
Yesterday, after watering in the new transplants I dropped the hose into the pond to top it up. Well, I forgot to turn it off. The water ran out of the pond and into the moss garden area. Great, I thought, my moss garden should be nice and moist now. Well, today, in going back to water everything, I found that I have 2 dead fish. I guess there was altogether too much chlorinated water added to the pond. I think the rest have survived. There were 6 of them. They had grown to quite a size too, since I had them. At least double the size of when I bought them at the smallest size possible. There was one looking very ill and flopping around the top of the pond. I moved it to near the waterfall where the water is more aerreated and it seemed to do better and stayed at the bottom. When the fish were well, I would never see them at the top. I hope the rest survive. I may get a few more, as it seems the ugly big frog is gone, and the river otter, racoons, and herons have not been visiting. I have seen herons in the area, but they were not stopping at my pond, just flying over.
After 3 very hot days, tomorrow should start to get back to normal temperatures. We will be on an antique car tour on the sunshine coast. It sounds like a lot of time on the old car, but should be fun, I hope. I never look forward to these runs, but always seem to enjoy them.... contrary person that I am. This time, I am anxious to get the renovations finished in the garden, but ... no rush, it will be there when we get back.
This photo is shot from the deck steps downwards at the part of the little dry stream that runs under the deck and disappears under the ferms. You can see the beginnings of the moss garden along one side. There are other shade plants in the picture -- a hosta, solomons seal, a little shrub that I have just recently pruned, so it is looking rather sparse.
