CSI: Cat

I can't believe Ginger laid down on the desk. She hasn't ever been one to do that. Number Three was, certainly, but she would have been on the keyboard, obscuring my view of Mack Taylor and his New York crew.

The portulaca is finally starting to fill in the window box.

Merlin's Magic didn't seem to like the conditions on my porch, unfortunately. :( But Twist & Twirl is thriving just like it did last year!

Petunias just love it at our house!

Bordeaux and the tuberous begonias, all going nuts.

Here's Vince again, along with my first lilies (other than Stella) to bloom!

The Wave Petunia looks like it's trying to stand up.

The mystery of the strange seedling has been resolved! It was a CALLA LILY!! Yay! Isn't it purty? I just love the leaves. I might even go through with digging up the bulbs and overwintering them inside to keep them coming back. And that's saying something.

Lysimachia Alexander is thriving. It looks so much bigger and fuller and better than last year.

And these babies also opened up! They ran a close second to the orange ones. I just love how soft the pink is.

Look at them with that excellent Telstar Picotee dianthus at their feet. That's the only dianthus that's still consistently blooming. It's just fantastic.

And look at my babies! My little Stellas, all in a row!

Oh, they're fabulous!

Look at those sweet little faces!

And we have a bud coming up on either You Are My Sunshine or Strutter's Ball. I think it's YAMS. (Haha, yams.)

And I'm pretty sure this one is my Siloam Double Classic... which has me so excited!! I can't wait to see my new little double lily! I've never had one before. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen one in person.

Sorry about the dizzying tilted pictures in this post. In the foreground is all the buds on my only unblooming Stella, and beyond that is all the buds on Happy Returns, which is Stella's cousin.

Speaking of tilted, here's another one of the Stellas.

This is my baptisia. It looks like it's growing peapods!

Astilbe Deutchland looks ready to wait it out until next year.

This is the Secret Sideyard Rose.

And last but not least, we have some fruit!

Aren't they adorable?

Up North, Take 1

We went up to the hunting camp for our "weekend" and Dan made a new friend. He picked this guy up in the middle of the road and brought him back to camp to meet me.

Unfortunately, he wasn't too happy to meet me.

And we got home in time to take some garden pictures. I had given up this cyclamen, but it's doing better with a little TLN (tender loving neglect).

They look droopy because it rained all day, but look how far up out of the windowbox these petunias are coming!

Dan's little crabapple trees look like they're doing well.

My Bordeaux petunias and tuberous begonias.

My precious little highlighter dahlias!

Mom, you asked for a picture of the flowers on my exotic geranium, so here you have it!

That's Vince, my birthday garden gnome, behind some lilies that look ready to bloom.

I think this is a lily. But it's weird-looking.

Kerry sedum, violas, peony, and lemon zest petunias.

Serrated sedum.

I was so surprised and excited to see that my Lysimachia is blooming!

I really don't know what this is.

This is either my Siloam Reds or my Little Italy sending up buds!

This is what I think are my dahlias. Though I don't remember planting any.

My Secret Rose, with a little new bloom and a bud in the foreground.

My Stellas are going to town!

This one is ready to roll.

Another Stella.

This is Happy Returns, getting ready to bloom.

That's Happy Returns in the front, and all three of my dianthus behind. :) Left to right, we have the Unnamed Picotee, Telstar Picotee, and Apple Spice.

My pink Oriental lilies.

My orange common roadside lilies (hemerocallis fulva).

We're making another bed in the corner, and I got three shade-tolerant plants.

Baptisia, called False Indigo.

Helleborus, called Blue Lady.

And my first Astilbe, called Deutschland.

And poor little Ginger couldn't decide what to be more afraid of, the thunder overhead or the meat slicer Dan was using.