Blooms, Bees, and Tidying up the Gardens

I adore valerian flowers. They were getting so tall I took the flowers off at the ends to hopefully keep them going awhile. The bees love them too

It was so hot today even momma squirrel was trying to catch a breeze.

I have a sunchoke bed started this year. I had to move a lot of strawberries from that area to the front strawberry bed.

It is so hot I thought I better put down some straw to keep them from burning. Now both of these bed areas also have tomato plants, I think 6. And then there are more in pots this year.

I have quite a few potted plants this year. There is sheep sorrel, boneset, arugula, romaine, american licorice, chard, parsley, basils, and others just scattered amongst things. Some of them will be planted out in the native plant garden (which I forgot to take a picture of ).

daylilies, and clary sage

See that tall plant? Remember when I went and dug up a native aster and was questioned by the police last year? Well, look how big it is this year!! lol

My husband poo poos my energy conservation measures sometimes. Doesn’t stop me though. Found this old push mower and had the blades sharpened

The yellow honey house that I still need to finish painting

The black cohosh is growing it’s candles, but they are funny shaped.  Some of the angelica grew huge but a wind broke the stem, but it is still trying to bloom. It is flies that are mostly it’s pollinators, or so it seems! Been so hot that even though it is in the shade with just some morning sun, its poor leaves are already a bit scorched!

All around the pond, the orange daylilies, marshmallows and others are growing like crazy!

Some things are just about stopped flowering already

The toothwort and forget me nots are setting seed

Glad the toothwort, bloodroot and mayapples I transplanted from the wild this spring are settling in

As are the new elderberry trees! yea!

The bees are doing great. That is a frame of honey lying on that metal stand to the left of the hives. I am feeding them back honey. The new hive does have a sugar water feeder on it. I don’t usually do that, but with the heat already, giving them a bit of a boost.

This area was a huge pile of dirt and yard waste my husband had piled up. Just full of poison ivy. So glad to have that chore done and the spot cleaned up!

I have raspberries entwined in a lot of the back gardens chain link fencing.

This is from standing by the beehives. That is the garage in the background.

I am exhausted! Believe me, everything did not look near this tidy before I have spent most of the last week working! Excuse me now, I need a bath, a glass of mead, something to eat, and the couch!