Languid and hot days alternate with rainy afternoons now that summer is in full swing here. July is our hottest month of the year and it has been days of above average temperatures for us. I do not like summer heat, especially when it is humid too, so it is indoor activities for me most of the time. But in the early morning, or at dusk, we can spend a bit of time on the veranda to enjoy birdsong and fresh air, and the fireflies after sundown. Taking a short stroll to the flowerbed, there is much to enjoy in July. The daylilies are in full flower, usually with multiple blooms a day. I like this deep purple with the yellow throat.
We spotted someone new recently. After a bit of research and observation, we have determined this is a newly fledged female cardinal. She was wobbly and not very coordinated, but she could fly. She just couldn’t land on the feeder, so was pecking around on the ground. The black beak threw us off for a bit, but it does change to the lighter color as the bird matures. She is a fluffy little thing right now.
More daylilies in peach with yellow throats bloom profusely.
On the feeder, a house finch gets a meal.
A rain storm passes, leaving wisps of clouds across the valley, settling between the layers of hills.
My dahlia bloomed, such a vibrant orange with bright yellow! I had three this color and they lasted about five days each.
The dusty miller bloomed with bright yellow flowers.
The ‘Easter’ lily bloomed in late June. I got this as a gift several years ago and when it was done I put the bulb in the flowerbed. It has bloomed every year since.
I added more lime to the soil under the hydrangea, and got a few purple flowers. Most are still blue, so I’ll be adding a bit more lime as I want more pinkish tones. But I do love this color.
Out back, the rhododendrons are putting on a show with lots of pure white flowers.
Oliver continues to beg for meals almost daily. I can’t help it, he is just too cute, so I have to give him a morsel of whole grain bread.
The hostas have put up their flower spikes. Lovely purple trumpet-shaped flowers are attracting lots of pollinators.
Last week, we had to encourage these two to move on and leave the bird feeder alone. One was pulling on the pole in sharp jerks, putting all his weight into it, but it is too strong and tall for him to bring down. We scared them off with just a bit of shouting, and I grabbed a quick photo before they were gone.
My tomato plants needed additional staking this week. The branches are getting heavy with growing produce.
The echinacea bloomed this week too, lovely deep pink flowers. The shrub has almost 2 dozen blooms on it now in various stages.
Two female turkeys came by, and as I stepped out to the veranda, they came running up. Obviously, they’ve been here before! I broke a slice of whole grain bread into bites for them, and tossed the bits to them. They gobbled them up (get it? Gobbled them? LOL, couldn’t resist.)
On the veranda, coral color impatiens that overwintered in the sunroom bloom with vigor.
The west corner of the veranda is alive with color. The purple pansies bloom in several shades with lots of blossoms. White violas are in the urns. Dahlia blooms are opening on the left, while the one on the right hasn’t bloomed yet.
The geranium was cut back a month ago, but put out a new flower spike with this intense pink color.
The torenias continue to bloom like crazy, attracting the hummingbirds. As yet, I have not been quick enough to get a photo of the pair that often come. A male ruby throat flits by, then a female will take her turn.
In another pot, my tiny Jump-Ups have begun blooming. I love these little treasures with their happy faces and such detail.
There are two different ones, both with interesting colors and details, like the dark spots at the bottom and the lines coming from the center. One of these days, I’ll figure out a pattern for wool applique with these little flowers.
What is blooming in your garden now?
From My Carolina Home 
Beautiful flowers. Oliver has certainly trained you well. LOL Those bears looks kinda big. I am glad you could shoo them off. It’s funny how the animals know where to go for a treat!
Beautiful, always love your garden post. And all the wildlife!
last year, i started Esther Eliau’s hold on to your heart pattern for applique. [no i haven’t yet finished but i’m not giving up either!]. one of the first parts was a group of stunning pansies, i tried to figure out how to send you a picture here in the comments but it doesn’t allow for that.
if you’re interested, i could send you a picture if you can let me know how to do it!!!!
your garden never ceases to charm me, enjoy
shoshana
Your pattern sounds nice but I can’t find it on the internet. Is it a local pattern?
It’s been so hot here, I haven’t spent any time in the garden until yesterday when I pulled some weeds before the pending storms. Haven’t checked the rain gauge yet, but we desperately needed the rain. Self-seeded larkspur have become invasive and taken over one of the garden areas. I need to seriously work on reducing them since they are taking moisture and nutrients away from the perennials. Other plants in bloom are : day lilies, echinacea, evening primrose, butterfly weed, daisies and coreopsis. The day lilies have been nibbled by the deer despite having been sprayed with Liquid Fence. They changed the formula for Liquid Fence and it takes more concentrate to make a gallon of spray. I think they’ve diluted it to the point that it’s lost it’s effectiveness.. At least we have no bear visitors which would put me off gardening completely. Enjoy your Sunday.
I hate the humidity and heat of July too and it looks like the whole month will be like this and no rain – or very little. I hate the humidity and will need to start to get outside early to water plants daily or almost daily it looks like.
Sorry you have a problem with bears – I guess I would remove the bird feeders for awhile and see if they would lose interest in my place and then put them back out later
Wow! So much going on! Your flowers are beautiful.
Everything looks so beautiful with the longer, warmer days. It’s nice to have the rains for the thirsty plants, but that humidity zaps all nervy from me.
What a delightful walk through your garden to start the day. I have hydrangea and day lilies in bloom 🙂 Raspberries are yielding there delicious fruit 🙂 Deer are out and about and Olivia and Chip are by multi times a day for peanut butter on crackers 🙂
Such beautiful photos, Carole, and I love your narration that goes with them, too! How fun to discover a baby cardinal – we get such a kick out of watching the young ones figure out how to land on the feeders here. Wow on the bears! My husband was just outside trying to photograph the huge yellow blooms on our pumpkin plant. They are so pretty in the morning sun!
Lovely! My Easter lily is about to bloom and our day lilies are hard at it too. The borage has started blooming, lovely little blue flowers, and the chamomile is blooming like crazy too. I need to pull more flowers for tea, and on that note, will you harvest any echinacea for tea? It is great for colds and flu, but I’d have to look up which part you harvest. I love your photos. Out garden had a night with golf ball sized hail and then two days later tennis ball sized.😳 Things are still looking pretty ragged, we replanted the bean, hopefully there’s enough time to get some.
The only Bears we get wear uniforms and helmets! (Chicago) Your garden is astonishing! It is such horrid weather here, like swimming but scorched earth, stringy flowers. Almost hate to weed as they are the only things flourishing! Reading your story and the pictures is like watching a Ken Burns “National Parks” episode (without the drama). Thanks for the lovely photos.
Flowers are God smiling at you.
Such a Wonder filled blog.
Thank you for all you do . I enjoy your post sew much.
Carole, your flowers are beautiful…..and your Mountain View!!!! To die for!! We are so flat here….but I do have a lovely hay field in front of my house and love to watch the hay balers working!! We make the most of what we have, right!! I have a Moonflower blooming, which I started from seeds in the spring. Also, zinnias and 4o’clocks from seeds. Never had a bloom on the dusty miller though…..didn’t know they bloomed! Keep sharing….it’s a joy to see that beauty!
Hello Carole, As always it is delightful to see everything you share from every corner of your garden! I always spend time looking, reading and then going back and really loosing myself in so many of your fabulous photos. I am thrilled you are having such a successful garden once again. Plus, with all of your fascinating visitors, it all adds extra fun and excitement into the whole mix. Especially the two bears, I am sure! LOL. We are having a great time right now watching the same sorts of growth and visitors, except no turkeys they tend to stay on the other side of the road most of the year. No bears, but we do have a pack of wolves that make their way along our small creek that leads down to the rivers edge. Plus, our family of foxes have a new litter again this year and momma was up “crying” trying to get them rounded up to head back towards the den they have down below us again by the rivers edge. Then this year we have a momma who has decided our front yard is the safest place for her two fawns. They have grown so much already it is amazing. I need to send you pictures and a few of my favorite flowers. Still recovering and just getting my strength back, I may try and sew today a bit. Again, thank you so much for sharing all of your amazing photos and your thoughts about each of them! Have a marvelous day!
Good pun!
Carole, I always enjoy your garden tours. The day lilies are so pretty, one of my favorites in the garden. There are supposed to be bears in our area, I have enough pests, I hope I don’t see any! Have a great week!
Beautiful as always.
Your birdfeeder has a cage around it? DH recently put up feeder on a post. Attracted rats too so now he shop vacs the seed parts on the ground every evening.
We saw baby bird too. Stayed in ghe water plate with his tail in the water. The other birds kept bringing seed to him and putting into his open mouth. It was colorful make birds feeding him.
Our first time with feeder. Very interesting to watch them.
Southern California
Hi Carole – I had no idea Dusty Miller had a pretty yellow blossom. Thx. Your photos are always beautiful. Are they with a smart phone ?
In my vegetable garden we have several types a Tomatoes 🍅. Mac really likes yellow ones. We’ve got 2 types of cucumbers – got the seedlings at Henns. Also have some new style Eggplants which are similar in shape to cucumbers. Got some Purple Pepper plants. We have planted some Potatoes 🥔 from some sprouted ones we found in the potato bin. They seem to be growing!!! I want to try (again) to grow them using the tire method. We tried it once before. But I think we were to rough. We will see. Mac has made several raised beds – a first for this year.
We’ve also kept busy tidying up the front yard. Had the help if a strong college friend. Looks more open – Mac really likes it. I’m adjusting to the change.
BTW – I hope that is the last visit from your Bears!!! I think we have had Bear visitors – but at night.
I spied at 3-4 foot long Black Snake trying to climb the wall of our house. Discouraged it quickly!!!
Hope you are having a blessed evening
Just beautiful, Carole. I would totally freak out to have those bears visit!!! You wouldn’t get me out in the garden. Then again, I suppose our deadly snakes are pretty scary if you think too much about it. Do you get mosquitoes early in the morning or at dusk? Lots of lavender flowering hear at the moment.
Your garden is looking lovely. I do enjoy seeing your visitors…. from a distance.
Spent an hour on the hop yesterday, thanks! Our day lilies are bursting, we have the orange and the purple with orange blush undertones. This fall I need to divide them, the clumps are huge. I believe they are rhizomes, not bulbs, so I will have to research that! we carried my grandmother’s iris rhizomes around for years, we even had so many we dug them up and threw them into the compost pile, where they immediately began to bloom there! I don’t have them anymore, and when my sis moved back to CA last year, I have no clue if she took any of the iris rhizomes. My DIL’s garden is growing, the squirrels and the rabbits have gotten some. I’ve had baby bunnies twice down in my basement window well and I took them back outside. Should let the terrier chase them all off, but yes, they are also too cute. My 2 year old granddaughter gets a kick out of the mama who is always on the front lawn lounging and eating. I believe she’s the one who keeps my carnations mowed down! Thanks for the sunny days pictures. I’m working from home in my dark basement office, try to get out in the late afternoon when it is no longer scorching and get some Vit D! Hope this passes soon! Sharon in CO