It's a muggy day at the farmette. We already have the air conditioning on because Rob and I were sweating without doing a single thing - except drinking coffee.
We finally got some decent rain over the past week - almost two inches on Wednesday - then so much heat and humidity, it's been like a sauna.
The flowers are loving it. I don't think I've ever had larger hydrangea blooms.
My niece Kate's home made wedding bouquet had a big gorgeous hydrangea as the focal point.
Here's the western Harris family nearly 12 years ago on the big day out in Prince George, British Columbia.
Groom Matthew, Kate, brother Bob, niece Alex, nephew Geoff and sister-in-law Joanne. All three siblings are now married and have a bouquet of beautiful children. Where did the time go?
Back at the farmette, I got this tickseed (coreopsis) earlier in the season and have faithfully deadheaded it.
It has responded with lots of blooms every day since it was planted. I think I might need to get more of these next year.
My hanging plants are doing well - this one in particular.
Had to keep a close eye on these guys during the droughty first part of the summer.
I nearly killed off a couple of my other planters because I got lazy and Mother Nature didn't come through with the rain that was predicted.
Luckily, I pulled up my socks and went back to watering. Every. Bloody. Day. Now, I can enjoy the fruits of my labour.
The astilbe seems to be happy where I planted it up against the Japanese fern, between the hostas, and shaded by a whack of ostrich ferns and the towering black walnut trees.
Not sure how this one came to be in the bed by the garage.
I don't think I planted this lovely little Asiatic lily - but I have kind of lost track over the 10 years we've been at the farmette. Either way, I'll take it.
Another volunteer that has taken up residence in my east side bed is milkweed.
The monarch butterfly was recently put on the endangered species list, and since milkweed is their exclusive host plant, I thought I'd do my bit.
Besides, they actually look kind of cool next to my echinacea.
So that's it for the midsummer garden tour. Here's today's gratuitous cat photo, thanks to Wilma, who decided to be my editorial assistant this morning. Until next week.
