Always Something New

My favorite aspect of the morning walk-about is that there's always something new! Of course all the developments aren't always good, but.... Nevermind that the clematis is turning brown, the lobelia is a bust, and the clover is taking over more lawn territory. Let's take a look on the bright side:

The catmint has come into bloom! I got it at the Parking Lot Sale at Esbenshades and planted it on 6/29. It looked like this:

Since then it has easily tripled in size. I love the "scalloped" leaf borders and soft green foliage. And the light blue blossoms are lovely!

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The mystery purple shrub has gone horizontal at last! I got this in the Plant Swap and planted it on 6/14. It was one straight shoot and I wondered how it would develop the shape of a shrub. A couple of weeks ago the uppermost shoot wilted and turned brown. I pinched it off, thinking that the plant was doomed. But you can guess what happened next -- two stronger shoots went sideways. Aha!

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One of the new purple coneflowers has two blossom buddies. I got two of these in the Plant Swap and at some point the top of the tall stem came off of this one. (It wasn't the work of the plant this time.) I hoped for the best and was thrilled when green growth appeared at the top of the shortened stem. It turned out to be a bud and this large flower has followed. The result is an unusually short, but nevertheless beautiful, purple conflower!

Comments

[Connie]

I love catmint! It has a place in the back of a couple of my flower beds and looks good all year, even when it's not blooming. You are right....that IS a beautiful coneflower! Height isn't everything, ha.

[Felicia]

Pretty catmint and coneflower :)

[Beth]

Catmint definitely has a cottage garden look to me (which I love) and I'm glad to hear it will look good all year. Connie, your comment about the coneflower made me laugh because I'm slightly less than 5 feet tall so I would agree - in the garden, and in life, height isn't everything! :)