Roses

 

Orchids

Como Conservatory has a huge collection of Orchids. These are some of the ones that were in bloom when we visited.

 

 I did not know until recently that Lady Slippers were a type of Orchid.

There are more than 300 types of orchids world wide!

 I love the bold colors and patterns of this one.

Vanilla is derived from orchids. It is made from the dried seed pods of the vanilla genus.

This one reminds me of fireworks.

 

This one is so tiny, its about the size of a dime!

For more information on orchids check out Wikipedia, or The American Orchid Society.
 Hope you enjoyed the orchids. :)

Assorted Como Flowers

We took another trip to Como Conservatory for our anniversary. 

We had a lot of fun, and I took some great photos.

Water Lillies

Hibiscus

 Geranium

Lavender

 Petunia

Coneflowers

Lilly

(Anyone know what this beauty is?)

If you are ever in Minnesota check out Como Zoo and Conservatory. Its beautiful!

Local Hike

The same day that Raspi and I went to the Cemetery, we also went on a nature hike. These are some of the flowers we saw.

 

 

Zinnia

 "Dayflower" and invasive species.

 Forget-me-nots

"Ghost Plant" which is actually a fungus not a flower.

Cemetery

Rasputin and I  drove to a large historic cemetery. I took some photos of the older gravestones.

It was a bright and sunny day, and the cheery blues skies didn't quite mesh with the stoic beauty of the stones. I used various filters to age the photos.

 

 

 

 This was one is one my favorites. Its beautiful.

Mid-Summer Update (Photo heavy post)

My Rue playing in his new "cat fort"

 

Some gorgeous lilies from my mom's garden! (Thanks mom!) 

 

 My kiddos by new herb garden. This was a spring bulb/rose garden. I managed to kill all of the roses. Boo! So this year I ripped almost everything out and planted herbs. This garden is right by the kitchen, perfect spot to plant herbs. The smell is awesome too!

 

(Fun tip: use the wine bottles to keep the delicate plants hydrated. Instead of buying water-globes) Although I do get teased for having an alcoholic garden. Ha ha ha!

 

 I trained the morning glories to grow over my alligator.

 

 I feel lucky, I never planted these they just show up every year. (I think these may have be a result of bird droppings. Yay for re-seeding plants!)

I had planted two varieties of clematis back in spring. Unfortunately they didn't survive. (Bugs, heat and rabbits.)

 

 I have been really busy! I dug this entire garden out. It was full of over grown hostas and half-dead irises. I split all of the annuals...which left me with tons of plants. I decided to add some more colorful  and fun textured foliage.

 

 These didn't get as tall as I had hoped. They will be moved up front next year.

 

 I loooove the colors! They also have such fun frilly edges.

 

 

 I fell in love with this vine flower the first time I saw them. The dark center makes me think of a black-hole. (Yeah...I'm a bit odd. Ha!)

 

I ended up planting two of these.

 

My first kohlrabi of the season. Yum! (Notice the Buddy bum on the left. Cute!)

 

 My sweet little gardening girl! She always stays close and wants to investigate the garden.

 

 The cabbage patch. (Please ignore all of the weeds. Its been too damned hot to be weeding.)

 

Cucumber vines.

 

 Zucchinis or butternut squash-to-be. (I forgot which...they look the same.)

 

 Green pepper blossoms. Yessss! This is the first year they have survived. The animals have always eaten them. Boo!

 

Garden tip: For repelling animals pests, I use a three prong approach: Liquid fence, smelly compost and cat litter. Yes, you read that right.

I put soiled cat litter into plastic bags and place them around the garden.(Double and triple bag it to prevent contaminate your soil/veggies.) When they don't stink anymore I throw them away.

This have been the most effective pest repellent for me.

 

 A funky bug on a volunteer sunflower. (Another gift from the birds)

 

 Pumpkin blossom. I thought it would be fun to try mini-pumpkins.

 

 Tomatoes. YUM!
 

 

 Thank you for pollinating my tomatoes little bee/bug thing!

 

 Nature's jewels: rain drops. (Brussels sprouts)

 

 Lovely purple cabbage.

 

 The cabbage head is beginning to form. Yay!

 

 Ha! Cabbage head made me think of the Kids In The Hall skit... (Cabbage head is such a creep!)

 

 Bud guarding the raspberries.

 

 Boy, the birds were good to me this year! They gave blackberries this year too! We ended up with 7 volunteer black berry canes. Awesome!

 

Raspberries. They are big this year!

 

 

 Blossoms form the mock-orange tree.

 

 

 A cool cucumber tendril.

 

I hope you enjoyed the tour through my gardens.