Sunflower Explosion

Day 286: There has been another Bambi-attack in my garden. Spike got one of the horse chestnut trees. I can only blame myself. I didn't surround all of them with wire, although I did take measures to protect the ones in the front yard. The savaged one may pull through; it had established a good root system, but as of this writing, there's not a leaf on it.

First to go were the raspberries, and I understand that Spike is looking for better forage than the brittle dry grass and withering leaves on non-cultivated plants. I can't blame him. The dry weather is hard on wildlife. That said, if I'd had clear foresight, I would have hung a string of cat-food cans as a "deer-scarer" as I've done in the past. All things considered, I'm surprised my nibbling nemesis ignored the sunflowers. This one now towers a foot above my head and is just beginning to open. With any luck, several more will mature to provide natural snacks for the birds. After all, they planted them. They should reap the harvest!

Shirley Poppy

Day 310: Shirley Poppies are your grandmother's poppy. Smaller than Oriental Poppies and with a much wider color range, they are easy to grow and will reseed themselves freely if your kids don't pick all the "pepper shakers" at season's end. They come in both single and double varieties (single shown here). This old-fashioned flower is guaranteed to brighten any scatter-garden. Heck, I don't even mind that some of mine are pink.

Nasturtium Square

Day 329: Despite being troubled by aphids, the nasturtiums in their hanging baskets provided a cheerful accent to the back porch this year. The leaves were rather pale and wan, but they've been covered with bright orange blossoms for weeks now. Orange? I distinctly recall planting mixed colors, hoping for a few dark mahogany flowers and seeds I could harvest for next year. Other than one yellow orphan, the "mix" was limited to two very similar shades of orange.

But what the heck, it's color, right? And looking through the sliding glass door today at grey skies, that orange was a welcome sight. That said, "mixed" seed packets which produce only one or two colors seem to be the general rule these days. If you want variety, the way to guarantee it is to buy several envelopes of single colors or mixes packaged by different growers, a plan I never seem to remember from year to year.