Lavenders and Daylilys

Lavenders and Daylilys
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

Rainfall and Second Bloom...

Yesterday we had 6/10th of an inch of rain. A gentle rain fell for hours during the night. it was such a relief to go to sleep by the sound of rain and wake up again to the same sound. We really needed it. The rain barrels are filled... and we got a new downspout diverter to replace the one from years ago.
My rose is on its second bloom cycle of the season. These ones look to be much healthier than the first cycle that got frozen.

Beetle Bag...

So on Saturday we decided to put out the beetle traps in gather the beetles off of the birch trees. It seems that our waiting until the beetles were on the birches worked out well. Two days later, the birch trees are less infested and on my evening beetle hunt rounds, i didn't capture nearly as many beetles as a day ago. So it seems that milky spores help reduce the beetles coming up from the soil... and once the beetles come from neighboring lands, the bag traps go up. It was astonishing today... two days after putting up the bait traps... one trap (the one with the newest scent disk) was full and then some. Joseph and I had to work together to close up the bag, since the beetles were about 2 inches from the top! Never had that happen before and it was sort of creepy... but effective.

Above is a photo of the pots on the patio! Below is a photo of the main garden and the paper bark maple tree with its crescent of grasses.

Janice Brown Daylily

This and that...

The daylilys continue to put on a show... one type stops and another one starts blooming. The peachy colored daylily is called "Summer Holiday" and it is one of my favorites. I've had them for quite a few years. I think it goes really well with the white lavender.

Yesterday and today i continued to dig out the turf between the long arc of burning bushes. Between each burning bush i added oat grass. I've only got two more to go which feels really good... its been waiting too long.

Joseph say and pointed out a young mantis today!

And today was the day that i put out the beetle traps. I had resisted until the beetles were all over the birch trees. So i figure that the traps are pulling the bugs off of the birches. I put out three bait traps. This evening the bags were half filled. It was quite the experience putting up the traps. Next year i must remember to put them out late in the evening or early in the morning, to avoid being swarmed by beetles. I went through beetle trauma today!

Public Enemy #1

Yes, tis the season of the Japanese Beetle... the bug that wreaks havoc on my garden, trees and shrubs. They are especially fond of the birch trees, the burning bushes, azaleas and the asters. So daily i go around with a small bucket with some water in the bottom... picking of the beetles. I do believe that the milky spores remedy is working pretty well... i just need to keep up on the applications. In the meantime, beetle picking i go.

Garden Wall

Garden Wall
Originally uploaded by pjslomer

This is a view of the main garden taken from the driveway side.