Book rec and garden pics

Don't forget you have until tonight at 9 P.M. Central time to leave a comment on this post for a chance to win the Bazzill flourishes stitching template!

I have done a ton of reading this summer; most recently I finished In a Sunburnt Country by Bill Bryson. Along with the poetry of Billy Collins, Bryson is a perfect summer read. I've read Mother Tongue, I'm a Stranger Here Myself, and now the book on Australia (true confessions, not all three this summer). You can't help but feel good and even enlightened after reading his books. I often laugh out loud while reading. If you're interested in what else I'm read this summer, you can follow my Good Reads link on the right side of the blog.

With the exception of my pink clematis and my now-dead rhododendron, my gardens are doing amazing. July is the month they say "Ta-da!" Here's some of what's blooming here in Minnesota:


This is a close up of the most blooming section of my garden. You can see a couple shades of coneflowers, some heliopsis (false sunflower), gooseneck loosestrife (which is getting too much to rein in for me, so I'll be digging it up and tossing it when the weather lets up), allium, and my sickly clematis. A robin likes to sit on the metal structure that holds the clematis and poop on it. I don't know if that's what is killing it, but I'd look sickly if a bird crapped on me every day.


These pink lilies didn't show in the above shot. They are quite lovely.


A close up of some of my yellow flowers. Yellow is my favorite color, and I love this lily. I think it's called "Happy Day." Isn't that great?

These are called balloon flowers, for obvious reasons: check out the incipient blossoms.


Bee balm for me is hit or miss. It tends not to spread wildly, which it generally tends to do--anywhere but my garden. Still gorgeous though.


This is called a Buffy's Doll lily. Any guesses why I planted it? Ha!


This is butterfly weed, an ugly name for a gorgeous blossom. It is supposed to be kind of touchy here, but it loves my garden. It always comes up waaaaaay late in the spring--end of May, almost.


I didn't use fertilizer this year and somehow ended up with a metaphoric ocean of daisies. Guess I'll have to split them next year.

(Note: I didn't show any of the areas where I need to deadhead or weed, which are plentiful. It feels a little less humid today, so I may feel up to going out and wrasslin' with weeds.)