Kaseys Korner

triple digit refreshment

a contradiction if ever there was one.  No I have not suffered a touch of heat stroke nor are my brain cells frozen from sticking my head in a bucket of ice water.  I know the only thing refreshing about 100 degree temperatures is a cool body of water!  Short of that, there is the garden at dawn & thus the post title. 

It takes drastic temperatures (like what we've been experiencing) to get a total non-morning person out of bed at dawn!  I must admit ~ the photography at this hour can NOT be beat.  Nothing like soft new light to make even the most parched garden look "almost" refreshed.

Asiatic Lily 'Elodie'

or more correctly "what was supposed to be 'Elodie.'"   Other than the color, it does not appear to be 'Elodie' at all since it's not double. :-(

Still, whatever the name, the light pink blooms appear almost ethereal in early morning.

Even a hot red like Monarda 'Jacob Cline' looks cool at that time of day.

Amazing the difference 8 hours later.

Me, a bonafide heat lover, is starting to wonder if I truly am....

Our state tied it's all time record high today (105) and I think I felt every single degree in trickling water droplets down my body.

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate ~ that's our new mantra.  It's hot, it's windy & maybe you've heard ~ our state is ON FIRE.  Eight different fires in all & I'm wondering if it won't stop there?

Photo above NOT refreshing!!  (taken from my front yard)

Let's try a look at David Austins 'Jubilee Celebration' instead:

Maybe, just maybe, in this strange weather year, July will be cool & rainy.  At this point, I say surprise us ~ hopefully I won't be sorry????

 

 

what I know for sure

I love self seeders.

especially Morning Glory 'Pink Feathers.'

My favorite petunia is 'Pretty Much Picasso'

My favorite zinnia is 'Queen Red Lime:'

I can't get enough Stachys hummelo:

and I love, love, love my vintage iron birdcage. 

I love it so much, I want it to be perfect this summer ~ which has me torn between growing Thunbergia 'Arizona Dark Red:'

or Calibrachoa 'Cherry Star' inside it:

Can you help me decide???

I also love this shot of Echinacea purpurea buds (with Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain' & Pink Fleabane in the background:

I'm happy beyond belief that I have a pond, even if it is a small pre-formed version.

Watching fish is more relaxing than I ever knew & learning about water plants has added another dimension to my gardening experience:

Most of all, I love photographing my garden.  It's second only to creating it.

There's one more thing tho ~ I love sharing it with you. 

It beats the heck out of keeping it all to myself!

 

 

Buddleia 'Orange Sceptre'

I haven't had a lot of time for the garden (or blog) lately, I've been too busy socializing!  Last night our book club held a book exchange along with a pot luck ~ great way to get new books & find homes for old ones.  Next up is a Dove Chocolate Party (does a white chocolate mango mojito sound appealing to anyone??!!!) It sure does to me!

I did manage to squeeze in a greenhouse trip two days ago tho.  There was a sale for pete's sake!!  You have to know what came of that!!!  Yessirree, another weak moment.... 

I don't think you'll blame me ~ it was over an orange butterfly bush!!!

I don't know about you but this color (in a Buddleia) is NEWS to me!

Shockingly vibrant.

I "had" to have it ~ afterall orange is the color of the year, right?!!!

The best reason, if any reason is needed, to buy a Buddleia (orange or not) is this one:

Photo taken the next day ~ that didn't take long!!

Mission accomplished ~ worth every single dollar & penny!

Back garden long views

Because I'm so horrible about sharing them.  So sorry....

Not many blooms but a jungle of green.

The bed in the very foreground is the newest ~ put in this spring (remember the lilac standard that was purchased to center it??)

A little bit longer view:

I've mixed veggies with flowers in this bed (as you can probably tell) & I'm loving the silver, spikey artichoke foliage.  Why haven't I done this before??

Turning around and moving back slightly to look along the house ~ this is my mostly shade bed:

I've been revamping it lately even tho I only put it in last summer. 

The most exciting addition has been a new hydrangea ~ 'Double Delights ~ Star Gazer:'

Those fabulous double blooms sucked me in at first glance (even tho I swore I wasn't buying ANY more plants!!)

Can't wait to see it in full bloom ~ you know I'll share!

Before that happens, a backtrack (to the long views of the shade garden) and a couple more looks:

Above is a slightly tighter view and below and even tighter shot of a favorite combination:

Foliage from front to back:  Hellebore, 'Guacamole' Hosta, Pink Astible blooms & Oak Leaf Hydrangea. 

All kinds of awesome (at least to me.)

If you look closely at one of the longer shots of the shade garden you'll notice 'Phlomis russeliana' in bloom (left of the rooster weather vane.)  I planted it two years ago but this is the first year for blooms.  I'm a big fan of phlomis ~ have grown the pink variety for years ~ but was unsuccessful in finding either seeds or plants of 'russeliana' until recently.  A long search that culminates with a happy ending like this is especially satisfying.

A last look ~ that's Colocasia 'Mojito' in the pineapple container.  I wintered it over in the basement & it's been slow to get going.  I hope it starts growing soon!

I can't quit until you see 'Henny Penny' tho!!  She keeps moving around the garden but for now, she likes it here, in front of the raised bed.  :-)

If you can't have the real thing, fake it ~ right?!!!!

 

garden scenes

Pretty pictures only.

I realized last night what's been stopping me from blogging (as much) ~ no time to write. 

Since taking photos is never a problem, I thought I shouldn't let that hold up the blog...

My coffee cup and a sprig of roses ~ a common sight during the summer ~

I set my cup down to do one little thing then come back many minutes later to cold coffee. 

Sound familiar??

Lately, roses accompany the cup since I've been cutting them to bring indoors.

or to stick on my nose while I'm reading a book!

Clematis texensis 'Duchess of Albany:'

in full (might I add ~ spectacular) bloom.  A favorite clematis shape & color...

Clematis texensis 'Gravetye Beauty' is also in bloom but not photographed (you've seen it so many times before anyway, right??  It's a red version of 'Duchess of Albany')

A small collection of containers on my back patio:

and one on my front patio:

the one above is a new favorite being made of stacked flagstone rectangles. 

Very cool (and heavy!)

ooooh, that was easy ~ short & sweet ~ maybe I could do this more often??

 

 

 

 

Clematis 'Purpurea Plena Elegans'

This year, all on it's own, is blooming in my new favorite form ~ a standard!

Okay, maybe not the best photo to showcase that effect ~ let's try again:

See how it gathered itself around the top of the obelisk ~ almost as if it had a premonition about my 2012 fixation!

Never have I loved it more....

Also loving the Canterbury bells which are going full steam. 

The double purples are my favorite but it's hard to discriminate when the single cups are lovely.

Made even better next to the show-stopping yellow foxtail lilies:

Anything special you're loving right now???  Maybe it's too hard to narrow down??

 

Garden Alchemy

Sounds intriguing, doesn't it?? 

I wish it were me collecting blossoms from the garden & coaxing wildly amazing aromas from the combinations ~ wonder how hard that would be to do?

There's really no need to experiment tho (except for the fun of it) since a company called Thymes has already done an exceptional job. 

and far be it from me to keep information this delicious to myself. 

I love, love, love the fresh light fragrance ~ I chose 'Wild Angelica' as my favorite from the selection I had to pick from.  The website features so many more incredible looking scents tho....

Wish I could smell/try them all!

Summer light.  Super yum.  Garden perfect. 

If you're looking for a fragrance and aren't familiar with Thymes, I highly recommend checking them out. (I'm not getting an endorsement for telling you that either ~ I wish!!  I just fell head over heels for the product!)

And the name isn't too shabby either....  ;-)

 

 

garden tea party

Something new is going on around here. 

Something that hasn't ever really happened before.

Inspired by another blogger who posted that peonies & roses are "cutting flowers."  They aren't made to fall flat on their faces but rather to grace tables.  (I wish I could remember which blogger ~ I was randomly stumbling around the Internet when I came across it.)

I've read that before & know many people who cut bouquets from their gardens ~ but this time, it resonated.  Who knows why now?  

David Austin roses were selected, clipped & arranged in a sweet little vase (a gift from my bestie this past Valentine's Day)

which in turn inspired a gathering.  I mean, truly, could such a pretty little bouquet go unadmired?  I think not.   People (besides ourselves) needed to be called in to perform such accolades!

Peanut butter sandwich cookies were whipped together to lure them in:

iced tea was brewed, and viola, a garden tea party was born. 

All because words were typed, a heart was open & the mind finally receptive.

'Abraham Darby'

Makes a person wonder why it took so long...

What we know for certain is that the clippers will be seeing a lot more action!  :-)