Outside today

These cheery pots sit on my deck in between the back door and the garage.

Around the front of the house, this hyacinth bean vine is trying to get in through the front door. It's amazing to me that all this (and much more you can't see in the photo) came from ONE tiny plant.


















I am waiting for these mums to bloom. It shouldn't be long. The side border is so non-colorful during much of August & September... I need to think about adding plants that will bloom past July or re-bloom in late summer.

The lambs ear is also in dire need of cutting back and thinning. I started a week or so ago... but then dh killed a copperhead right in front of the bed (it was on the driveway, just under the lambs ear) so I'm rationally/irrationally not too excited about sticking my hands into the bed, not quite knowing what is in there!

(Today there was another copperhead on the road. And dh killed another one earlier this summer.... and we've seen at least one or two more in the neighborhood. They are unusually visible this year!)

The hydrangea bush under my kitchen window is huge and gorgeous this year. I love watching the change in color.























Here is new plant this year. It's a tall, large-leafed bushy plant with delicate yellow flowers. I think it's a kind of butterfly bush?