Tonight, I finally did it. I got the city irrigation water connection all the way hooked up to my sprinkler system, and it’s running. This is awesome! No more $200 water bills in the summer! Now I get all the water I need for about $30 a month. Also, I discovered a few more flowers that I didn’t mention in yesterday’s post about what’s blooming now: Mexican Evening Primrose (the pink ones that are invasive — I left a few pieces of it in the flowerbed). Missouri Evening Primrose just started today. This is an isolated specimen that came from…

Many flowers are blooming in my yard right now, but it still hasn’t reached its peak. Here’s what I can remember is now blooming. I hope I haven’t forgotten too many: Lavenders just started last week Golden coreopsis has been going for a few weeks Indian Blanket Flower started in the past week or so Campanula glomerata is beginning to open its purple flowers Salvia ‘East Friesland’ has been blooming well for several weeks, maybe a month Foxgloves have been going well for at least two weeks Pink Simplicity roses are starting to bloom, but I have trouble with that…

I’ve broken down, and for the first time in my life, I bought and planted some petunias. OK, they’re not the gaudy awful ones, they’re just a salmon-pink (‘Hurrah Salmon’ variety), with medium sized flowers, and I want them to fill in spaces in the front walkway flowerbed. I did that on Tuesday, I think. But many of them are looking sick today. I don’t know if they got too much water when it rained yesterday or if they weren’t hardened for sitting in the sun or what. Bummer if I lose them. I also put some Vigoro Azalea fertilizer…

Today, I sprayed Vigoro “Bloom Booster” fertilizer on the roses with the hose sprayer. Also did the back flowerbeds, the Hibiscus bushes (south and north), and some of the front flowerbeds, along with the Clematises. I also sprayed the privet bushes, burning bushes, the strawberries, and a little on the flowering cherries, raspberries, and butterfly bushes. I really don’t know how long I should spray them to make a difference. Those clematises are looking pale and yellow in the leaves. The one in the shade has grown six feet tall or so, but the other is short. I really hope…

This Linden tree is giving me fits! Look how it is sending out such a long central leader without enough branches forming along the leader! I’m posting a message about it at gardenweb.com in the tree forum to see what kind of answers I can get.

To the list of things blooming now, I would add: Blue Flax, which is a remnant of our wildflower mix. We left quite a few of those bunches up in our Aspen tree area. Our lilac bush, which is a little later than most around here. We have a Korean lilac (‘Miss Kim’ I think). It’s a smaller bush than most lilacs, and ours is only about two feet tall after a few years in the ground. Pansies are still going pretty well. The English daisies are also still blooming but are slowing down now. Overall, it’s not much of…

Some of my perennials are starting to bloom now: Salvia ‘East Friesland’ just began this week, although there are plenty of them that aren’t quite there yet. Dianthus — both the generic bright purple ones and the low-growing mini-carnation kind (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) are blooming. The mini carnations just started this week and the other was starting last week. The white candytuft has been blooming strong for several weeks. This is the first year the deer didn’t damage it so much, and I like it a whole lot more now! The purple Rock Soapwort has been blooming for more than a…