White hibiscus flower up close

Today, I took the lid off the tray with cosmos seedings. I’ve been propping it up for three or four days to allow some airflow and to accommodate the tall seedlings that were starting to hit the cover. So far, the seedlings are handling it well.

Last month, I planted some things in containers on my backyard deck. I was a little late getting to these, since half of summer was already gone, but I was just in time for the big extended family water party in our backyard. These photos were taken on July 24th, about a week after planting…

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…

Many of my little seedlings are growing now: Cosmos: I have about 20 seedlings growing now, and every day a few more of the seeds sprout in their little paper towel/ziploc bag environment. I think they would have done better if I hadn’t had that one day that they got scorched. Some seeds are clearly…