The 'Walrhead' crocosmia and the gladiola take my breath away! WOW! That allium is so delicate and unusual. How tall is it? Do you need a mass to make an impact?

I've have struggeled to get the look I want since I must have deer resistant plants...it's getting better. The path and house are at the right side and I'm standing in the garden to take this photo.

{{gwi:580886}}

Echinops with a crape myrtle 'White Chocolate' foliage in background. It will bloom soon I hope...the JBs wanted to devour it, so it was a battle to keep it from being damaged.

{{gwi:266809}}

Agastache 'Blue Fortune', echinacea 'Ruby Star' and salvia 'Black and Blue':

{{gwi:249299}}

A volunteer from spilled birdseed under the feeder!

{{gwi:580889}}

A female Ruby-throated hummingbird enjoys the saliva:

{{gwi:267814}}

Crocosmia 'Lucifer', tall verbena, red milkweed, salvia gregii and love grass. Looking down the slope.

{{gwi:580892}}

Still loving the agastache 'Salmon and Pink'

{{gwi:580894}}

Look closely for another hummingbird:
{{gwi:580896}}

I had to put a 32" high wire edging fence around my rudbeckia 'Goldstrum' to keep either the deer or bunnies from deadheading too much. A few days ago, I removed the fence:

{{gwi:580898}}

The following photos are "inside my fence" and aren't deer resistant:

{{gwi:580900}}

Starfighter:

{{gwi:580902}}

Phlox 'Robert Poore' behind Indian Hawthorne:

{{gwi:580904}}

My sole survivor echinacea 'Harvest Moon'...possibly deer resistant like 'Ruby Star', but I used it inside the fence with daylilies, angelonia and leucantheum (behind dianthus):
{{gwi:580906}}

{{gwi:580908}}

From front steps:

{{gwi:580910}}

My patio planter that wintered over in place. No replanting needed. It's on the east side of the house in a protected spot.

{{gwi:580912}}

Back outside the fence, the echinacea 'Ruby Star' keep on keeping on!

Cameron

{{gwi:580914}}

Everybody loves Vitex

{{gwi:580916}}

{{gwi:580918}}

Karen, I'm thinking your cascading daylily is either Orchid Corsage or Lilting Belle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Orchid Corsage

I really like(want,lol) the crocosmia,gladiolus,echinops and that 'Starfighter' lily.

That's a very pretty daylily Karen. Classic beauty.

Alicia, I love the closeup of the bees! If my camera is capable of that I haven't learned how yet. Have you checked your d-mail lately?

I'm sipping coffee and loving this rain.

one of my Salvia greggii seedlings

{{gwi:580920}}

All Fired Up

{{gwi:580922}}

Gaillardia and salvias

{{gwi:580924}}

Here is a link that might be useful: pics 7-13-08

Cameron.. I love love love your agastache 'Salmon and Pink' and have been unable to find it for sale anywhere. Can you tell me where you got it or where I might find some? Or would you happen to have seeds for it that I could trade you for? I just really *need* this. :) Salmon shades are my favorites!

Thank you Shari. I love the coloring of Incendiary, very nice!

Cameron the big shot of your garden is lovely.

All of these pictures are so beautiful.. I don't understand why I don't have Gladiolus 'Boone' either!

Those close up shots of the bees are stunning! My vitex is pale in comparison!

I love all the orange colors!

Gnomey, I got that agastache at BB a few years ago. It was one of the first perennials that I bought for this garden, I lost the label and asked for an ID on the forums and Acapulco 'Salmon and Pink' was suggested. I bought 3 plants and have divided it several times already. I am wondering if this is the same as agastache rupestris Sunset? It really looks the same.

It smells so fragrant without even touching the plant!

I'll just wrap up the stems this fall and mail them to you as the seeds are so TINY! :-) You'll need to give each plant 3 feet of width and height space in full sun. If you lived closer, I'd divide a plant and give you one in the spring.

Hey, I have Cypella coelestis and that pink Habranthus and haven't seen any blooms:( I have really missed rain lilies so far this year. I hope I get to see some before the end of the growing season.

Rudbeckia triloba is just getting started

{{gwi:580926}}

Brushed With Honey rebloom

{{gwi:580928}}

Here is a link that might be useful: pics from the past week

Wow Shari, you're good. It's hard for me to tell the difference between those two, but mine isn't particularly fragrant so it probably the Lilting Belle. I'm getting quite the daylily education this summer. I love it.

Cameron, Walrhead has been outstanding, the best crocosmia I've ever grown. The foliage is blue-green and attractive even when the plant isn't in bloom. The alliums in the photos are small (6-8") with very loose flower heads. They look best for me in a somewhat wilder setting, as minglers rather than en masse. They don't always come back, but they're relatively inexpensive, easy to plant, and deer resistant, so I buy more every year after they go on sale.

Shari and Karen -- the two of you have such unique plants! I love seeing all the interesting plants that I've never tried and many that I've never seen.

Cameron, your garden continues to take my breath away. What an oasis! Thanks for sharing!

Cameron, your garden is truly unbelievable to someone like me who collects one of this and one of that,lol. I admire your planning and design. The result is very beautiful:-)

MMM.. Beautiful photos you guys! Some of these look like something that you'd see in magazines.

I finally got some batteries for my camera and rechargeable ones at that! Anyway...

Bee enjoying a gourd flower
{{gwi:580930}}
Newest member of the family: Butterfly weed
{{gwi:580931}}
I have several varieties of coleus. This first one is from the batch I grew from seed. The second variety seems to have performed the best and has been my favorite so far.
{{gwi:580933}}
{{gwi:580935}}
{{gwi:580936}}

The greenhouse
{{gwi:580937}}

My scraggly looking herb garden
{{gwi:580938}}

Hibiscus
{{gwi:580939}}

Marigolds
{{gwi:580940}}

My new perennial bed
{{gwi:580941}}

Russian Sage
{{gwi:580942}}

Snap Dragons
{{gwi:580943}}

Aezarien, Your efforts witht the camera were worth it! I love the bee on the gourd shot. I keep rescuing the poor things from my lotus pot. They look totally drunk.

I think your herb garden is great. Love the rocks. What are the building materials for the wall around the new perennial bed? I like them a lot. Was it pricey?

Thanks again for sharing your inspiring shots.

Amy - We have to make sure that we never leave cups with any kind of drink in them outside or the bees will get in them and get stuck. It's a shame too because one cup of kool-aid will take out an ant hill in a day.

The wall of the perennial bed is constructed of dry stacked retaining wall blocks from Lowe's. They are about $3 each and that's a little pricey for me. Against my better judgment I put them on a credit card lol.

Such beautiful flowers! Gourds bring back so many memories of growing up. I love the greenhouse!

As for my garden, I just plant ordinary stuff! Once upon a time, when I lived in the shade, I had quite a daylily, hosta and fern collection. With this house, I've had to re-learn everything that I know about gardening with full sun, deer, rabbits and Japanese Beetles! Oh, and drought and late spring freezes! Whatever survives gets divided and planted throughout the garden. Whimps get shovel-pruned!

Loving these pics! Thought I'd share a few of my own.

{{gwi:61184}}



{{gwi:61186}}


{{gwi:580944}}


{{gwi:58637}}

Sorry about all the different sizes. I can't figure out why I have such a problem getting that right.

What's the daylily? It's gorgeous.

Nice color on the cone flowers and nice detail on that clematis. What are you using to edit your photos?

Cameron - whoops.. missed your post. I feel the same about my plants. I have done a little shovel pruning this year already and about to do a little more.

Part of the plantings east of the house. There's a Buddleia Petit Indigo that's barely visible in the photo and a young doublefile viburnum that's not visible at all.

{{gwi:580945}}

{{gwi:580946}}

{{gwi:580947}}

{{gwi:580948}}

{{gwi:580949}}

{{gwi:580950}}

{{gwi:580951}}

Ya'll have have such nice plants and lovely yards.

I like the greenhouse, wish I had one.

wonbyherwits, your yard is a knock-out...wow....

:) Fran

Such pretty color! I like the clematis and daylily pics.

Alicia, is that Crinum Ellen B? It's just beautiful. My C. Carolina Beauty is blooming this week on the ground:(

Love that crinum. I've got one blooming now, the one from Vicki's mom that she brought to the swap last year. It looks very similar, I wonder if it's the same variety.

Alicia, the daylily is Nosferatu. It is a great late season bloomer.

Aezarien, the photos aren't edited. Wish I knew how to edit, maybe I could work on the pics that don't turn out so well. Truth be known, that is probably a problem with the one holding the camera, not the camera itself. Obviously, I can't even get the sizing consistent. I love my Canon A570IS. Learning to wait until late afternoon to take pics has made a big difference for me. Thanks for the compliment.

Cameron, love your echinops. Is there a secret to getting them to bloom? I'm on my second year and still no blooms.

My ellen looks like that and is bloming right now, too. I have a white one blooming, too, but am not sure which it is. I'd have to dig around for the tag.

I agree, Shari- that dayliliy and clematis of blondie's are yummy. Azarien, love the gourd flower with the bee. Alicia, now that i've seen your place in person, i am 'seeing' your pictures so much better. Nice to see the white phlox that was budded heavily blooming now. Very pretty. Cameron, your pictures and place are gorgeous as usual.

Karen yes that's the crinum from Vicky. I was wondering if it was Ellen Bosquanet myself.

Blondie - I use Photoshop CS2 and Elements. CS2 has more features but it has a healthier price tag as well. Elements has basically everything you need for photo editing. Gimp is a good free program but I have heard a lot of people complain that it isn't user friendly.

When I majored in Fine Arts I took a photography and a computer art class. Nothing against traditional education but I honestly learned more by participating on a good online photography forum. Now my biggest problem is learning when to stop once I get a photo in an editor heh. Oh yeah, and taking my camera and lenses in for cleaning. I know how to do it.. I just don't want to be responsible for any accidents.

{{gwi:580952}}

In this photo I merely corrected the levels, sharpened a little, and enhanced the magenta value to make the purple in the flower stand out. I hope you don't mind the edit. If so, just let me know and I will take it off-line.

And if anyone ever has any questions about how to do a certain thing with their photos I would be glad to help.

I just have to open this thread everyday to see all the new blooms and garden photos! Great viewing from all!

Here's the echinops secret...put it in hot, harsh sun and lean soil and don't feed it. Water to get established. Then, ignore it.

If you start with little seedlings in a 6 pack, I think you really need to give these 2-3 years to get going strong. I have 6 more and one has a single bloom this year, but the foliage looks good. The one that's blooming so much was full and big in a quart size pot last year, but didn't bloom until this year. All 7 were planted in 2007.

The honeybees just love echinops.

Hi Aezarien, I don't mind at all ---- that looks amazing! Thank you for the tips. I'm really just getting into photographing my flowers. Honestly never really thought about it very much before I became hooked on Garden Web and saw what everyone was posting. I'm really enjoying it now and would like to improve on it. I'm going to check out the sites you recommended.

Thanks for taking the time to work with my photo. I might have that one framed.

Cameron - I like things that you can ignore and I have been admiring those for a while.

Blondie - You did all the work. All the editing in the world won't help unless your original has a certain amount of quality. The photo was sharp, had good depth of field and you managed to capture the detail in the white/light areas which is actually a pretty difficult thing to achieve. It probably took me less than two minutes to enhance it. And if the original is larger and you send it to me I will be more than happy to prepare it for printing. I would be framing that shot too!

I enjoy this forum so much. The pics are gorgeous. I am seeing so much I want to try in my own gardens. A few pics from today. Nikki
{{gwi:580953}}

{{gwi:580956}}

{{gwi:580958}}

Yay, someone else grows Gaillardia and Powis Castle artemesia w/other bright colors,lol!

I am really glad to see all these new posters with pics. Welcome y'all :-)

Aezarien, Thank you, I might take you up on that offer sometime.

Alicia - What is that last thing you posted?

Nik - Top photo bottom left.. Is that Mexican Heather? And do you have it planted as an annual or does it come back for you?

aezarian, Yes, that's mexican heather - a GREAT performer in Georgia heat and drought. I planted it in the spring so I can't say if it will come back but I did plant it as a perrenial - time will tell...
Shari, Thanks for the welcome. I'm a bit of a lurker. I love this forum for the people and pics:)
Karen, I love your glad - gorgeous! Nikki

We need more lurkers to join in and post! Awesome gardens!

Cameron

^ What Cameron said ^

It's inspiring! :)

Hey Carolinians! Let's keep this thread going!

{{gwi:580960}}

I started #6 at about the same time that you posted. Pretty Hibiscus!