Chive Talkin'

I am so pleased with the late summer garden here.  The chives recovered from the black bean aphid attack, and are just beautiful now.

 One of the things I especially love in the garden is height.  My blazing stars didn't make it (the deer - sigh), but the chives, planted all along the edge of the side bed, provide a lovely height against the shorter daisies, marigolds, and zinnias. 

On the other side, I have sprawling lantana and butterfly bushes, all taller than I am. 

It's just as untidy by our front door.  I've scattered impatiens and transplanted liriope, moved ferns and helleborus, and I'm pretty pleased by the disorder.

 

One of the fun things for me about digging around in the garden is, of course, the insects.  I get a kick out of finding their hiding places.  I often see their shadows on the backs of leaves.

Sometimes they're so swift that by the time I move to the front of the leaf, they're gone.  I did catch that last shadow, though - a katydid.

The leafhoppers love the lantana, and I love the leafhoppers.  Look at the range of colors and patterns on their bodies!  They are little works of art. 

Of course, we always have butterflies.

 

I found a beautyberry bush sprouting up in the middle of one of the beds.  Of course, I left it there to add to the disorder, but not before helping myself to some of the branches with ripe berries (ripe in the fall, not the spring - whoops!).  They make beautiful bouquets.

So do the other flowers.  Usually I spread out the blooms with random greenery, but this time I decided to do an old-fashioned, "come as you are" mix.

 Someone gave me a limelight hydrangea stem this week, and I immediately cut it in half, rolled it in rooting hormone, and planted it.  I'm hoping to get some growth so I can plant it.  The deer have eaten my hydrangeas here, but I can save it for our next place.  They aren't exactly rapid growers, so I've got time.

 

 I hope you've got some color around you too.  Have a great week!