some other things

I have not given much attention to the "yard plants" this season. Putting all the effort watering and weeding and pest control on the vegetable/herb garden, the other plants just have to survive on their own. I haven't watered the coleus I planted out front (they are small and poorly, whereas the mums are doing just fine in the heat) or the salvia around trees on the lawn, or even walked through the shady side yard much. 

Last week I did take a few photos, to note: Mayapple was still around, even in the heat

Bleeding hearts were about done for, but they'll be back next spring

Summersweet has grown tall enough to almost obscure the rear neighbor's little white fence- and it has way more blooms forming than last year!

My inkberry looks poorly now, while the bayberry is doing better.

Out front around the mailbox, the borage got all wilted and icky from bugs- I smashed quite a few japanese beetles- they didn't make their way to the garden in the backyard thank goodness. Pulled up that borage and scattered some flower seed (which I also got from the friend who gave me lamb's ears and joe pye and catmint). Watered for a while, now we're having scattered thunderstorms again. Lots of borage and celosia seedlings have come up in that spot, but not the new flowers yet.

I tidied up the sedum that grows over the old cherry stump, clipping off the dead flower heads which give it a brown crown in summer. That's nicer now. Need to figure out the lawn, sigh. The seed mix I used under the crabapple tree did fine, the nice bright green grass I planted by the driveway failed in the summer heat. Now it's all clover, wiry-stemmed weed and crabgrass taking over again (yeah, I didn't get rid of that so well as I had thought, yet).