other plants

This is a pretty surprise- my hollyhock mallow is flowering!

Well, one of the two left alive. And can't really see the flower unless I get close and move a leaf. But maybe it will grow more.

More flowers- gladiolas are blooming!

And cardinal climber- although there aren't any in this picture- the plants grew more sparsely on the trellis than I expected. Maybe if I pinch out some of the vines up top which are winding all over the deck, they'll branch out more below. 

A hummingbird came to its flowers yesterday! It was a brief moment, but felt so magical, to watch it for a few seconds as it sipped from the red flowers, then zoomed away.

I think I missed the flowering of my milkweed on the sideyard. 

The plants have fat pods already, but they look unhealthy to me- black as if moldy. Haven't seen any caterpillars yet, but I did see a monarch in the echinacea patch the other day. I always expect them too soon!

Trimmed some stuff here recently. There's still way too much clover around the path, but I don't mind. Ajuga on either side is filling in quickly enough, and meanwhile I cut the clover periodically to use as garden mulch. 

I had to cut back the salvia from one side of the path. I like how the sedums look now.

In the bed around the pannicle hydrangeas, this plant I didn't recognize (these pics from two weeks ago)

has bloomed, and proven itself a stranger. It's gone skinny and tall, with small sky-blue flowers.

Hard to see among the salvia and nicotiana, except for their brightness.

There's also blue in my kid's part of the garden- blue sage flowering

And up on the deck, the pales of my geraniums, has bold red petals