Bloomin Tuesday

  It's Bloomin Tuesday, and I have lots to contribute. Lots of things are new for me this year. So I am very thrilled at  all the little surprises I find every day.
My first Echinacea "Tiki Torch" bloom. I bought it late last year and it was too young to bloom yet.

This Rudbeckia is bloomin like gangbusters. I love the color varieties in every bloom.

Rose Mallow, first bloom from a winter sown plant.

Balloon Flower "Sentimental Blue". However this guy is twice as tall as it was last year. It must really be loving the horse manure that I top dressed the garden with in spring. last year it was only 6" tall. The flower is just in its "balloon" stage and has opened yet.

Lavatera "Pink Beauty". Another first blooms from a winter sown plant.

Lysimachia "Alexander". This is my second year for it. It is supposed to be variegated, but for some reason, half of the plant reverted back to a solid green. It is still pretty tho, but to be honest, I prefer the variegated.

Another Asiatic Lilly I got in the fall last year when Lowe's had them clearanced for a dollar. This is the first time I got to see my prize.

This is Stella d'Oro lily. I love the bright golden yellow of this plant. it just keeps getting prettier every year.

Lychnis. I received this from a Gardenweb friend last year. I love the bright jewel tone color.

Clematis Jackamani growing in with an un-identified white climbing rose.

Nicotiana "Hot Chocolate". This plant was started from seed by winter sowing, and planted Hunk-O-Seed style. As you can see there is a great variety of color here in these two blooming plants, But I think that is what makes them so pretty. While photographing them, I had forgotten about the wonderful scent Nicotiana has, until it hit me.

I have posted pics here of one of my favorite roses....Madame Isaac Pereire. This past winter I decided to try sowing some of her seeds for the first time. I have never grown roses from seed before. Most likely they will not be true to the parent, but so far the color matches.Here is mine now only 6" tall and getting ready to open. "I 'm not as young as I once was", oh wait thats one of my favorite songs,lol. Well anyway thats my excuse for not getting down on my knees and putting my nose to the ground to see if it smells as heavenly as Madame.

This is, I think, Nasturtium "Milkmaid". I planted several of these in the potager.I love the deep, blood red color of the blooms.

These are my first blooms on winter sown Catchfly. 

This is Rudbeckia "Tiger Eye Gold" that I rescued from Walmart's clearance pile. It was looking pretty ragged. I am surprised, Walmart doesnt usually discount their flowers. they always told me before that they return them. They must have changed their policy.

Petunia "Laura Bush" from winter sown seedling. I believe these are supposed to return every year. I am hoping.

Balsam Impatients. I havent grown these for many years. I remember how the pods "snap" open springing their seeds out. I cant wait to show my grand daughter.

These are the Hydrangea "Annabelle" grown from cuttings a few years ago. I love the bright white of these blooms.

White Yarrow

Shrimp Plant. This was grown from winter sown seeds as well. The flowers are rather small and non descript. But I like the foliage.

Another Asiatic Lilly I bought last fall on clearance. This one is a pretty white and called "Tiny Snowflake"

This is a pretty pink Hollyhock.

Malva "Mystic Merlin". I love the color of these.

Antirhinum "Rembrandt" grown from winter sown seeds. I hope these guys grow, cause in the pics on valueseeds.com they look to be at least a foot or so tall. This one blooming is only about 4-5" tall.

And updates on the potager....The first is my tomatoes. Early girl has green tomatoes on her about 2" across, the others just have some blooms.

The pole beans are growing very quickly as well.

This is a shot of the back of my house taken from the backyard over looking the top of the stone retaining wall.

My New Obelisk

      My pole beans are about 14" tall now, and I finally got my husband to build me an obelisk for them to grow on. He is going to build me one more yet. I plan on painting them a medium blue. I want an "X" pattern between the two cross braces, if I don't get them made from wood this year, then I will probably wrap twine here in an "X" pattern. I think they are going to need this to give the beans a little more to grab hold of.  We got part of  the tomatoes staked last night, but still have about a dozen more to do. I wanted to paint these blue as well, but the tomatoes needed them a week ago. One of the plants had broken off, but it had some small roots on the stem, so I went ahead and planted it back, hoping it will take new root quickly enough to support it. I may still try and paint them yet. I just dont like the looks of the bright bare wood.The Mr. Big Peas, are now about 18" high. Cucumbers are about 6" and the same for the squash. Nasturtiums and marigolds still havent started blooming inside the garden yet. I also planted some Zinnia's inside as well. The 2 plants of the Echinacea Berry Pow Wow are about 2" tall. they are growing extremely slow. I also have some Climbing Black Eyed Susie vines that are about 2" and growing along the fence above the strawberries. On the opposite fence, growing above the bush beans are some Luffa vines.The lettuce has alo been doing well. I have been just cutting off the leaves instead of pulling, and it grows back very well.

My husband built me another one, and added a little more decoration to the top of the original tower. I got them painted, but not without a little mess. While I was in the doorway of the garage painting, we got a sudden severe storm. The rain came down so heavy, gutters were overflowing, and my sidewalk down from the backyard looked like a waterfall. Luckily I was inside when it hit. After things settled down, I took them outside to dry and got them placed in the garden for the pole beans to climb. I really like the bright blue color. I had planned on painting the tomato stakes, but after the time it took on these, I changed my mind.