Around the Yard

I'm pretty sure it is full blown summer outside these days! It's been getting into the 90's this week, and it's humid. My flowers in the garden are really starting to take off, and we haven't been starving for rain - we're getting a little bit now and then to keep all the flowers alive and well. So, time for a little flower garden update and a few pics!

First, we spotted this guy in the yard the other day -

Trent got this awesome photo with his iPhone. How's that for a close-up of a toad?

Meanwhile, in the wedding flower garden, I have lots of zinnias growing taller, and some other flowers, too. The Giant State Fair Zinnias are getting especially large and in charge.

I'm hoping for lots of buds on this one! These guys look really hardy, so we'll see what happens. One of my zinnias is already starting to bloom!

Others look really close. I couldn't believe how much they had grown since the last time I was out here. I've been trying to come out here and weed every few days, since the weeds do come up still even with all the mulch and landscape fabric.

This section of State Fair Zinnias doesn't have much of an issue with weeds, though. They're looking pretty awesome!

There are a few other flowers growing pretty big, too, like these Dahlias:

And, I don't have a picture, but I think my hydrangea is starting to bloom! It never bloomed last year, but it's growing, and it's still alive. Always a good thing.

All of my pots are still doing great, and I have lots of them this year. Even my Dusty miller plants are still growing, so I'm hoping to use those for the wedding if they're still looking good. I have about 6 pots in the back yard this year. Here's just a few that are back there:

I kept it simple and stuck with petunias and pansies for the backyard. I knew they would do well in the sun and wouldn't require a whole lot of maintenance.

On the front porch, I have probably around 8 or 9 pots this year. Mainly Dusty Miller, Celosia, and Salvia. The yellow flowers in the little green pot actually came from someone at Trent's work. They had some leftover from an event, so they gave a pot to Trent. I haven't even looked at what they're called yet! But they're still doing good!

And look at these gorgeous Celosia. This has become one of my favorite flowers to grow. I grew them last year, and they were super easy and did well all through the summer. They're doing awesome again this year, and the colors are amazing! So vibrant.

I cannot wait for the flower garden out back to bloom everywhere. And we'll have lots of colorful, beautiful flowers for the wedding! We never got any veggies planted, so I guess we'll just have lots of flowers to look at. Ha. I still have tons of perennial seeds I never got planted too, but maybe there's still time. Just need Trent to help me dig up some ground around the house! We'll see if that happens..