# Summer is Sizzling



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Thought I would start this thread as a continuation of Karen’s “Spring is Springing” thread so that people can share summer pictures. I really enjoy seeing pictures of foliage and such from around the country. I am especially interested in deer resistant plants! I know Heather is an expert on this. In this picture, the tall flowers are cleome, the orange ones are cosmos and the bush is spirea. They are all deer resistant. Cosmos is my favorite. It loves bad soil and drought!!! Blooms all summer and reseeds itself too.


----------



## Ditto's Mom (Apr 29, 2007)

Beautiful yard and plants!:smile2:


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

My hydrangeas have really put out a lot of flowers this year!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Molly120213 said:


> My hydrangeas have really put out a lot of flowers this year!


Beautiful!!! Mine put on tons of flowers this year too...then the deer found them. Now I have about 10 flowers on top and bare branches on most of the plant! They ate the leaves too! Never did that before.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Your Hydrangeas are beautiful Molly... We had several large ones in the backyard. This year a gardener cut four of them to the ground. Only one sprouted a few leaves.&#128577; We've just replanted three new ones, but it's going to take a few years for them to grow. The cayenne pepper has kept the gophers away from the petunia's so far.:clap2: Here's one of the newly planted Hydrangeas. The deer never touch the Society Garlic below the Kangaroo Paws. Sorry I don't know how to rotate photos. &#129300;


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

The deer normally do not touch my cone flowers but this year they “sampled” them. Fortunately it seems they do not like them!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Those are so pretty! They look like happy flowers!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Heather's said:


> Those are so pretty! They look like happy flowers!


I am happy the deer did not destroy them like they did my white hydrangea! Here is a shot of my hydrangea where there are still some blooms. On the other side I only have stems!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Fortunately, even though the deer decimated my Hostas before the woods leafed out, they have pretty much STAYED in the woods since then. But then, The only vulnerable plants I have outside the fenced backyard are the Hostas are RIGHT agaist the house. So they DO have to be pretty hungry to dare getting THAT close.


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> Fortunately, even though the deer decimated my Hostas before the woods leafed out, they have pretty much STAYED in the woods since then. But then, The only vulnerable plants I have outside the fenced backyard are the Hostas are RIGHT agaist the house. So they DO have to be pretty hungry to dare getting THAT close.


Ahh hostas...deer candy!!! Deer come right up to my front porch here. They have no fear!!! Luckily I covered my hostas with bird netting and saved them...all but one. The netting slipped off one and they mowed it down!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

The deer here are very brazen. Here is a picture of the front of our house. Last year, every hosta on the right side were completely mowed down. This year we put bird netting on them which works great except it slipped off the middle hosta and chomp chomp...now is nothing but stems. I think the deer mowing occurs during the night while we are all asleep upstairs. Otherwise, my two “alarms” would be barking their heads off. On the left side of the house are ferns which the deer will not touch. These are a great alternative to hostas for shady areas.


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Beautiful photos, everyone! I agree with MPM that it's fun to see what your yards look like. MPM, it's funny that I planted cleome and cosmos for the first time this year! I grew the cosmos from seed, so they're not lush yet. I'll show you a photo later this summer. I've been growing tomatoes out of straw bales for a number of years, but this year, I really added a lot of flowers for decoration. I also dug out the grass behind the tomatoes in order to plant four astilbes in a shade garden with the tomato soaker hose (on daily timer) running through it. The other day, I threw a bunch of impatiens in the shade garden side of the the raised garden which holds the bales. I also got a new square raised garden for a corner of the yard that I decided I was tired of mowing.

Here's a link to more photos of my flowers that I took earlier this summer.


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

And one more photo I like ...


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Oops - forgot about this one. I just love this Asiatic Lily. I got a free bulb at the garden center some years ago, and now I want more but can't figure out where to plant them ...


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

ShamaMama said:


> Oops - forgot about this one. I just love this Asiatic Lily. I got a free bulb at the garden center some years ago, and now I want more but can't figure out where to plant them ...


Beautiful flowers and even more beautiful with a beautiful dog showing them off!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

ShamaMama, I think you will love cosmos and cleome. Mine have not peaked either but here are some pics so far.


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

If anyone is looking for a great easy to grow deer resistant flower, cleomes are awesome!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

The cleomes are pretty! ...One we haven't tried.


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Heather's said:


> The cleomes are pretty! ...One we haven't tried.


They are very easy to grow and reseed themself. They are even coming up in our driveway cracks...!


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

I am loving the color on these hydrangeas!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Beautiful! I was just at the nursery a few days ago and picked up some acid food so next year hopefully the pink hydrangeas will be blue. DH isn't happy because whenever I visit the nursery it usually involves buying more plants. He doesn't trust me to plant them properly. :grin2:


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

We have tons of butterflies now!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I've been thinking about this thread and that I needed to update my photos. The cosmos haven't bloomed yet because I made the rookie mistake of overfertilizing them! I'm still hoping they'll bloom, but they have no buds yet ... (So far, we've harvested 67 tomatoes from the eight plants in the straw bales.)


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Here are the cosmos that are all pretty and dainty and green, all foliage and no blooms! The blue flowers are Blue My Mind Dwarf Morning Glory.


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

ShamaMama said:


> Here are the cosmos ...


I didn't realize there are blue cosmos. I have the orange variety. The blue ones are beautiful!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

And here are my two favorite things, the hydrangea and my big red bronze leaf begonias ... (Along with photo of silver heart brunnera when it was in bloom back in May ... I'm going to split that plant this fall ...)


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

ShamaMama said:


> And here are my two favorite things, the hydrangea and my big red bronze leaf begonias ... (Along with photo of silver heart brunnera when it was in bloom back in May ... I'm going to split that plant this fall ...)


I am so jealous of your hydrangea. The deer devoured mine!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Wow....your Hydrangea is beautiful! Just curious what fertilizer you use? 😊


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> And here are my two favorite things, the hydrangea and my big red bronze leaf begonias ... (Along with photo of silver heart brunnera when it was in bloom back in May ... I'm going to split that plant this fall ...)


Your gardens are beautiful, Annie!!!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

So, I haven't been keeping up... Here are a few from earlier in the summer... The first two in our back yard, the third on my birthday, when we took a drive down to the RI shore, and the last is in our town.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

This bunch is from last week on vacation on Cape Cod with our friend Elinor with the red Havanese. (you've seen photos of her puppies when they were tiny, though both Tony and Poppy are retired now, and Nora isn't quite old enough to breed) Six Havanese together for a week, of socially distanced (people) swimming, sailing, walking on the beach in the hurricane, barbecues and wine on the deck at sunset and generally recharging our batteries!!!


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

A few more...


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Heather's said:


> Wow....your Hydrangea is beautiful! Just curious what fertilizer you use? &#128522;


I use Miracid for the hydrangea and my other "acid-loving" plants. I use something else for the other flowers and something else for the tomatoes. I'd have to look at their boxes for the names ...


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

krandall said:


> This bunch is from last week on vacation on Cape Cod with our friend Elinor with the red Havanese. (you've seen photos of her puppies when they were tiny, though both Tony and Poppy are retired now, and Nora isn't quite old enough to breed) Six Havanese together for a week, of socially distanced (people) swimming, sailing, walking on the beach in the hurricane, barbecues and wine on the deck at sunset and generally recharging our batteries!!!


Do you have a photo of six little Havanese in life jackets?


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> Do you have a photo of six little Havanese in life jackets?


LOL! No... they didn't go down to the dock. We've had them down there off-season, but it doesn't seem polite when people are swimming.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)




----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

This is the first summer the Japanese beetles did not destroy my crepe myrtle. It is not the best looking crepe myrtle but is so much better than it has been!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

This year, I discovered the Japanese Beetle TRAP! It did the job (i.e., I see very few Japanese Beetles now), and it is really full!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

I love my cleomes, but they look weird in four different spots in my yard. Next year, I'll plant a group of them together. I'll also plant them only in the ground. This year, I put two of them in pots, but they're really too big for pots. (They looked so little when I bought a pack of four for $2 or something!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

ShamaMama said:


> This year, I discovered the Japanese Beetle TRAP! It did the job (i.e., I see very few Japanese Beetles now), and it is really full!


Actually I think what happened this year is that my neighbor put up a trap...and they all went over to her house!!!!!


----------



## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

I used to have a greenhouse and large garden in Pennsylvania but seem to have a brown thumb in Florida. The “St Augustine” grass they grow here would be considered crab grass back home. :grin2:


----------



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I can’t seem to figure out which plants are the cleomes?


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> I can't seem to figure out which plants are the cleomes?


Here is a picture of cleomes. The tall purplish flowers are cleomes.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Summer wasn't sizzling this morning on the way to the dentist for Truffles teeth cleaning. We left the house at 7AM for the hour drive. After dropping Truffles off we decided to make the 45-60 minute drive home because there isn't much open. Plus it is so smoky everywhere. We just walked in the door when the office called to let us know Truffles cleaning was already done. She would be ready to leave in one hour at 10:30. Another hour drive to pick-up Truffles and then back home again. By the time we arrived home Truffles was back to her happy little self. It was a very long morning of driving!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Heather's said:


> Summer wasn't sizzling this morning on the way to the dentist for Truffles teeth cleaning.


You know what I'm about to request, right? The VIDEO of Truffle's nighttime teeth brushing routine! One day, you will post it, right? :grin2:


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

mudpuppymama said:


> EvaE1izabeth said:
> 
> 
> > I can't seem to figure out which plants are the cleomes?
> ...


This is my experimental garden. The tall white and pink flowers are cleomes. And in the other photo, the tall purple ones are cleomes. See how they would look better grouped together?


----------



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

The cleome seem familiar, but I really don’t remember hearing the name before. They are pretty, they remind me of allium.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

ShamaMama said:


> This is my experimental garden. The tall white and pink flowers are cleomes. And in the other photo, the tall purple ones are cleomes. See how they would look better grouped together?


I tuck groups of 3 Cleome plants or 3 Cosmos plants together all through my perennial gardens most years. They keep the color blooming in between the perennials blooming.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

The end of summer's wisteria and petunia's. Another very smoky day!


----------



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Heather's said:


> The end of summer's wisteria and petunia's. Another very smoky day!
> View attachment 165464


What a beautiful yard!


----------



## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I really hope to spend time learning to garden better between now and next summer. We did finally figure out how to add on to our irrigation system and finished that a couple of weeks ago so I ordered a few plants. I’m a little nervous about planting this one because it is supposed to be gradually exposed to sun since it’s still reaching the 90’s here. Every time I’ve tried to “harden” plants in the spring I forget to bring them in and they die. 

Maybe next year I’ll be able to post pictures of Sundance sniffing all of the roses as it blooms profusely! He’s incredibly curious and sniffing around a lot.


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

After spending lots of $$$ on plants, books and Deer Prevention Methods, I now have NO! plants in my yard that Deer eat. You CAN'T Beat 'Em, unless you put everything behind a fence. They use to come up to my porch and eat my lovely plants. Below are four plants Deer don't bother in my yard. Deer, also, don't like Marigolds. However, I've read Deer will eat anything if hungry enough.

*Cosmos, Cleome *... *recommended by mudpuppy*. I planted 300 seeds each on July 4th. Look at them now. They apparently don't need much water but I kept them watered to be safe. I've purchased 14,000 seeds for next summer to plant in Colorado and more around my yard in Oklahoma.

My yard is covered with* Crape Myrtle.* I've never had a bug problem. The only thing that ever got to them was a very hot summer drought followed by the coldest winter we ever had in Oklahoma. They died back but most came back up from the roots.

I can't remember the name of the fourth plant. Hummm? Beat someone knows the name.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Beautiful yard... The Crepe Myrtle fence is really nice. I like the feathery cattail plant. We also spent a lot over the years on plants and flowers for the front yard. The lawn was the deers resting spot. We were constantly planting because they would eat everything in sight. Deer Scram works well, but needs to be applied frequently which can get expensive. We finally gave up and had it planted in all deer resistant plants and installed artificial turf. They don't like the artificial turf and only occasionally nibble on a plant. Here is one of our little friends waiting for some apple slices. &#128522;


----------



## Molly120213 (Jan 22, 2014)

That fourth plant is a type of ornamental grass, possibly called fountain grass. There are a lot of those both in my yard and neighborhood as well as much taller versions of grasses. They are deer resistant and look great blowing in the winds that come off of Lake Ontario(aka my back yard)!


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

ShamaMama said:


> You know what I'm about to request, right? The VIDEO of Truffle's nighttime teeth brushing routine! One day, you will post it, right? :grin2:


I will give it a try someday! &#128522;


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Heather's said:


> Beautiful yard... The Crepe Myrtle fence is really nice. I like the feathery cattail plant. We also spent a lot over the years on plants and flowers for the front yard. The lawn was the deers resting spot. We were constantly planting because they would eat everything in sight. *Deer Scram works* well, but needs to be applied frequently which can get expensive. We finally gave up and had it planted in all deer resistant plants and installed artificial turf. They don't like the artificial turf and only occasionally nibble on a plant. Here is one of our little friends waiting for some apple slices. &#128522;
> View attachment 165512


Thanks for identifying the Feathery Cattail Plant.

*LOL!! I ALMOST! *got to the point I thought I could shot a deer, but my cooler head prevailed since I don't know how to shoot a gun and it's against the law to shoot the deer in city limits. I would have had to drag it across the street and pretend I shot it there. We live on the edge of town. I doubt I could have done it. Now we enjoy them since we don't plant anything they're interested in.

Hummmm! Deer Scram that'a one thing I didn't try. 

*WARNING!!! NEVER TRY LION URINE *.....It works so well it not only keeps deer away but no family member ventured out into the backyard for over a week. You cannot imagine how bad urine smells until you get a whiff of Lion Urine.

*Yes!! you can buy it. *


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Molly120213 said:


> That fourth plant is a type of ornamental grass, possibly called fountain grass. There are a lot of those both in my yard and neighborhood as well as much taller versions of grasses. They are deer resistant and look great blowing in the winds that come off of Lake Ontario(aka my back yard)!


I have some of the Tall Ornamental Grasses. You can't kill them. We dug some up and threw them away out in the field, where they rerooted themselves, are growing like crazy and bigger than ever.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Heather's said:


> The end of summer's wisteria and petunia's. Another very smoky day!
> View attachment 165464


Beautiful yard! I just pray that everyone stays safe from fires this year!


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

Beautiful flowers, Mikki! Thanks for posting the photos.


----------



## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

Lovely photos! You are inspiring me to add some plantings to my yard.


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

krandall said:


> I just pray that everyone stays safe from fires this year!


It's still early in the fire season and it's already very bad. Yesterday and today I noticed a huge herd of goats on the hill hired to mow down the dry brush. DH parents house was lost two years ago in the Paradise Camp Fire. Hopefully this year we will get some rain early in the season. ☔


----------



## Heather's (Jun 18, 2012)

Mikki said:


> Thanks for identifying the Feathery Cattail Plant.
> 
> Hummmm! Deer Scram that'a one thing I didn't try.
> 
> ...


I really don't know the name of your plant Mikki. I just made that name up. &#128522;
The Deer Scram really does work. It contains blood meal and garlic so the deers stay away. I remember trying some kind of urine and it smelled so terrible so we decided not to use it.


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

Funny story how I discovered Cosmos. I was cleaning out my kitchen “junk” drawer a few years ago and found a package of cosmos seed. They must have been there forever because I do not recall ever buying them. It was mid August and late to be planting flowers but I knew if I didn’t use them they would sit in the junk drawer for a few more years! Anyway, I threw the seeds in one of our beds on top of the mulch. I did not even stir up the ground at all. I also did not water them at all. A month or so later (when all other flowers had pretty much faded) I had the most beautiful cosmos flowers that continued to bloom until an October frost!


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

```

```



Heather's said:


> I really don't know the name of your plant Mikki. I just made that name up. &#128522;
> The Deer Scram really does work. It contains blood meal and garlic so the deers stay away. I remember trying some kind of urine and it smelled so terrible so we decided not to use it.


HA! Another person so desperate they tired Lion Urine.

Like you mentioned earlier you have to reapply Deer repellents for them to work. I did the blood meal, too.

Nancy says the Comos and Celome are pretty much maintenance free and the deer don't bother them. They don't bother Crape Myrtle. There are a few other plants like Marigolds they are NOT interested in but they're too much work.

At one time I had a shelf full of books on how to keep Deer out of the yard. Leaned a lot. Tried a whole lot of things.

Finally, gave up and decided it was easier to forget about having a beautiful flower garden and potted plants.

Now days ... *I'm into Maintenance Free.*


----------



## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

All your pictures made me want to work in my yard. I planted some crotons and Ixora for color. Tomorrow I will finish the mulch.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

mudpuppymama said:


> Funny story how I discovered Cosmos. I was cleaning out my kitchen "junk" drawer a few years ago and found a package of cosmos seed. They must have been there forever because I do not recall ever buying them. It was mid August and late to be planting flowers but I knew if I didn't use them they would sit in the junk drawer for a few more years! Anyway, I threw the seeds in one of our beds on top of the mulch. I did not even stir up the ground at all. I also did not water them at all. A month or so later (when all other flowers had pretty much faded) I had the most beautiful cosmos flowers that continued to bloom until an October frost!


Cool! Did they come back the next year? Mine will reseed if the winter is mild.


----------



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Faithb said:


> All your pictures made me want to work in my yard. I planted some crotons and Ixora for color. Tomorrow I will finish the mulch.


Beautiful!!! And so much different from our northern gardens! Crotons are house plants here!!!


----------



## mudpuppymama (Mar 24, 2012)

krandall said:


> Cool! Did they come back the next year? Mine will reseed if the winter is mild.


Yes they not only reseed they propagate themself! I think my dogs are helpful at propagating things because seeds get in their fur!


----------



## Faithb (Aug 18, 2020)

krandall said:


> Beautiful!!! And so much different from our northern gardens! Crotons are house plants here!!!


It took me awhile to get used to the idea that Northern houseplants are used as landscape plants here. Annuals don't die they just get leggy. Not sure about perennials doing well because most need the cold to reset.


----------



## Mikki (May 6, 2018)

Faithb said:


> All your pictures made me want to work in my yard. I planted some crotons and Ixora for color. Tomorrow I will finish the mulch.


Wow!! You have a gorgeous yard even without flowers.


----------



## ShamaMama (Jul 27, 2015)

My cosmos finally started to bloom right before the cold settled in. On Sunday, I brought these guys in and then cleaned up (cut down) my experimental garden. Next year, I'll be trying cosmos and cleomes again!


----------

