she literally recoiled at my presence. girl, the feeling is mutual.

verbana b giving out a few last minutes oomphs.

sowed some perennial seeds a few weeks ago. i’m trying to follow their natural seeding process. but like, i have so many questions about it. mainly “but how will they fare in the winter.” i suppose they’ll let me know.

heuchera dies back gracefully.

i just started a ceramics class. i think this one may have just inspired a vase.

another rabbit tale: I sowed echinops from seeds. i only got two from the bunch. after their time in the pots, I plopped them into a garden bed unprotected. the thought was “they’re small but their leaves still have spikes, the rabbits won’t be interested.” the internet agreed. the rabbits, of course, had the last laugh and ate them. But the echinops refused to be cut down so easily. They both grew back. I covered one, and left the other (experimenting). They are both still going strong. They say rabbits don’t favor strong plants. With the added spikes, I think we may have a plant that can stand up to our garden bullies.

notes for the growing journal: these Celosia are very tender. We didn’t even get down to freezing and they just gave up. Now they look like extra long rabbit legs.

all season the rabbits did’t touch the sedum or the crysanthemums. And then in one fell swoop, they were both cut down by the fiends. the crysanths had literally just bloomed. FML. at least the sedums had their moment.

this is my second time trying to dry flowers. last time, I didn’t really think about it the first time and just hung them outside thinking “oh the summer heat will dry them well.” that thinking wasn’t wrong (necessarily) but the rain proved it a bad method. So a new batch is in the ventilated greenhouse and looking MUCH happier. The color is keeping better and we’re not getting dark spots.

I sowed a bunch of Foxgloves in the Spring. I later learned maybe that wasn’t the right time. I plopped these in the ground in summer, again, probably not the right time but they were root bound in their pots. Only Spring 2025 will tell if I totally screwed them over. But if I learned anything this year, plants are hella resilient. Fingers crossed. They seem fine right now anyway!

Spanish Flag. Peace or Victory? Both?

Never thought a tomato could give Witch vibes. Get it girl!

getting ready for spring. 44 “Purple Rain” themed bulbs in, only 56 to go! Smaller pots are getting animal resistant bulbs (think Scilla and Onions) and the tall pots are getting the more tempting treats (tulips and iris reticulata).

these strawflowers will not stop amazing me. I think this variety may have to end up in the Purple Rain patio garden next season.

another bug on a flower rug. not sure what this caterpillar turns into but i'm digging those punk spikes.

introducing the patio garden theme for 2025: PURPLE RAIN! Go look at that cover art and let me know if I nailed it. not picture are the spring bulbs for early color.

scabiosa 'black night'? she typically doesn't get gorgeous white fringe like this. I sowed in her a seed tray with a white variety, did some sort of osmosis happen?

you do you nasturtium, your choice of home warms my heart. and you makes that Lowe's bucket much prettier.

bugs on flowers is one of my favorite things.

Spanish Flag. I was looking forward to having these around for the summer, but they just started blooming. I think I've said it before, I'm pretty sure my back garden is a microclimate that trails 1-2 weeks behind the rest of the plant community.