Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A Bunny, 2 Cherries, a recipe, & a question...

A little visitor hopped into the yard the other morning, isn't he adorable?



I picked up a few more annuals for pots, this beauty is the Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy'.



And this is the Zinnia 'Profusion Cherry', it doesn't really show here, but there is quite a range of shades in just one plant.


We did the first little harvest for a salad, I decided to use a very simple dressing of apple cider vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt & pepper. It was delicious.

And now I have a question for my gardening friends. I spread a few Shirley Poppy seeds along here, and mostly weeds have come up. There are quite a few that look like this, the flower head is remarkably poppy like. I haven't pulled them (yet) since I'm waiting to see what they do. What do you think it is?



This is another deep shade peony, that has never bloomed before (planted by previous homeowner). It produced one bloom this year, and it's a stunning pink with a lighter, frilly centre. Clearly, it must be relocated so I will expand the above patch to a large semi circle and add a Little Lamb Hydrangea, some red tulips and a few others. Any idea what kind this is?


Heliopsis is getting going, I really enjoy these bright, reliable blooms.



I know I've posted about these Peachleaf Bellflowers a time or 2 (or 10!) before, but I'm smitten. These are in the Blue Garden. Unfortunately, the occupants of the garden can't get their bloom times coordinated for a big show, they are going through once at a time. The clematis adjacent is growing well, but not showing any signs of bloom, which concerns me more than a little.



Coreopsis 'zagreb' has just opened, they are bright and lovely and look good with the Rudbeckia. The Crimson King Norway Maple insists on sending up a basal shoot. I keep cutting it off, but it keeps coming back, and looks kind of nice with the yellow.


Hosta Francee is looking shy in the shade...


Hosta 'Whirlwind' was completely obscured so was recently relocated, hopefully to a less 'sluggy' area. Notice the reverse variegation?



Here Hemorocalis 'Mary Reed' is trying to beautify the gas meter,


Alongside the very (too?) similar Raspberry Pixie.


Moving to the front, these two bright lights really lighten up the shady bed.



I didn't think I'd like the flower spikes of Lamb's Ear, but now I do.


I'm relieved that Hydrangea 'Unique' is setting flowers! :) Kyushu doesn't get as much sun, so is a little behind...


I added a few Sea Thrift plants along the border of the new driveway bed.

And my rescued Shastas (small division from last fall) are blooming.


My last shrub purchase was this Cool Splash Honeysuckle (Diervilla sessilifolia), I really like variegation, and the smaller size (3ft) makes it easy to place. I have moved the Blue Muffin Arrowwood to a shady spot, it's description has been revised since being released, and it is not the dwarf it was said to be. Also, it doesn't self pollinate well (ie AT ALL) and so if you want the lovely blue berries another Viburnum is required, and many are over 7 ft.

21 comments:

  1. Oh my Rebecca..you have dazzled me with the rudbeckia colors..woah..I have to find some now!! Sweet little bunny..awww..you are so lucky! Beautiful post..many new lovelies i would love to add to my space..one day..everything looks great Rebecca!! Thanks for sharing!
    Happy Gardening...hope you are enjoying the summer!
    Kiki~

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  2. That looks a lot like a poppy to me! But I've never grown Shirley poppies, so I can't say for sure. Love your daylilies and that peach leaf bellfower!

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  3. I would have to agree...looks very poppy-ish, hope it blooms in your desired color!

    Your garden is blooming like crazy. I think your Coreopsis is a cheerful yellow.

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  4. I love the red Rudbeckia...just gorgeous and Shasta Daisies remain of my favorite flowers. I do have a soft spot for bunny rabbits, but that is probably because I don't have any eating my garden plants :-)

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  5. Hi Rebecca, your little visitor is adorable! I too like the lamb's ears flowers and bees seem to love them. Glad to see your 'Unique' hydrangea made it through our crazy winter. Mine is showing signs of possible blooms, albeit on a much smaller plant that it was last year. I'm just glad it made it through.

    Btw, love the new annual additions! This is a great time to give the garden a fresh shot of colour. :)

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  6. Rebecca, the first time I saw a bunny in my garden, I thought it was adorable as well, till I saw the havoc his eating habits caused, I wished I had a dog, but Daisy seems to be derelict in her duties. Hopefully, yours is just on the way through.

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  7. Just added half a dozen tiny sea thrift to the border of the pink roses.

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  8. Are you sure that's a Canadian rabbit? I don't think I'd ever seen one that small when I lived there lol.

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  9. Hi Kiki, Thanks so much for your great post! I'm glad you like my Rudbeckia! I think the dark one is amazing.

    Hi Alison, Welcome! Thanks for stopping by! The bellflowers and daylilies are favorites of mine too. :)

    Hi Noelle, The bunny didn't eat anything, just passed through. I wish you could grow shastas since you love them so much!

    Hi MsS, my hydrangeas (& Wiegelas & Sandcherry & Burning Bush...) are all much smaller than last year, and pretty much had to regrow from the base. It was a crazy fall/winter/spring!

    Hi Deborah, Daisy was napping in the house while the bunny was visiting, but she usually helps quite a bit!

    Hi Diana, What a lovely coincidence!! So far and yet so near! :)

    Hi Kyna, Yes, we have quite a few smaller bunnies, as well as the big ones!

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  10. It looks beautiful in your garden! I love that reverse Hosta. The bunny is so cute, glad he left you the lettuce for your salad :)

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  11. We have a bunny that has taken up residence in the back yard. Unfortunately, he seems to like to devour whole plants in one sitting! Love the rose rudbeckia and zinnia!

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  12. Hi Catherine, thanks for stopping by!! I think the hosta is special too and the bunny makes me want one of my own. :)

    HI Three Dogs, Welcome to my blog! This little guy was just passing through. I'm glad you like my new additions, I don't usually add annuals this late but everything in the greenhouse was on sale so I thought I'd have another look.

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  13. I think that is a poppy. Here I get only wild poppies, but that looks very much like that.
    I love the bunny! And you can post about Peachleaf Bellflowers as much as you want, I enjoy its color!

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  14. Hi vrtlarica, thanks for your post! I was hoping you'd stop by and see the coreopsis 'zagreb'! It is a poppy, the flowers have now opened. I'll show pics in my next post. :)

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  15. Hi Rebecca! I love the cherry brandy Rudebeckia! Very nice colour! And yes thats a poppy all right. It looks a lot like the 'wild' variety that grows here. It usually is an orange or yellow colour.

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  16. That little bunny is going to enjoy your garden! I guess they have to eat too.

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  17. Rebecca girl you have so many different flowers and shrubs on the go ! they are all so pretty : ) .. we used to have bunny visitors but not so much now .. I used to find a lot of "bunny beans" each Spring when I did clean up , haha. Cherry Brandy did not come up for me at all .. disappointment arrgghh !! Those little zinnia are gorgeous and the salad dressing sounds too delicious ! I use Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette (spelling looks weird ?)
    I vote that the plant is Shirley Poppy !
    Little Lamb doesn't not stay little long so beware girl ;-) I'm not a huge fan of lambs Ear flowers but like you I let a few go that far just to make the plant happy ? LOL
    I haven't been able to get out in the garden since my back accident, but I think I have a couple of "Crazy Daisy" Shastas blooming some where .. I really miss not seeing the garden like this .. I'll have to toddle out with that cane thing jeez !!! LOL
    Joy .. with 3 "legs" ??

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  18. Hi Laura, thanks for your message! Cherry Brandy is great, I'm sad that it took me this long to discover it!

    Hi Porch Days, Thanks for stopping by! You're right, they do have to eat. I don't mind a nibble here & there, but I don't want to find things devoured.

    Hi meems, welcome to my little blog, I agree that he is very cute!

    Hey Joy! I hope you feel better soon! I also have Kraft Raspberry, it's great with spinach, oranges & strawberries. YUM. I hope Little Lamb likes it here..we'll see what happens.

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  19. A large rabbit was eating some weeds at the edge of my lawn a few months ago, and I thought, "Perfect, it can eat as many as he wants. ", but then it turned around and nipped off a Muscari bloom spike, turned it sideways, and munched it like corn on the cob. I ran out to chase it off, and it just sat there, obviously sensing that I was an animal lover and that my heart wasn't in it. I had to throw something for it to get the message, or it would probably have ambled over for an ear scratchy.

    Your peachleaf bellflower looks great, love those pretty blue blooms. The peony will appreciate the sunnier relocation, and you'll probably get many more pink petals next year.

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  20. The muscari corn cob story is charming, in a frustrating kind of way. They certainly know when they are in the company of an animal lover, and can more or less do as they please!

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