By writing about my favorite June views and daylily hues, I get you to look at my daylilies again. See how sneaky I am? Hemerocallis 'Sunny Monster' (Arsenault 2006) daylily Hemerocallis 'Stacked to the Sky' (Harry-P., 2017) daylily. This one has been very pretty this year. 'Sing the Wondrous Story' (Carpenter 2008) with a dark-leaved canna. 'Pink Lemonade Party' (Salter 2006) look great against the ornamental grass. 'Red O'Kelley's Fate (Niswonger 2012.) I've always been a huge fan of Niswonger's red daylilies. He did a lot for those of us who like red because his could handle our intense sun and heat. This one also has large flowers on strong scape (stems) and is just about perfect. 'Peach Treat' (Niswonger 1996) daylilies up close. It's that peach self with the wine eyezone for me. What? No daylilies in your gardens? What do you do for color in the in-between season...

We're almost at the end of May. The roses bloomed in April signifying it's time for late spring garden chores. If you're feeling behind the eight ball, I'm not surprised. I always feel like there's too much to do in late spring, but this year is wetter than usual, bringing more weeds. Still, the garden has never looked more lush. The beautiful 'Annabelle' hydrangeas in front of my arbor. I love this view. Weed first. Then lay mulch. Yesterday, I spent the entire day working on weeding the borders at the front of the house, and my friend who was helping me, worked on the main shade border. We weeded, planted some sun coleus--which can be grown in sun or shade--and mulched. I didn't take any photos of the front of the house. Below are the shady spots where we worked in the back garden. There were so many weeds!...

Gardening with Alpha-gal syndrome might not be on your mind when you're initially diagnosed. At first, you're simply trying to figure out how to navigate what to eat and probably what to wear, not to mention your medications. Many of our medications in the U.S. have mammal in them, and we can be very allergic to some ingredients. Alpha-gal syndrome, courtesy of Alph-gal Information's website. But, if you're a gardener, trying to garden with Alpha-gal syndrome will soon become important to you. As I explained to the Two Alpha Gals on an episode of their In the Tall Grass podcast, I can't stop gardening. Gardening is my life. To learn more about this tick-borne disease, here's another recent article about Alpha-gal syndrome by Sage Scott. Also, look at Alpha-gal Information, a project of Alpha-gal Alliance. Spoiler: Alpha-gal is becoming an epidemic. Adult female Lonestar tick, Amblyomma americium. Photo courtesy of...

Dear Spring Garden, I love you. You are having a banner spring. I took a few photos and recorded you for posterity because heavy rain is supposed to fall this weekend. These pink irises were from my mother-in-law's garden. I've had them since I married Bill. They were being smothered in the lower garden, and they are much happier in the kitchen border. Irises and Center Glow ninebark and Peaches and Cream Japanese maple. Does the spring garden get any prettier? Another dark purple beauty. The beard is almost dark blue. I like dark irises a lot. I like irises, but it never fails. We have a giant rainstorm every time they bloom. Well, this year, I took photos for posterity beforehand. Dark and handsome iris. That's not its name, but it's what I call him. We need the rain. We always need rain even if irises and peonies don't...