Happy Fourth of July!

I've got some knitting pics I have yet to take to show you actual progress on knitting, so in the meantime, I figured I would include my weekly "what's bloomin' in my yard" for you to enjoy:

I start with the clematis because this baby was a hard fought gain. Clematis isn't exactly difficult to grow. You have to have the right spot though and after two failed attempts in the same spot, I figured it was the spot. Turns out I just needed my Pappou (grandfather) to plant it, which he did for me three years ago, and I must say, now that we are established, this little sucker is quite the showy bird.

These lillies are dumb-luck lillies because they are blooming on the first try without any interference from the wildlife in the area. I have some in a barrel also, that for the first time in three years might actually bloom if nothing eats them over the next few days. I'm still skeptical, but I must say, my combo of wasabi and crushed red pepper flakes seemed to be the right deterrent for whatever the hell was so interested in eating them. Damn you wildlife! I like these because they are white instead of the usual orange you see so much of around here.

And now we come to the problem children, my delphiniums. I'm on my third year with a lot of these girls. They are lovely. I have them in varying shades of blue and purple and also in white. I love, love, love them. However, the rain (yes, the 19 out of 30 days we had in June) was rather unkind to them. As was my neglect due to the rain. I didn't get my butt out there in the nice weather to stake them and so I had a ton of falling over blossoms that (darn!) have ended up on my kitchen table. At least we are getting to enjoy them rather than seeing their pretty little faces in the dirt. I'm hoping that if I can stake the remainder, I might have a shot of seeing some kind of blooms relatively soon that I won't necessarily have to cut and bring in. If not, I'll just be patient for the gladiolas.

Finally, I include a picture of the fabulous hydrangea. I couldn't these guys if I tried. They are lovely, they bloom for two months and last year, upon cutting some blossoms, they lasted a month in a vase. I've never had that happen before so I am really in love with them for that. I even got my other bush to bloom for a second year in a row. These guys belong on a greeting card or something because they are just too lovely for words.

Off to finish my ball-band dishcloth from Mason-Dixon!