Flowers After the Storm: This Week in My Maryland Garden

Red Zinnia Photo By Phyllis Wheeler

We lost power for four days, all the food in our refrigerator and freezer and had a few downed tree limbs but are thankful that our power is restored (and with it the blessing of air conditioning). Many people are still without power so we're praying for them and all of the emergency workers who are hard at work trying to restore power to everyone. Thankfully, our flowers don't need electricity or gas to grow. We did lose a few plants and had to stake a bunch that didn't need it prior to the storm (and a big shout out for my hubby who got that all done before I even knew it was necessary!) but the bulk of our garden is intact and we're thankful for that too. Above is the first of our red zinnia blooms from the seeds I started outside in April.

Purple/Pink Zinnia Photo By Phyllis Wheeler

Here is a "purple" zinnia bloom - the first of it's batch, which I also started in April. Two others are blooming and they're all the same color so I guess we aren't going to have the dark purple represented on the seed packet but they do match our pink roses and are pretty so I'm still happy. Regardless of color, it's always special to see the first bloom on any plant I personally grew from seed.

Sunny Rose Photo By Phyllis Wheeler

Here is one of our sweet smelling yellow roses.

Rose of Sharon Photo By Phyllis Wheeler

One of our first rose of Sharon blooms of the year, along with a bud for a future flower. I love the hibiscus like blooms on these plants.

Butterfly on Purple Coneflower Photo By Ben Wheeler

The storm split our giant mother echinacea (purple coneflower) plant but my husband got creative with some stakes and trellises and the plant still seems to be doing just fine. There were bees, butterflies and moths swarming all over it this morning. It's definitely a great plant to have in a butterfly garden.

I hope you weathered the storm well if it passed through your area. May God bless you!