Love, Joy and Peas: echinacea

Showing posts with label echinacea. Show all posts

Friday, September 23, 2016

Mexican Bush Sage, Purple Coneflower, Impatiens, Giant Zinnia, and Tithonia Flowers

Happy autumn, floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The Mexican bush sage has started to bloom and I'm always thrilled to not only see the flowers but feel their super soft texture. They're almost as soft as pussy willows. I overwintered this plant in the house as it's not perennial in our planting zone.

The white impatiens I planted in early spring is still putting out lovely flowers in a semi-shady area.

This volunteer purple coneflower sprung up in the middle of my giant zinnia area but I let it stay. I'll probably move it later this fall or early next spring, but for now I'm enjoying the contrast.

I only planted red giant zinnia seeds but also got pink and purple from the package. The bees and butterflies like them all so I do too.

Our biggest annuals this year are the tithonia (also called Mexican sunflower). They are huge and covered in pretty flowers.

That's all for this week's tour. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Butterflies on tithonia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2016/08/butterflies-on-mexican-sunflowers-at.html
Monarchs on chrysanthemum: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/monarch-butterfly-on-pretty.html
Brookside Gardens butterflies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/09/monarch-butterflies-from-brookside.html

Friday, August 19, 2016

Giant Dahlia, Echinacea, Dianthus, Vinca and Zinnia Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" Our pale yellow dinnerplate dahlia started blooming. I love the giant flowers (this one is about 7" wide).

The echinacea (purple conflower) plants are still putting out a few fresh flowers, although the majority have faded.

This dianthus is doing the best of all if its kind in my garden. It's the only one in part shade (the rest are in full sun, which I think is what their tag said they prefer, but clearly mine like some shade).

The vinca flowers continue to bloom nicely. I liked the glistening dew drops on this one.

The zinnias are the star of the garden this year, partly because I planted so many and partly because the birds, butterflies and bees love them.

Thank you for visiting! I hope this finds you safe and cool, despite the summer heat. May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Giant red zinnia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/giant-zinnias-gladiola-mr-optimist.html
Funky dahlias: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/four-dahlias-and-dianthus-for-floral.html
Sunflower & dahlia: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/sunflowers-dahlias-marigolds-verbena.html

Friday, July 8, 2016

Red Coreopsis, Purple Coneflowers, Yellow Day Lilies, Sunflowers and Fairy Marigolds

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The red coreopsis is still blooming heavily and is often visited by bees.

The echinacea, also known as purple coneflower, is also blooming heavily. This old fashioned purple coneflower not only survived but made many volunteer babies which have now formed a mini echinacea field. I'm thrilled because Bermuda grass invaded that bed and echinacea is one of the few things strong enough to thrive with it tangled in its roots.

Last week I featured our double orange day lily but this week the bright yellow is the day lily star. My favorite thing about it is that it was a gift from some kind neighbors (they wish to remain anonymous) but I love the true yellow color too.

Last year we planted a few sunflowers but this year we didn't plant any. It was really exciting to see this volunteer sunflower develop from one of last year's mother plants. It's not in a convenient place (it's crammed in between a rose bush and some very robust oregano) but I'm letting nature take its course and just enjoying it.

Another volunteer is this teeny tiny marigold. I think of it as my fairy marigold, although I don't remember its actual name. The flowers are about the size of a dime and the foliage is feathery.

For me, one of the greatest delights in life is gardening. I love the happy surprises, watching things grow (especially from seed) and seeing nature take its course during the year. God certainly was creative and generous when He came up with so many amazing plants for our world.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless and keep you!

Related posts:
Butterflies on coneflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/butterflies-and-bees-love-purple.html
Bees on pretty flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/busy-bees-on-beautiful-blooms-zinnia.html
Dew drops on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/dew-drops-bees-and-pretty-flowers.html

Friday, June 10, 2016

Rose, Purple Coneflower, Shasta Daisy, Sweet Pea and Zinnia Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The roses are at peak glory with beautiful flowers covering the bushes.

The echinacea (also known as purple coneflower) is just beginning it's season.

This is the very first shasta daisy flower of the year here in my Maryland garden.

I'm not sure if this is year two or three for our sweet peas but from two surviving plants we now have about an eight foot diameter spread of their vines.

Last week I finally planted my giant red zinnia seeds but my kind husband bought these mini zinnias for me while I wait for the giants to grow. It's nice to have color in the zinnia areas already.

That's all for this week's mini garden tour. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Which was your favorite photo? What is your favorite flower scent?

Related posts:
Bees on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/busy-bees-on-beautiful-blooms-zinnia.html
Giant zinnia and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/zinnias-roses-joe-pye-weed-day-lilies.html
Butterflies on coneflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/butterflies-and-bees-love-purple.html

Friday, October 2, 2015

Rain Drenched Chrysanthemum, Marigold, Echinacea and Zinnia Flowers

Happy October, happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The golden chrysanthemums look nicer this week and seem to glisten in the rain and glow in the sun.

The French marigolds grown from seed seem to be doing the best of all the marigolds we planted this year. I especially love the bicolor ones.

The white zinnias seem to be wrapping up so I was glad to get one last fresh photo for you.

And I was pleasantly surprised to see a late blooming echinacea (aka purple coneflower). Most of the larger plants have already set seed. I like to leave the seeds up for the birds for winter feeding.

The yellow zinnias are still going strong and I hope to see more fresh flowers through frost.

Thank you for joining me on this week's mini Maryland garden tour. May the all powerful God who created us and every beautiful flower bless you, comfort all those who grieve, heal all who are sick, and encourage all who need it.

Related posts:
Cute critters and flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/cute-critters-on-flowers.html
Bees on blooms: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/busy-bees-on-beautiful-blooms-zinnia.html
Butterflies and coneflowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/07/butterflies-and-bees-love-purple.html

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Butterflies and Bees Love Purple Coneflowers

Happy wild Wednesday! I took this week's photos in my own garden. What a blessing it is to enjoy so many flowers and so much cute insect wildlife.

The purple coneflowers (also known as echinacea) seem to be most popular with the bees and butterflies this year, with the giant zinnias a close second.

We must have some undesirable insect eating at the purple coneflower petals but I think they're still pretty, even with partially chewed parts.

Although it's not technically a good photo, I liked the fact that there were two moths on echinacea flower heads in the image above.

As you can see, the purple coneflowers bloom at different heights. Although we've put in a wide variety of coneflowers, the old fashioned purples seem to thrive the best in our Maryland soil.

Hope you enjoyed this week's wildlife photos. Which did you like best? Whatever you prefer, I thank you for visiting and pray that God will bless you!

Related posts:
Cute bugs on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2015/06/cute-critters-on-flowers.html
Bees on flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/08/busy-bees-on-beautiful-blooms-zinnia.html
Giant pink zinnia and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/07/zinnias-roses-joe-pye-weed-day-lilies.html

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Cute Critters on Flowers

Happy wild Wednesday! Here are the critter on flower photos I promised last Friday. We've planted several specialty echinacea (also known as coneflower) varieties but this yellow is the only one besides the old fashioned purple that survived our last few frigid winters. I was really happy to see the cheery yellow flowers and the bees were too.

Of course, the old fashioned echinacea are still a big draw. Bees and butterflies usually flock to them. This year we've had a few moths but so far, only one butterfly that I've noticed. I did plant some milkweed for the monarchs a couple years ago but it didn't survive the winter. If we stay here through another spring then next year I hope to plant some more milkweed and some butterfly weed to help these beautiful creatures survive.

My husband pointed out this pretty green dragonfly resting on the green daylily leaves. He has a good eye for noticing seemingly hidden creatures.

This bug (a beetle of some kind?) surprised me. I was taking a photo of the dark purple butterfly bush flower and it popped right over from the back side.

Here's a macro (super close up) shot of that same green dragonfly from above. It's amazing the creatures you can find in your own back yard.

Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Related posts:
Monarch butterfly: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/monarch-butterfly-on-pretty.html
Dragonfly and butterflies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/08/dragonfly-and-butterflies-on-flowers-at.html
Butterfly preserve critters: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/07/wildlife-at-glendening-preserves.html

Friday, June 12, 2015

Shasta Daisies, Coreopsis, Sweet Peas, Marigold and Echinacea Flowers

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden!" The heat and humidity are back but the flowers still look happy. This week brought our first shasta daisy blooms of the year.

And also our first red coreopsis blooms. When we bought these plants they were pure red flowers. But as time goes by little bits of two of the plants produce orange and red bicolor flowers. I like them both but think it's interesting that they come from the same plant.

Our sweet peas have started blooming too. I waited too late to train them up a trellis so they're sprawling all over the place.

I love the French marigolds, possibly even more so because I started them from seed. It's exciting to see the first blooms in these easy to grow flowers.

The bees love the purple coneflowers (also known as echinacea). This flower is about the size of my palm so you can imagine how tiny the bee is.

It's fun to have so many flowers blooming in our Maryland garden. Thank you for visiting! May God bless you!

Which is your favorite flower from today's post? What flower(s) remind you of summer?

Related posts:
Funky flowers and freeloaders: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/flowers-freeloaders-and-funkiness-for.html
Day lilies, French marigolds and more: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/06/dahlias-day-lilies-daisies-and-more.html
Raindrops on pretty flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/10/raindrop-drenched-dahlia-chrysanthemum.html

Friday, October 24, 2014

Echinacea, Pansies, Rose Petals and a Dahlia

Happy floral Friday and welcome to "this week in my Maryland garden." The cooler autumn weather has killed a few of our plants but there are still spots of floral color to be found. The echinacea (purple coneflower) above is a volunteer from one of our original plants. It seems that the oldest plants bloom earliest but we're still getting new flowers from the youngest plants.

Thankfully, the pansies my husband bought earlier in the season survived the various heat waves we've had since planting. I love this blue one with white, violet and yellow accents.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this strawberries and cream rose. I thought the weeds and morning glory vines had killed the bush. I love the white edging on the petals.

The pansies not only survived but they're putting out fresh buds. Hopefully they'll continue blooming through next spring.

The dahlias are still blooming, although their flower production has slowed a bit.

I hope my flower photos made you smile. May God bless you!

Related posts:
Wheelbarrow pansies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/a-wheelbarrow-full-of-pansies-for.html
Pansy patch: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/09/sparkling-chrysanthemums-dahlias-zinnia.html
Spring pansies: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2014/03/daffodil-pansy-and-cyclamen-flower.html
Spring poem and pansy photo: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/03/happy-spring-poem-crocus-and-pansy.html