While I haven’t won the war on the Japanese beetle… I am winning many small skirmishes. I try to get out there every day – ideally twice a day, morning and evening – picking beetles of my plants.

As a result, I am seeing a reduction. Where they normally demolish the raspberries and willows, I’m seeing fewer and fewer there. They are still being very hard on the roses, and the weeping pussywillow out front, but even there I feel like I’m seeing their numbers lower. The stupid, mind melting heat is making it hard to get out there though – but I’m doing my best.

I’ve managed to mostly keep them off the Hollyhocks and have been enjoying these beautiful blooms. The double blooms also seem to be a little harder for the beetles to as opposed to the single ones, which they could destroy in just a couple hours.

Most of the roses are pretty munched right now, but Chicago Peace managed to bloom. The heat is pretty hard on the roses too, so we wont’ really see them shine again until September.

I think I’m once again winning the lily beetle battle too. I pick them off and put them in the bucket right alongside the Japanese Beetles. These two are the most recent bloomers.

These two are both Stargazers. Most people are familiar with the Pink Stargazer, but don’t realize there’s a yellow one too. They are the most robust, and resistant to the lily beetle in my collection.

Happily, there are no pests that really seem to bother the daylilies. These three are Night Embers, Catherine Woodbury and Crimson Pirate.

On the left we have Frans Hals, middle is Children’s Festival, and right is Bonanza

But these two…

while pretty… are a bit of a disappointment. They were part of that “Purple and White” daylily mix I bought. Now, I’ve banged on before about how purple isn’t always purple in the horticultural world.. but this is how the grower advertised them…

Certainly more purple than what I got. And not even the same petal type – these are more “spider” like.

Onto better things…

My Native purple bee balm (which is ACTUALLY purple) is blooming! Normally, it is subject to powdery mildew. But despite the humidity, it’s been a pretty dry summer so far, so the leaves are green and happy.

My Grandma always called these Red Hot Pokers. I’ve since learned they are called Kniphofia, and they come in a range of colours. At the townhouse, I had one called Traffic light, that blended from yellow on the bottom to red on the top. They didn’t make the move, and I planted a mixed bag when we moved here. But I only got one colour – this cheery orange.

The first sunflower has bloomed

I honestly can’t tell you if this is a volunteer or one of the ones I started from seed. It’s over on the back fence, so my guess it that it’s a volunteer. They did much better than most of the ones I started. I am debating on even starting any next year, and just redistributing the volunteers as they pop up!

Over in the catio, the Culver’s Root is in full bloom. It’s hard to get a a picture of just how magnificent they are. They reach the top of the catio fence which is almost 9 feet. And they branch out all over the place. They’ve gotten quite bushy so I might try to split them up in the fall. I think they’d look great along the fence. They are a native plant too (though this is a hybrid cultivar).

The whole catio is looking pretty darn amazing! Though I have to get out, stake some things up, and do some weeding. (Don’t I always?)

I’m trying to spend as much time as I can in the garden, but the heat (and now wildfire smoke) is making it hard. But I have to at least make sure this one gets some time on the garden swing with me each day.

I got myself some new pajamas the other day. They came in the mail, and I took them out of the bag, took the tag off, and laid them on the bed, to be put on later that night

Two minutes later, I came back to find them claimed.

I mean… I guess they do kind of have his name on them.

I FINALLY finished the broken seed stitch sock this week.

It should not have taken so long to finish such a small sock – even with the seed stitch and changing of colours. In truth, that doesn’t slow it down much at all because you get into a good rhythm with it.

No – it’s because the reality is – I just haven’t had time to pick it up and work on it. I normally knit in the evenings after dinner, but between work, garden obligations and just general tasks that have piled up, there just hasn’t been a chance to actually sit and knit.

I have an event this weekend (more on that later) and after that, I hope life calms down a little bit. I still have to knit the second sock!

I mentioned early this week that the Monarchs are once again regular visitors to the yard. So, it shouldn’t have totally surprised me to find this on my bed last week….

Now, regular readers will know that it’s not unusual for Lemmy to catch monarchs in the catio. He usually get’s five or six every summer. But bringing them in the house. That’s new.

And then it happened again a few days later. Once again in the bedroom, but this time on the floor. I tried to have a chat with the young offender

But he insists he’s been framed!

Another busy weekend meant there was only a little time for stitching.

But I did manage to finish up her underdress. Progress is progress, but I’m really hoping things start to slow down after this weekend.

It’s the time of year where I try to take a little time each day to wander around the yard and check out who’s visiting my plants.

There’s the regulars

Monarchs – which aren’t here on mass yet, but I see one every other day at least.

Cabbage White Butterflies – which haven’t been as abundant this year as they normally are. It’s probably one of the reasons my cabbages are looking so good.

Comma – so named for the little white mark on it’s wing.

Common Skipper. We get lots of skippers in the garden, this one is probably the biggest.

And of course, the honey bees. They were much more prolific in the spring, but there are still lots of them buzzing about.

There are baby Praying Mantis absolutely EVERYWHERE! If you look closely, there are two in that bottom pic

There are so many different types of dragonflys! I didn’t get around to putting a pond in this year, but that hasn’t stopped these guys from visiting.

I especially love this pic of the dragonfly eyes peeping out either side of the thistle leaf!

Orchard Weavers are regular residents, and this one looks like a little jewel hovering in mid air. These guys like to build their webs suspended between the coneflowers and susans.

Now onto the new friends…

I caught sight of this guy from inside the house. He’s a Grapevine Beetle and he was just chilling on a sunflower leaf by the front steps. It’s North America’s largest scarab beetle. That’s my thumb beside it, so it gives you an idea of the size.

Speaking of grapes… this little goth looking moth is a Grapevine Skeletonizer Month. Apparently their caterpillars are quite destructive, as the name implies. I don’t have any grapes, but there are lots of wild grapes out in the country side around us.

We often find moths chilling on our kitchen door in the morning. This one is a Tulip Tree Beauty.

And this little guy is a Checkered Skipper. I’m not 100% he’s a completely new visitor… but he’s not a common sight, that’s for sure.

This neat fellow is a Goldenrod solidier beetle. The Goldenrod isn’t blooming yet, so I guess the false sunflowers are a good standin.

We have lots of different wasps, but there are dozens of these great golden digger wasps. They look scary but they are pretty gentle as wasps go.

And speaking of gentle.. how about a bumblebee fly? That’s right – it’s a fly, not a bee! No stinger, all fuzz!

Any new visitors to your garden?

Things are going well in the veg beds!

I’ve been enjoying juicy, sweet peas each day as I make my rounds in the garden.

After that, I get to munch on some raspberries

The beans are a little further behind but they are coming!

I was surprised to see cucamelons already! This is only the third year I’ve grown them, but this is the earliest I’ve been able to harvest.

I think it might be a bumper year for peppers. Each plant already has two or three!

And last….

Aren’t my cabbages just so beautiful? Part of me wants to start planting some out in the flower beds!

Here we are, near mid-July. It’s hotter than Hades…. but the day lilies are thriving.

Long time readers will know I have many varieties (some not yet blooming) and I usually add more every year. In fact, this year, I’ve added five. It was a “purple” mix, so I’m not quite sure what I’ll get. I started them in pots. As soon as they bloom, and I figure out what colour mix they are, I’ll find permanent homes for them.

The “true lilies” aren’t doin quite as well.

I managed to stay on top of the Asian Lily Beetle early in the season, but as things got busy, my efforts fell off. They’ve come back with a vengence and have eaten quite a few buds. Even the ones that managed to bloom have a few holes in them.

Like the day lilies, I’ve started several new ones in pots. Six in fact. So far only one has bloomed.

It’s called Lady Alice. It’s a Turks Cap Lily (petals curl backwards). It only got one bloom, and sadly it was half eaten. But it’s still quite pretty.

There are still more lilies to come, depsite the beetles efforts.

My daisies are blooming and looking beautiful!

The other day, Araignee posted about some Susans she didn’t realize were Susans. There are many varieties out there and I have several in my garden.

But I still can’t get over the size of the blooms of the ones I have along the front walkway. They are easily as big as my hand.

I absolutely adore the multi-coloured ones I have!

One of the really stars of this summer is looking to be the coneflower.

They are all so robust and bright this year!

The Tickseed (AKA Coreopsis) are starting to shine too.

These are just two of the dozen or so varieties I have.

And I still can’t get over how amazing the annual poppies have done.

They are all just blooming their little hearts out!

The pansies in the front boxes are still thriving… and some little Johnny Jump Up have popped up in each box! No idea where tehy came from because they certainly weren’t there when I first planted them! I think it will be pansies in the front boxes from here on out – they’ve done so well!

The gardens are so amazing this year! I wish I could bring you all around for a personal, guided tour!

I am happy to report that Mom’s cat, Princess Winnifred….

Is still as beautiful and fluffy as ever.

And she still doesn’t like me.

Saturday we finally got some much needed rain, so I turned my attention to some indoor activities.

Mainly, finally doing some painting on all the outdoor garden ornaments I’ve acquired that need restoring.

I learned from my poor goose and swan beaks that my craft acrylics just won’t cut it in glare of the summer sun. I needed an exterior paint that would stand up to the elements. But I didn’t need full sized cans… not to mention how spendy that would be.

Then I had the brilliant idea to get sample-size paints! I got the three primary colours, a white, a black, and a brown, so I can mix pretty much any colour I want. Then I went back and got a nice ginger-cat orange. I have several projects I want to paint up like the boys, so I figured it would be easier than constantly mixing some up.

I spent the afternoon working on a multiple projects – going back and forth as parts dried. In the end, I only finished one.

A concrete Lemmy cat, sleeping on a cushion. And even thought it’s technically done, I’m still thinking of going back and adding a bit more to his stripes. What do you think?