Raven Ridge Gardens: July 2007

Monday, July 30, 2007

Summer In My Garden #10 - Nasturtium

Edible, adorable, bright flashes of orange and red punctuate deep, leafy green as nasturtiums lift their sweetly sun-seeking heads from the depths of my flower beds.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

Summer In My Garden #9 - Thalictrum

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Thalictrum: Tiny blossoms make an airy pattern at the top of tall stems. The lacy leaves stay well below the blooms, seeming to allow us an unimpeded, albeit fleeting, view.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Summer In My Garden #8 - Hollyhocks

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Friday, July 27, 2007

Summer In My Garden #7 - Food Chain

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Davey wins again.

Copyright © 2006-2007, Raven Ridge Gardens. All rights reserved

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Summer In My Garden #6 - Rose Pink Japanese Anemone

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With apologies to my dear inlander family and friends: While the rest of California, with the possible exception of San Francisco, is being blasted by hot summer weather, we heathens here on the 'North Coast' awoke this morning (and yesterday morning, and the morning before) to drippy, drippy fog and drizzle.

Everything is wet, the foggy sky is hugging the ground, and the banana slugs are having a heyday. So if it's too hot where you live, come on over to the redwoods, beaches and ocean. We'd like the tourist dollars and you can get out of the heat for a while.

To read more about this region of California and its sometimes checkered past, click here and here.

Oh! I almost forgot the flower photos. Mid-summer is when my Japanese Anemones begin to bloom. Also called Windflowers, they sway gaily in the slightest breeze atop 3-foot stems.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Summer In My Garden #5 - Buddleia

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Buddleia, also known as butterfly bush, loves our coastal Mediterranean climate and will readily sow itself all over the place unless kept in check. I'm always enchanted when I encounter one blooming along side a country road. In my garden, Buddleias attract the Swallowtail butterfly - another enchanting creature.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Summer In My Garden # 4 - Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

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Crocosmia 'Lucifer' grows to a height of about 4 feet and is not as invasive as its cousin, Crocosmia 'Ember Glow', which grows prolifically here on the north coast.

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Summer In My Garden #3 - Lavender Penstemon

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Friday, July 20, 2007

Summer In My Garden #2 - Trumpet Lily

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Perched atop a 5-foot stem, these seductively scented Trumpet Lilies are blooming right on schedule as one approaches our house. Photos taken early evening.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Summer In My Garden #1

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Friday, July 13, 2007

Blueberries In July

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As posted and promised, the blueberries are ripening right on cue.

These will never make it to my cooking blog. Touted as one of the World's Healthiest Foods, they're plucked from their bushes, my eager fingers quivering with delight, and go straight into my mouth. Aaaah, feel those antioxidants at work. With 5 bushes of varying types, we'll be eating blueberries through September.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Fledglings

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Barn Swallows and Violet-Greens arrive in early spring and spend summers here building nests and raising young. Two days after this photo was taken, these Barn Swallow youngsters fledged. The cats were made to stay inside until I knew the birds would be safely flitting about the sky.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Red Poppy

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Of all the poppy seeds that I scatter around my yard each year, always from the seed heads of that year's crop, this is the only plant that came up this summer. Scattering the seeds as soon as the heads are dry, it's possible that our very rainy winter washed them away. Except this one. Maybe I'll wait until spring to scatter again.