This and That: A Blog

  Spintop Mango Blanketflower I bought two of these at the FFA sale last year.  I missed the sale this year, they had it earlier than usual and I didn't check their site until too late.  One lovely lettuce that snails didn't get.  Lots of Hood June-bearing strawberries.  Small but very sweet. I don't know where this foxglove came from, I've never planted any.  The photo on the right shows the hole nectar robbing bees left.  Bees to large to get to the nectar will chew holes.  Other bees are learning  that the holes make it easy to reach the nectar and using them, which skips pollination.  Some populations of foxglove and columbine have reduced numbers of seeds.  I love black cumin.  It's not a cumin at all, it's related to love-in-a-mist.  That's pretty easy to tell!   This is love-in-the-mist.  As fat as this bumblebee is, it has no trouble getting into the Dazzler penstemon blooms. 

November 2025's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day  The usual November suspects are blooming.  I thought with the weather being unseasonably warm there might be more,  but comparing to last year, no, the same bunch. Swam River Daisy, Wild Basil (not a basil), Borage California Poppies, Black-Eyed Susans  Abelia, Creeping Winter Savory, Prostrate Rosemary, Alyssum  Calendulas, Blanketflowers, Black-Eyed Susans  These are all in my backyard.  In the front are more blanketflowers, gaura, knautia, a few dianthus, and Autumn Tryst iris.  I have a head cold, and didn't want to go out front.  I went out back to supervise Mickey, so took these others yesterday.

  Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for September 2025.  Garlic Chives, Dazzler Penstemon, Black-eyed Susan   Persian Catmint  Autumn Crocus  Blanketflowers - the yellow is Spintop®     Mango Blanketflower Spintop® Orange Halo and Little Lemon Goldenrod  Sungold tomato, Swan River Daisy, Abelia Aster KICKIN® Carmine Red Happy Fall Gardening!  Linking to Cee's Fun Foto Challenge (CFFC) since the prompt this week is Photos of Your Hobby Part II .  Gardening is one of my hobbies.   Last week for Photos of Your Hobby Part I , I posted about my collecting hobby.