My Early July Garden 2019

These are pictures of my early July garden when the garden was mostly green.  I took these pictures before I left for Illinois for the birth of my grandson.  Although I was excited about the birth, I was kinda upset to leave my garden because I could tell by all the buds that the garden was about to explode in a riot of color and I didn't want to miss it.  I wait all year for flowers, the thought of missing it and have to wait another full year was depressing to me.  I was right, everything exploded while I was gone, but I still got to see it in bloom when I got back and it was jaw dropping.  I will share those pictures next week.  For now, here are the before-explosion blooms.

The bee balm is still blooming and redder than ever.  This is a very long blooming plant, which is nice, as most perennials bloom for such a short time.  I did get a question from one of my readers if I thought this plant was invasive for me.  I do not consider this an invasive plant in my garden, but I do know for a lot of gardeners it is.  My garden is mostly shade or part shade, so this plant doesn't run amok for me.  Plus, it's a very shallow rooted plant.  If it spreads too much, just a slight tug on the roots by hand pulls it up.

The Baby's Breath did very well this year.  I have some planted in front of the Bee Balm and along the hillside.  The only drawback is there wasn't much else in bloom to make arrangements with when the Baby's Breath was in bloom.

View of the Baby's Breath in front of the Bee Balm.

Both the Annabelle Hydrangeas and the Endless Summer Hydrangeas started to bloom before I left.  My Endless Summer Hydrangea blooms pink because of my soil.  My husband and I were awestruck by all the gorgeous Annabelle Hydrangeas we saw in Illinois.  They were in full bloom there as they are about a month ahead of us.

This is an old fashioned variety of clematis I have blooming in my garden.  It's still in full bloom right now and you will see more pictures of it next week!

Here is another view of the clematis.

I use to have a lot of this yellow primrose plant in my garden, but it's slowly dying out as it requires sun and is not getting much.  But beware, this is an invasive plant in sunny gardens for it spreads by runners.  I'm not a fan of plants that spread by runners or seed.

The Stella d'Oro dailies are magnificent this year.  In this photo they are in the foreground, with the Bee Balm and Baby's Breath in the distance.  All the green you see is mostly Black Eye'd Susans which are just starting to bud, so you can just imagine all the color I should have in a few weeks.

Front row view of the Stello d' Oro day lilies.  This is a great perennial to plant in front a porch or a walk way because it's so low growing and the foliage is attractive even when not in bloom.

A close up of one the Stella d' Oro Daylilies.



This pink Astilbe plant was breath-taking this year, probably because we've had a very cool, wet summer and it is a shade plant.

This pretty little bell shaped flower is a Campanula.  It does reseed, but not prolifically and it's so cute I don't mind!

This is the white version of the same Bellflower plant.



Another re seeder from the Campanula family is this Clustered Bellflower.  It looks so pretty in my shade garden.

I planted orange marigolds around the Bellflowers.  I just love the color contrast.



A far away shot of the Clustered Bellflower seen in the shade garden.  All those tall Asiatic Lillie's you see with the buds on them have now opened since this picture was taken and this garden is gorgeous! I can't wait to show you next week's pictures.

Looking up at the house with a salmon Asiatic lily, tall phlox, and pink Endless Summer hydrangea in the foreground.

A close up of the salmon Asiatic lily.

I love to use this sedum as an edger.  The yellow blooms are so pretty.

A deep rose red Spirea bush.

A yellow Asiatic lily.  One of the first Asiatic Lillie's to bloom.

This is an Iris picture I meant to show you last month, but I forgot.  I wanted to show it because it's such a unique and pretty Iris.  Unfortunately a storm knocked the blooms down before I could photograph it in the garden.  So I cut the stems and brought them in the house.  I just love the color of this Iris.

This is a lynchis plant.  I love the fuchsia color of it's bloom and it's silver foliage, but I hate how it reseeds everywhere.  It also gets knocked down by wind storms every single year.  I managed to capture this photo of one before rain and wind smashed it to the ground.

Spirea "Little Princess".

I hope you enjoyed my little garden tour of my early July garden.  Come back next week if you want to see a riot of color!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

An Embroidered Detail Tassel Knit Top From Stitch Fix

Now that our precious new grand baby finally made his way into this world, I can finally return to a normal blogging schedule.  If you missed the baby pictures, you can see them on THIS POST.  I will also be doing a special post on Atticus birth story as well as a new "Grandma and Me" post soon.  For now, I'm returning to my review of my June Stitch Fix box.  I had to cancel my July box because it would have arrived while I was away from home.  That was a bummer.

This top is the third piece I'm reviewing from my June box.  You can see the other two items previously reviewed HERE and HERE.

The top is by Daniel Rainn and is called "Micaela Embroidery Detail Tassel Knit Top".  I really liked the cut and fit of this top.  It was form fitting in the bust, yet flowed nicely over the tummy area.  It had so many pretty details like the pleats, the embroidery, and the tassel's.  I also liked the color;  I don't have much of this color at all in my closet.

The back was almost as pretty as the front as the embroidery was on the back as well.  Also, notice the tapered waist line.  Women over fifty, like myself, tend to get thicker waists.   The tendency then is to wear boxier tops to cover up the thick waist, which just makes us look shapeless.  What is nice about this top is how the top tapers in at the smallest part of the waist, then the fabric is loose and flowing covering up the parts us over-fifty women want covered.  No boxy, shapeless look here!

Because the top is a bohemian style, I carried that boho look from head to toe throughout my outfit.  I wore embroidered, pom-pom hem capris, brown sandals, and I carried a saddlebag (all old).

The top has a very nice length;  not too short, not too long.  About the only thing I didn't like about this top was that it was very heavy.  I didn't think I would get much use out of it in the summer because I'd be too warm.  However, I thought it would be great in the spring or fall when the weather was cooler and that it would look fabulous with a jean jacket!  The color is perfect for early fall!

This is one of my favorite bracelets.  I've had it forever.  I love all the colorful stones.

As always, I'll let you know if I kept this top or sent it back when I do my Stitch Fix Review post, you will also get the results of the Instagram Poll in that post.

If you've never tried Stitch Fix before, use my Referral Code to receive $25.00 off your first box!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Baby Atticus FINALLY Arrived

Hello, hello, hello!  I just wanted to pop in really quick and let everyone know that Baby Atticus FINALLY arrived.  He was a week overdue so he weighs a whopping 9lbs 3 oz.  He is such a beautiful baby,  he looks very much like my daughter.  I do plan on doing a lengthy post of Atticus Birth Story from a Grandmother's perspective and also a "Grandma & Me" post, but I just arrived home late last night and I am feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done, so it'll be a few days.  In the mean time, here are a few snapshots of our beautiful new grand baby!

Have A Great Day!  Amy