The July Garden in Bloom

Matilija Poppy
This is by far my favorite flower in the garden.  It has a soft sweet fragrance in addition to it's happy clownish look-at-me flowers.  Also known as the fried egg flower.

It is unabashedly intrusive in my Pacific Northwest garden . . . and I give it full reign to do whatever it wants.  I've had to tie up some of the branches which had flopped onto the grass.  It has completely surrounded the Graham Thomas rose Evelyn . . . which I will rescue this fall.

Very Blue Lacecap Hydrangea

Blue is an elusive flower color in the garden but if  you can grow hydrangea's you have blue!  The soil in this area is just right to maintain blue without amending the PH.

Cecile Brunner rose . . . not the climbing variety.  This is planted in front of the playhouse and doesn't get as much sun as she should, but seems to bloom just fine.  I love the perfectly formed itty bitty buds.

There isn't much room in the yard for a vegetable garden that gets enough sun except this little strip along the house.  Making the most of the little spot, there are 4 heirloom tomato plants which are doing splendidly, and 3 poles of Blue Lake beans.  The tomatoes are indeterminate so when everything is in full fruit, it's quite a jumble.  I've never planted winter crops, but this year I'm going to plant a winter crop of collard greens in this area once the tomatoes and beans are done.

A little malformed yet very delicious strawberry.  Yes, that's an antique toilet that it's planted it.  There are 3 antique toilets in the garden with strawberries.  They are in a too shady part of the yard for strawberries, but a few malformed berries are better than no berries at all.

Cuban Oregano (plectranthus amboninicus).  This is new to the garden this year and is in a container as it is tender and I want to bring it inside for the winter.  Isn't it cheerful!  It is mulched with cocoa hulls.  The little start was from a piece that broke off and rooted readily without any more effort than sticking it in the soil.