Critters in the garden

 As you know, I have a large garden in my backyard.

 The cottage garden has a lot of variety, yet I have more of one particular type of flower than any other.

 That one flower would be ECHINACEA - CONEFLOWERS.

I absolutely adore my coneflowers. Most of mine are from seed; I collected seed and planted it years ago, and it just keeps going on and on.

 We have had a lot of goldfinch activity on the coneflower seedheads recently.
I have heard that it is good to leave the coneflowers standing over the winter, both for winter interest and for the birds to eat. However, I don't see much bird activity on these over the winter; it's NOW that they are coming to my garden to partake.

A favorite photo I took in the garden last summer

 Also in the garden - the hunter
Unfortunately, I think the two hawks I've been seeing in my gardens with some regularity are here for the small birds.  :(

 We normally see red-tailed hawks here; this bird's tail is not red. I don't know if this is a juvenile or perhaps another kind of hawk.

 Also seen in the garden

It gives me a lot of joy to see the monarchs and the monarch caterpillars in my garden. I counted fourteen caterpillars on my butterfly weed recently. I have four full-sized butterfly weeds in my gardens, plus several tiny ones (it self-sows prolifically). I also have common milkweed and swamp milkweed. This year most of the cats are on the butterfly weed.

 Speaking of butterflies, here's an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on what I find to be a butterfly magnet: Verbena bonariensis.

 There aren't too many Black Swallowtails in the garden this year - I captured this image last year.

Another photo from last summer - photo I took at the Discovery Garden at the Iowa State Fairgrounds
Although I have seen quite a bit of monarch activity in the gardens this year, I haven't gotten many photos at all. It takes a lot of patience to capture butterflies with a camera. :)

After almost six years of blogging, I'm losing the joy in the process. This may or may not be my last post. I don't want to be one of those bloggers who doesn't say they are stopping blogging and leave people to wonder what happened to that person...If this is it, let it be said that I stopped with a post filled with beauty. Thanks for reading.

One of my favorite places

Vacations - who doesn't enjoy getting away for rest and relaxation and seeing new things?
We're vacationing in one of our favorite places in the whole world: Estes Park, Colorado.
It's beautiful, there's lots to do, and the cool mountain air is a refreshing break from 90 degree Iowa temps.

 At Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park

 This is where we're staying. It's our fourth time at these condos. They meet our needs perfectly.

 Fall River runs right in front of the property.

 Downtown Estes Park has lots of cute shops, and many pretty flowers.

 We hiked to Nymph Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP).

Another image of Nymph Lake

 Beautiful water lilies on Nymph Lake

 Picturesque Dream Lake

 We did a lot of hiking to get to these lakes. Along the trail, beauty abounds.

 Yesterday we traveled up Trail Ridge Road, toward the Continental Divide. As you can see, we were above the tree line. This area is called the alpine tundra.

 Taken from the visitor center at the alpine tundra

 Look at these tiny bluebells I spotted on the alpine tundra. My Virginia bluebells are much larger, and bloomed in April or May.

 A canyon of colored rock as we walked the trail to Alberta Falls

 Downstream a bit from the falls

 Beautiful Alberta Falls

 In town, we took a tour of the Stanley Hotel. "The Shining" was written here by Steven King. The movie was filmed elsewhere, though. Legend has it the Stanley is haunted. It appeared on an episode of "Ghost Hunters."

 Enjoying my vacation!

"The mountains are calling. I must go."  - John Muir

Exactly how I feel! Love it here!

More garden rooms

Garden rooms - distinct areas with the garden as a whole - fun and creative.  Most of us have them although not everyone thinks in terms of garden rooms, or names theirs. In a prior post, I shared images from our cottage garden, picket fence garden, courtyard garden, pond garden, daylily junction and hosta farm. Today I have a few more garden rooms to share with you.

Here is Lupin Corner. This is an image from this spring. The area now could just as well be called Larkspur Corner or Coneflower Corner, as those are what are blooming there in July. Love my lupins!

 The potager/kitchen garden/raised beds, and on the right, the herb garden

 Other edibles in the garden are blueberries. We have 4 bushes and so far have 40 cups of berries in the freezer. I've also baked a pie and a crumble and given some away. Many people don't think of growing blueberries in Iowa, but mine have done well. The secret: acid soil. I amend mine with sulfur or aluminum sulfate. Works for me!

 Here's the Rocky garden, so named because of the several large rocks strategically placed. :)
This is not a rock garden. A rock garden typically has alpine type plants.

Here is the Triangle. There are a few trees and shrubs, hostas, tulips etc. A nice area between the larger gardens as you walk toward the hosta farm.

I also have a rose garden in front, a hosta bed in front, and two side gardens on the sides of the house.

Hope you enjoyed seeing a little something at our house besides the cottage garden (my most-photographed).

A few of our garden Rooms

Garden rooms are distinct areas within the gardens as a whole. Here at Sunsplash Gardens, we have several garden rooms.

Sharing a few today:

COTTAGE GARDEN:

The cottage garden is my favorite area of the garden, well, usually it is...sometimes, due to profuse bloom in another area, I'll say a different garden room is my favorite. A cottage garden is informal with dense plantings. It looks lush and exuberant.

PICKET FENCE GARDEN:

DAYLILY JUNCTION:

This area is blooming prolifically now. I love it!

 'Inner Destiny'

 'Jungle Beauty'

 'Strawberry Candy'

 'Winter Treasure'

 'Blueberry Candy'

'Julie Fassett'

THE COURTYARD AND THE COURTYARD GARDEN:

Sophia in the courtyard garden

This garden is new after our garden re-do last fall. I've planted two climbing roses there and a 'Limelight' hydrangea, among other things. I'll have to show you more as it develops over time. 

POND GARDEN:

 Quickly becoming a favorite garden room; can you see why?

HOSTA FARM:

This large garden room traverses the width of the property. It's on the fencerow shared with the horse pasture.

We have about 1000 hostas in various gardens - by far the most reside in the hosta farm.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of our garden rooms. At another time, I'll show you additional garden rooms here at Sunsplash Gardens.