Echinacea Galore!

Coneflowers, coneflowers, everywhere! Love it; they're one of my very favorite flowers. Take a look at some of the hundreds of coneflowers at Sunsplash Gardens.

 Also in my July/August garden are Stargazers. I love their beauty and fragrance.

 A sunflower volunteered underneath the birdfeeder.

 Heuchera 'Lipstick' in the rocky garden. I saw this heuchera on a blog and was inspired to add it to my garden. Love those bright red flowers!

 Would you believe the pansies are still blooming? We had a prolonged heat wave but they kept blooming. Now they are enjoying a week (thus far) of cooler temperatures.

 A bucket of beauty, after live-heading the hemerocallis

The pollinators are out in full force in my garden.

 I was quite delighted to find three Black Swallowtail caterpillars on the parsley.

A monarch caterpillar on a milkweed plant.

It's great to have butterfly larvae in my garden again. I love watching them grow and change. Their presence also validates the fact that I'm doing something right!

Linking to Home and Garden Thursday and Fertilizer Friday

Whites in the garden

Recently I told you the garden was a riot of color. However, I use white also. Especially in my beloved daylilies.

 'Bob White' above and in the photo directly below

 'Old Mount Vernon'

 'Sunday Gloves'

'White Temptation'

 This one, name unknown, looks whiter in the garden than in the photo.


Other whites in the garden:

 Phlox 'David'

 Hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 Larkspur

 'Becky' shasta daisy

Cosmos

Hope you enjoyed my whites! Have a great day!

Magnificent Mackinac Island!

Mackinac Island, Michigan, is a very unique place. You see, there are no motorized vehicles on the island. To get to Mackinac Island, you park your car and ride across Lake Huron on a ferry.

Mackinac Island is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas.

As of the 2000 census, the city had a year-round population of 523, but there are thousands more there during the summer.

 This is where we stayed. We loved our hotel.

 Street scape - and a lovely bouquet

The horses:

 Horses are used to deliver supplies, to take people on tour, as taxis...

The architecture:

 A stone church

 The world-famous Grand Hotel

Somewhere in Time was filmed on the island.

Lake Huron:

 The Arch

 The Marina

Mackinac Island is a magical place. We spent a lot of time biking and seeing the sites. Relaxing, yet physical. I highly recommend Mackinac Island.