Red Bellied Water Snake

Another not so welcome visitor to the garden this week is this water snake http://srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/nerery.htm
Here it is emerging from the downspout extension that helped to keep the pond filled.

 Red bellied water snakes come every year to the pond & eat the fish & frogs so we decided to do away with the pond. They are not venomous but what's the point of having a pond when the fish are eaten on a regular basis.

Two yards of hardwood mulch has filled about two thirds of the pond. I punctured the liner about a foot down the sides & we will let that settle my plan is to create a bog garden & hopefully still have frogs but all the immature tadpole / polywogs I am afraid were sacrificed.

It's A Birdfeeder!

We are having more of a problem with deer in the garden this year. I read In "Horticulture" magazine that a spray of diluted milk is recommended by the director of a West Virginia botanical garden. It has had some success. I don't know if this is because the deer have found other things to eat in the garden.

Our dog Sandy stood quite still & just looked at this deer while I took the photo. No help there!

Magnolia grandiflora

Even when summer heat reaches into the 90's the Southern Magnolia with it's stately shade and wonderful white flowers looks cool inviting. Our two have grown to form an archway in the side garden.

The sweet fragrance is an added bonus which draws you out to look more closely at of these waxy beauties.

 The many stages of the flowers as they progress towards those huge cones with red berries are fun to watch. Do not be tempted to limb up this tree just mow around it to blow the leathery leaves back under the low hanging branches to recycle nutrients & keep it tidy. I use these tough leaves as sunshades for newly planted seedlings, they come with their own stakes as the petioles are long, strong & stiff.

Psychedelic Colours in the Circle

At the end of May this mix of colors in the circle is slightly mind bending.
The native Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) with the European Catchfly (Silene ameria)
an annual with showstopper qualities this reseeds generously.

 Achillea 'Paprika' (red above) dead head for more bloom later if you can, a great Yarrow spreads easily. At left with the South American Verbena bonariensis. This is may be perennial & seeds around a lot much to the dismay of neat gardeners. A favorite in English gardens where I guess it is not such a successful reseeder.  Tall & airy & butterflies love it, as do I.

New Dawn Rose

New Dawn looking fabulous after rain.

 I was contemplating taking the roses down from this trellis over the front porch. People in their seventies have no business climbing on ladders to prune roses. However, this looks so good & the other one at the old veggie garden has died. Either I killed it digging it's roots from my compost bin or it got some of the many rose diseases, either way it's dead so maybe a reprieve for this one.
The Lady Banks Rose is going as it's flowers were all killed by frost & it's too big for this location. Maybe I'm learning to match my energy to my garden. Ha!

Clematis 'Betty Corning'

This is said to be a hybrid crispa/viticella Clematis. I cut it back to a couple of good buds 8-10 inches above the ground in late winter. For me it has been easy and requires no extra help other than clearing away encroaching plants from it's base. Though I am a bit worried about the Indigofera with it's huge root system that is surrounding it.

Betty Corning came from Albany, New York in the 1930's & she is one of my favorites.
The little bells sway in the breeze & keep going until the heat wears her out.
In the fall she generally has a little revival before frost.
I have had her for several years & even in drought times she has come back from shriveled & brown to green & flowering after a good rain.
Now that's my type of plant! (I do not water ornamentals after they are established)

Baptisia & Friends

Baptisia 'Purple Smoke' is just finishing blooming I had planted it under the cascading branches of Buddleia alternifolia amazingly they seem to have the same color blossoms. Each year I say I am going to prune/ train this Buddleia into a much nicer shape maybe this will be the year. It blooms on old wood so my excuse is I remember it too late & then the Carolina Aster, also on this pole, starts to green up & there goes another resolution down the drain or is that up in smoke?

Louisiana Iris 'Black Gamecock' above in the Rain Garden & the species Baptisia australis has seeded itself here too.