Butterfly Bushes

We have two huge butterfly bushes. I cut them back in the winters but they just keep coming back!

They have been full of beautiful butterflies of various types all summer.

Gardening in the South

We are in full swing with yard and garden work! Here is Michael on his beloved lawnmower. You can see our garden in the back. We are about to pick our first bunch of strawberries! Today we went out to check them and each ate several. We built three more raised beds last week and put in one bed of sweet potatoes, one bed of tomatoes and one bed of cucumbers and squash. I hope we can build 3-6 more beds in the next couple of weeks In another part of the yard, we made a 10 x 40' area for winter squash, watermelons and cantaloupes. I started all of our plants from seed and we haven't lost very many after setting them out and they are growing fast! Michael likes the "Less mow, more hoe" idea (but I do the hoeing!)

On Saturday I noticed that our Rhododendrons were budded and about to open and was shocked today to see them all so pretty. This is another shrub that I had to have that reminds me so much of Oregon and growing up there with the beautiful Rhododendrons. Here they call them Mountain Laurels and they grow wild along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We just got some rain but I think this close up is spectacular! I have a red one that hasn't opened yet. I'm really not making a garden blog but that's what we've been doing a lot of lately!