In the Trees

The beach vacation is over and while I was gone, look what bloomed in the garden:

Hydrangea Annabelle “Invincibelle Spirit”

Three blooms, the largest four inches in diameter. The plant is now 20 inches tall and rather spindly, but it has blooms and they’re really quite lovely. This Fall, or maybe even next Spring, I’ll move Annabelle from the pampered environment of the nursery bed to her forever home, still to be determined.

Clethra acuminata (Cinnamon Clethra)

Blink and you’ll miss the blooms of this 6 year old multi-stemmed tree-like shrub. The white flower spikes appear rather suddenly, bloom all together, and are spent in less than a week. I’m glad I was able to snap a photo early Saturday morning because now the flower spikes are almost all brown. Onwards to the golden leaf display in October/November.

In the absence of the Garden Dog and the Squirrel Chaser who also went on vacation with us, a mole moved in and left a few calling cards.

Fortunately, the soil mounds are only in the pine needle/wood chip pathways and can quite easily be cleaned up. The lawn/moss patch has been spared and there’s no sign of activity in any of the flower beds. I’d like to think the Garden Dog is “earning his keep” by discouraging moles but I’m not totally convinced (he logs too much time inside on the leather chair to be much of a discouragement).

The vacation was relaxing, rejuvenating, and fun. Plenty of colorful (sunny!) seaside gardens to admire and cute, locally made handicrafts to peruse in the stores. Our hummingbird feeder “needed” replacing and as luck would have it, I found the perfect replacement.

I hope the hummingbirds like it!