My newest blueberry additions.  They were 1/2 off at Home Depot so I couldn't pass them up.  Here are Bluecrop and Jersey.

 My Golden Delicious had a bad case of rosy apple aphids.  Lady bugs to the rescue.  There is also another underneath a nearby leaf. I love these hungry beauties.

 My Dwarf Honeycrisp apple tree from Stark that I planted last Fall.  She's branching and leafing out nicely.

 Fat N' Sassy peppers are starting to bloom.  They are thriving in the crazy heat we've been having.

The "shell" garden.  Petunias, impatiens and nicotiana line the back edges.  Onions are the large patch in the front.  Freshly planted geraniums (a gift from my mother-in-law) are near the birdbath and front center.  One Cherokee Green and two Celebrity tomatoes are staked behind the birdbath.  Scarlet Nantes carrots and 3 Salad Bush cucumbers are to the right of the birdbath.  I may hate this heat and humidity, but the garden is thriving so far.

Over the season I complained about this horribly ugly aster. How I need to move it because it's so tall, turns completely brown, and never looks good. Well, once the drought and heat waves finally passed, and the rains kept coming, she put on a ton of new growth. Quite quickly. She's never looked so good. And the best part...I never thought I'd see this. A bit of sunshine on a rainy day.If it's not aphids, it's the milkweed bugs...
The tomatoes are starting to decline. Spots. Dying leaves. Cracking fruit from all the rain. Starting to look pretty sad. A sure sign that the season is coming to an end.
Just outside of the above picture, to the right, is my Stupice tomato. It has easily produced the most tomatoes this summer, and is by far the worst off. Time to get pulled.
The Pink Delight butterfly bush and Fireworks goldenrod are blooming like crazy in all this rain, but it has left them bent over.
The Oklahoma red zinnia are really laying low, but the Caroline raspberries are loving the huge amounts of rain we have been getting over the last few weeks.

Ewws and Ahhs

First the ewws. EWW!! Aphid infestation on my Asclepias incarnata. Gross. Funny though. The plant right next to it appears aphid-free. Now the ahhs. AHH! I love this time of the year. That monarchs are leaving their eggs on the milkweed. The Black Swallowtails are leaving theirs on the carrots, parsley, and fennel. My daughter and I found these just a while ago.
Below: Monarch Cat.
Black Swallowtail Cat.Two monarch cats and an egg (near the tip of the leaf) that I brought in to raise. So much fun. These were on the Common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) that I started from seed this past winter.Two black swallowtails that I also brought in. There is also an egg on carrot foliage in there somewhere.Fun for the whole family!