Mosquitoes are horrible. My DH answer - quit watering the flowers. Isn't he just so helpful?

It's about this time of year that my enthusiasm fades.............I am watering too and doing serious weeding out of the largest beds that always seem to get ahead of me. Also been pulling up dead plants, cutting down hollyhocks, trimming back some, etc.
Christie I leave the coneflowers for the finches but you could just try a few to see if they would come back.

I checked with Gaylord Moore about the June Bugs on the Oak tree and he thought it was something else girdling the limbs causing the sap to leak which draws the J.B.'s. He didn't think it would hurt the tree. I sprayed some with Sevin and there are hundreds of dead JB's on the ground now. I still have Japanese Beetles now and then on the roses.

I tried a new annual salvia this year that I really like better than Victoria or Blue Bedder. It is Strata, shorter and a more intense blue. I will be saving seeds and hope they come true.

I hope the big tomato growers do check in with a taste test result. I haven't been too pleased with my main crop variety this year.

About the only thing i've got blooming is purple cone flower,liatris,black eyed susans, petunias,begonias,geraniums and perannual hibiscus,and a small pink flowered wild flower i've got to look up.
I have black butterflies flocking to my cone flowers. Does anyone else?
Bought more big pots and soil and am going to transplant iris in pots now.
I'm watering too. I'm finding out pots need frequent watering. But i can handle that.
Tonight on the news. There was a woman in Van Buren that had a $200 palm in a tub in her front yard that was stolen. It was heavy and hard to move.I guess some peope will steal anything if they have to go after plants in yards.
Gld, was glad to get an update on your junebugs in the oak. I've wondered about it.
I've been wondering about ceresone too. Hope she and DH are ok.
Did you get the strata salvia locally or sent off for them?
We're having the peach festival this weekend. I bought 4 peaches and i will never admit to how much i paid for them. They were from Ruston LA.
Gold is probably cheaper.
vickie

I had a senior moment there on the salvia. It is Evolution and I got the seed from Jung Seed Co. I also got the Double Click cosmos. Love them both....will try to post a couple of pics later today (when the sun comes up).

Our orchards are now selling Ca. peaches....I didn't bother to call for prices....knew it would be scary.

Last day of the month and it's been a strange but good year. The veggie garden was the best ever..still picking tomatoes and trying to get them canned. Green beans were awesome as was the corn. The flower garden is doing great..had enough without too much rain. Been having to water all the roses in pots nearly daily but got a nice shower yesterday that gave me a break. The roses are finishing their third flush and I've been trying to get them all deadheaded. I can't remember how I got all this done before I retired last August!

We had a lot of rain in the area over the weekend but it skipped over our house. My yard is really starting to dry up. I've been watering quite a bit. I HOPE that doesn't encourage mosquitoes Proudgm. I think they would need water that stands for a few days to breed in and my puddles dry up pretty quickly. Spray your hubby with the hose if he says that again. lol

Oakleaf - I saw LOTS of Black Swallowtails last year and the year before but they've been very scarce this year for some reason. I have bronze fennel and rue planted for them for host plants but have only seen a couple caterpillars that I think got eaten before they could finish. : ( I also haven't seen very many Buckeye butterflies this year which are usually very common. I've seen more yellow Tiger Swallowtails this year though. Those are so pretty.

I was pulling weeds this week and found my Chinese Astilbe that I thought died the year before last. What a nice surprise. It's very small though and needs to be moved to another spot. I also found a little sprig of epimedium that I thought was toast after the late freeze. It sure took a long time to come up again.

Kaye - Hope you're enjoying your retirement. Some people don't get started on gardening until after they retire. You've got a nice head start.