Not much new is blooming, but the Black Eyed Susans are absolutely gorgeous, and there are new sunflowers every time I look.

I planted Nasturtiums by the fence along the side of the house. They weren’t doing much until I trimmed the Irises, then they took off.

I find the slow changes of the hydrangea blooms fascinating.

All of a sudden the Holly is covered in berries. Damn it! They’re supposed to be winter interest!

The Holly bushes are under the sugar maple and in shade most of the time. When I went to get a picture of the berries, the flash kicked on several times because of the deep shade. I forced the flash off and took a couple more pictures, but was surprised to find that the color was much better with the flash. Without the flash, the Holly sort of faded into the background. There has to be a way to replicate that without using the flash.

Some hot bee on Sunflower action. The bee hung around for awhile, but it was so windy I was only able to get a few half-decent pictures.

Sunlight on the painted fern. The problem I have is that the ferns are against the house, which is an odd shade of blue, so I have to shoot at a weird angle and do lots of cropping to keep the house out of the picture. Otherwise you notice the color of the house and not the plants.

Of course when we re-side the house I want a similar color because “look for the really blue house on the corner” makes finding my place a lot easier.

I once planted 4 O’Clocks behind the house, which means I’ve had 4 O’Clocks ever since. Difficulty is keeping them away from the air conditioner.

Black Eyed Susans are still going strong. They looked particularly lovely in the evening sunlight.