June started us off nicely.  I filled our window boxes and other planters with bright colors that “flowered,” if you will, abundantly.

The mound beside the fish pond had gorgeous Irises and Marigolds, beautifully complementing blue with light orange.

We had some nice fancy Irises in the front yard, as well.  Interestingly, we did not have as many blooms as usual.  Perhaps the May frost nipped a few?

The sea-rose bushes in the back yard climbing up the slope had tons of gorgeous pink blossoms.  Here’s a shy little bee hiding among the petals.

July was fun for beasts, birds, and flower.  One morning when I went to rinse out the cat-food cans before putting them in the recyclables, I found this fellow chilling in a bucket that had filled with water.  For a few days, this was his private pool, with the high grass surrounding making up his stomping, rather, hopping grounds.  Yang was careful not to mow around where the frog hung out.

Yang put up a new bird feeder that is sheltered by a globe cage.  The little birds loved it!  Here you can see the Goldfinches mobbing the feeder.  I think that sparrow must have worn a yellow feather to sneak in.  Of course if you’re a larger bird and a Redbellied Woodpecker, you can still grab a snack.  If you click on the photo and look carefully, you can see our friend Red using his looong woodpecker’s tongue to grab some food.

A Rosebreasted Grosbeak was just able to sneak in there, himself – though he and the Orioles faded away unusually early, in later July.

The butterfly bush near the house attracted quite a crew.  Here, you can see one of the several Tiger Swallow Tails who daily dined on the shrub.  We also got some hummingbirds, Wolf Moths, and Bees dropping by for a nectar treat.

Usually, our rose from China only gives us one bloom, but this year it gave us two at the same time.  Neat, huh?

August brought us continued Goldfinch mobbing, and the flowers began to fade a bit.  We had lots of Morning Glories, which I forgot to photograph!  This year, we had orchid, magenta, purple, pink, blue, blue/white, and the white moon flowers.

I did remember to photograph the Ghost Pipes that sprang up!  I remembered we had them once before during a rainy summer years back. Consequently, I predicted we might see more this year.  Boy, was I right!  I’ve never had so many!

So, on to Autumn!