Mid-Summer

Mid-summer, the height of summer in New England.  The flower gardens are at their peak now.  Our gardens are mostly reds and yellows with pops of purple and orange - the "hot" colors.  It is the complete opposite of the inside of our home which is white, neutrals and wood, with almost no color most of the time.  I especially like the inside to be all neutrals in the summer.  It just seems to make it feel cooler, plus it is an escape from the color overload outside.  

But oh do I love heading outside in the summer.  We spend almost all day outside on summer days.  We love being home with the dogs, whichever "grown" kids may be around, puttering in the gardens, drinking coffee in the rocking chairs on the deck, reading in the screen house, floating in the pool, watching the millions of birds.  It is my absolute favorite place to while away a summer day.

The dogs get their own pool.

In early summer I did a garden tour here on the blog, but everything has changed so much so I am sharing yard photos again.  Enjoy the ridiculous number of photos I decided to share.

This is the front of the house.  We use a lot of the same flowers, those that have proved to be resilient and dog-proof.  Daylily, Black-eyed Susan, Yarrow, Knock-out Roses, Red-cone Flowers, Salvia.  We also let Sunflowers grow wherever they come up.  

The stone wall is a repeat of the flowers in the front and also includes lots of Hostas, Phlox, and Coreopsis.  A favorite shady spot for the dogs is right under that bush in the middle.  You can see the dark hole they lie in beneath it.

The entrance to the mudroom.

Our favorite spot for our morning coffee.

This is another of the dog's favorite spots.  There are 2 "husky holes" under this Holly bush where they both nap in the shade.

The herb garden.  Only the basil seems to like it here.

Our raised vegetable beds.  This is the pumpkin patch.  Behind it is corn.

My attempt to camouflage the septic pipe.  You wouldn't even know it's there - right?

 The dry river that goes through the corner hill in front of our house.

The hill on the corner.

Heliopsis, Red Cone Flower, Amur Maple.

Classy.

Yeah, I guess we could have just gotten a new wheel for it.

False Sunflower (heleiopsis), Shasta Daisy, and Black-eyed Susan - 3 of my favorite perennials.

Last year we had a very bad drought and didn't get any apples.  This year, the trees are loaded.

Last year we planted raspberry and blackberry bushes.  They were just little tiny sticks.  The bushes are HUGE but so far, very little fruit.  I guess it takes a couple of years.

Our neighbor's Peach Tree which hangs way over into our yard, so we get to enjoy it too!

A Red Oak and a Red Maple, newly planted.  Purchased for 50% off at Home Depot.

Lots of rain means lots of rainbows.

We can't keep the pups out of the gardens, so we roll with it.

This one is a poser.