more flowers

I took a few more photos of the back garden.  Lots of stuff blooming out there now.  I have let one area kinda go natural.  Whatever comes up is allowed to stay for at least a year, until I decide if I want it or not.  I am pulling up the goldenrod (the wild variety) because it just grows tall and skinny and looks ugly.  Not enough sun for it, I think.  The plant taking over this year is bee balm (bergamont).  I have both purple and red, but only the red is blooming so far this summer.  It's a very aggressive plant.  I need to pull more of it up.  Wonder if I can find any sucker (oops, I mean gardener) who would like some?  It's gorgeous, but oh my, there is so much of it this year!

In the shade garden, under the deck, the astilbe is blooming very nicely.  It's not showy, but is a nice plant.  Not many plants will bloom in deep shade.  I pretty much depend upon ferns and hostas to fill that space.
In the summer's heat, under the deck stays nice and cool.  My A/C is very quiet and I don't run it much, but unfortunately, I can hear my neighbors' units when I'm sitting out there.  Most people around here seem to run their A/C all day and night in summer.  I open the windows when it's cool outside, like today, and use fans in the house to supplement the A/C.  My electric bill is a lot less as a result.