A week of garden surprises

The hot days of summer are here.  I spent the morning and part of the afternoon weeding, potting, planting, and transplanting.  In the hottest part of the day I went to the garden center and bought a cart full of plants 50% off (all in good shape, just not blooming).  

So much has happened in the garden in the last week, including several surprises that reminded me of what I love about gardening, even when it's 94 degrees.

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I'd not even noticed that the calla lilies I planted last fall (from a mixed container of flowers that I received as a gift) had come up.  What a surprise - I had been afraid that it was too cold for them to last the winter.  My daughter carried calla lilies just like these in her wedding bouquet.  She and her husband celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary this week, and that added to my joy at seeing this bloom

Another surprise - but not so pretty - was the life I saw on the swamp milkweek I planted in April.  When I bought it at the Master Gardeners' plant sale, it only had two little leaves on it.  They soon dropped off and I was afraid the plant had not survived.  But I continued to water it since it's stem was flexible, and this week I saw green! 

The Becky Towe Garden Phlox is in full bloom.  It's proven to be carefree and an excellent bloomer, standing tall next to the fence. (I do give it a little support.)

I had given up on the  caladiums that I had planted in April until I saw one poking out of the ground last week.  Then I saw the other three begin to emerge.  This was my first try at planting the tubers instead of plants, so I was quick to assume I'd done something wrong when they were slow to emerge.  Caladium and Coleus add beautiful color to the shade garden.

Another first for me - zinnias from seed.  These really took off when I planted them and I should have blooms soon.

Within a day or two, the luna hibiscus will be in full bloom.  It's loaded with buds.  The butterfly bush is blooming and I'm hoping the butterflies will soon be visiting it regularly.  So much to look forward to!