The First Week of June

Last week I took vacation time to garden. I dug, I pulled weeds, I fertilized plants and applied mulch and I'm still not caught up with gardening tasks. The roses were beautiful but hot weather this week made them fade. That was nothing compared to the damage that the deer have been causing. They've pruned off all the roses in the rose and iris bed and part of the roses in the other bed. I may have to try the "Liquid Fence" that folks have told me about, although it's supposed to smell like rotten eggs on application.

Yesterday my good friend and I went on the annual garden tour and we had a wonderful time. I'll be posting links to photos from the tour soon. Hope you've noticed the slideshow of my gardens in May. I'm adding to that album this week so stay tuned. Meanwhile, I hope these photos of my shade garden keep you cool!

Voodoo in the Garden

Do do that voodoo that you do so well. -Cole Porter lyric from "You Do Something To Me" in the 1929 musical Fifty Million Frenchmen

The Voodoo lilies (Dracunculus vulgaris) are blooming. They are also called "Stink" lilies because they attract carrion flies and trap them in their bulbous base. This link to Paghat's Garden gives some info and additional photos. They are very exotic and almost always bloom right around Memorial Day. I have four blooms open right now but can't get a good photo of all at once.