Rabbits!

I have a love/hate relationship with rabbits this year. We had not seen rabbits in our yard until last year, when we would get one or two who visited occasionally and just seemed to eat a little grass. I think the coyotes and hawks had kept them under control in past years. This year, we are getting more full grown rabbits and rabbit babies. They have been feasting on my perennials and annuals, and it looks like some will not recover. They especially like tender new growth.

This photo shows how they have eaten the lower sections of scarlet runner beans. They are recovering and giving us more beans than we can eat. Other plants aren't doing as well.

At this point, my strategy is to plant more plants, so there are enough for the rabbits to eat and for me to enjoy. I will also pay attention to plants they don't favor, and I may increase these. For example, they don't seem to eat salvias and agastache. I had thought they were leaving the hardy fuchsias alone, but it appears they've chewed out a section of a newly planted one.

I may need to try fencing some areas next year, to protect newly emerging plants.

An unusual bumblebee

I first saw this bee two years ago, and it is now a common site in my garden, especially when the Rose of Sharon bloom. It is a bit larger than the black/white and yellow/black bumblebees that are my most common bees. I like the rusty color.

 In the photo below, "Rusty" is settled in, and a black/yellow bee comes for pollen, then quickly leaves.

 They get covered with pollen!

Silene regia 'Prairie Fire' - Prairie Fire Catchfly

When blooming, the hummingbirds favor this plant above all others, including the scarlet runner beans and fuchsias. Silene regia 'Prairie Fire' is a perennial that likes full sun and does not require much water. In the tropical area of my garden, it gets plenty of sun and water, so it grows 7 feet tall! It must be well- supported with tall stakes and ties. I placed a large obelisk over it, then added additional ties as needed. Visitors to my garden always want to know about this plant, which is the tall plant with orange-red flowers in the photos below.

A few photos of the late July garden

Last weekend, John helped me with weeding out the watercress and horsetail from the stream. How nice to have help with this big job, so it only took about two hours. I'd weeded the upper half of the stream the day before - hoeing areas with small weeds and hand-pulling the larger weeds. And John weed-whacked some of the ivy trailing from the neighbor's side of the stream. Here are some photos of the garden.