Foliage and Finishing

I wanted to show off some of my favourite foliage from my garden, so I dashed out, braving the mosquitoes (lots of lovely rain this year, plus a few good hot days have given us swarms, but at least they only started to get bad this week) to get a few photos.  I definitely need to do some major weeding and yardwork next week, but I'm not sure if I'm willing to face those mosquito swarms to do it. 



I can hardly believe that I ever thought Hostas were dull.  This was before I had a garden, anyway, so now that I have both a garden and Hostas, I can say that they're splendid.  Here are two of the Hostas that came with my house, but I have no idea what sort they are; I call them the big lime-green one and the bluish one.

They're a bit crisped around the edges, but that's probably because they were planted where they can enjoy full afternoon and evening sun.  I may move them off to a slightly shadier spot someday, but the big lime green one is Really big, so I'm in no hurry for that.  Besides, they seem mostly happy. 

I have quite a lot of Hens-and-Chicks around and about, and I love them.  You can put them nearly anywhere, and they happily multiply and roll around.  They're pretty funny-looking when they flower though.

Some of my favourite drought-tolerant (I try and stick with drought-tolerant throughout the garden) perennials with fancy foliage are Stonecrop.  Stonecrop wants so very little care, and it's great for filling in corners, especially with the low-growing sorts.  I'd like to get a few more types to round out the collection once I have another bed going.  I'll have to take pictures again when those that are budding are in full bloom.

sedum cauticola 'Lidakense'

Spiffy Sedum a friend gave me that has pink flowers

sedum album 'murale'

Sedum 'Autumn Joy'

sedum 'voodoo' that I grew from seed

Another good reason for garden photos is that I haven't finished a lot of other projects lately (aside from the quick crocheted gloves anyway).  However, in case anyone thought that I haven't been knitting lately; it's not even remotely true.  I've been madly knitting away at the Farmer's Market Cardigan, and it's blocking now.  I'm looking forward to knitting the collar and to wearing it once it's all sewn together (a few evenings have been chilly enough here and there, but certainly not the last few).  It could be awhile yet, but it feels pretty close now that the other parts are done and drying after a nice bath, so I'm quite excited about it all the same.  Oh, and those are pockets hanging down off the front of the cardigan; they just look rather odd while they're waiting to be sewn in place.

Maybe I should get back to ripping and re-sewing that edging on the window-blind while I'm waiting for the wool to dry, but I'm sure if I talk to the kids they can come up with something more fun for us to do (indoors, away from mosquitos, and probably not the dishes either).