Friday, June 25, 2010

Garden Update

After a long day at work I really enjoy working in my flower beds.  It truly is therapeutic.  Out front I have Speedwell starting to bloom ~~
I knew I needed to snap a picture of it soon because the bees just LOVE this stuff.  I can hardly weed once they start hanging out.  And speaking of bees look what greeted me in the side flower bed ~~


I know it sounds dumb, but does anyone know just exactly what kind of bee this is?  Here's another shot ~

And what's this hovering bee called??
I must have slept through that part of biology.

Here's a bit more from the side flower bed.  Lots of Lamb's Ears, Lavender (so wonderfully fragrant!!), and one lonely Coneflower so far.

And finally here are a few of the beautiful Hostas that my friend Eddie gave me ~~

OK, so that's it for the stuff in my yard that I can identify.  Here's where I need some help.  Does anyone recognize this stuff?  Weed?  Not?  Keep/Go?

Mystery Plant #1??
Close up of Mystery Plant #1


Mystery Plant #2 ???

If anyone can help I Kevin would be extremely grateful as he thinks I need to 'do something' with these plants.

Tomorrow I have plenty of errands to run so it's a good thing I worked in my flower beds tonight.  Plus, I think I heard we're expecting rain tomorrow. Yippee -- no watering needed from me!

9 comments:

Renee said...

I don't know about the hovering bee, but my guess is that the other one is a male carpenter bee.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Renee
xoxo

Suzanne said...

Whatever it is, it's GINORMOUS!

Hope you have a great weekend too, sister!

Eddie said...

I've consulted my Audubon Society field guide and narrowed down that first bee to either a mining bee or a bumble bee. I have no idea about that hovering thing. Mystery plant #1 could be canada goldenrod, but I'm not positive. If it is canada goldenrod, it may spread pretty aggressively. It will help to see it in bloom to identify it. Mstery plant #2 is definitely a type of violet - did it have yellow, white, or purple flowers?

harriet said...

Mystery plant #2 is definitely a wild violet which will take over your garden bed and lawn. It's really pretty in early spring with violet flowers, but then it spreads like mad. Really aggressive. I'd yank as much of it out as soon as I could, if I were you/Kevin.

harriet said...

Also, think Mystery Plant #1 is a weed. Probably needs to be yanked as well.

By the way, about Sam the Ram - mine had a couple different cable patterns. Another knitter on Ravelry had substituted patterns and I liked what she did. She very graciously sent me Excel charts she created. It is a really interesting and fun project.

Eddie said...

Like any plant, "wild" or not, violets will spread aggressively under the right conditions and when they do not have competition. I have groups of three different types of native-Michigan violets and they are all well-behaved. A weed is only a weed if you don't want it growing in your yard.

Suzanne said...

I think I'll be yanking both out. Kevin seems to think that I'm neglectful and this is the result. He's right, I'm too busy doing fun stuff. I'll remove them both ASAP.

Sigrun said...

Without seeing the flowers, I can't be sure, but I think #1 could be "fireweed"

Eddie said...

Removing them is only the first step. You'll need to plant something in their place or cover the area with mulch. Otherwise, you'll end up with something else that you may not want! I still say keep some of the violets!