The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

     This has been an odd year in the garden with snow in May and very few days above average in temperature. These conditions seemed to cause some things to resist growing and others to grow with huge gains from previous years.
    First let's look at the good.

Daylily 'Blackberry Candy'

'Potosi'

'Hyperion'

'El Desperado'

Hydrangea 'Invicibelle Spirit"

Hydrangea 'Little Lamb'

'William Baffin" Rose has bursts of blooms all summer

One of the magic lilies made an appearance this year

Lots of phlox! Various colors spring up wherever

Daylily 'Summer Wind'

Hydrangea 'Quickfire' the hydrangeas seem to love my yard

Mini hostas, 'Fusion' impatiens, Hellebores

Happy coneflowers!

    Now for the not so good or the bad.

My beloved magnolias 'Jane' and 'Ann' not doing well at all after looking normal and great in early spring. Not sure what happened here. Star magnolia was and is fine.

This planter has not grown hardly at all since planting, even with new liner and fresh potting soil.

Sad squash in back and cucumbers with some flowers but no produce.

Pepper failure. Does anyone else have a veggie garden that is not growing this summer? Not enough heat for these I guess.

A pool hardly used because of the below average temps.

    And the ugly. Last week we received some hail, not huge in size but still enough to do a lot of damage. I was not home to see it and upon first look the next day it didn't look like much happened except the pool was full of sticks and leaves. Upon closer inspection most large leaved plants like the hostas and hydrangeas had holes and tears. Now leaves are starting to yellow and brown so the damage is more obvious.

the beans not looking so good either

These 'Cherokee Sunset' Rudbeckia beaten by storm also.

    One thing about gardening is that during a difficult growing season, there's always the hope that the next year will be better and maybe an opportunity to try new and improved varieties. I can't believe school is upon us again and the carefree days of summer will soon be passed. Hope everyone is enjoying the time spent in the garden on this August Bloom Day. Thanks to Carol for hosting.