I got the rest of my perennials yesterday, and aside from the blooms being broken on the asters and the joe-pye looking a bit rough, they’re fine. Guess I know what I’m doing this weekend!

Broke off the asters–one in shipping, one in unpacking–but they’re going to be pretty if they bloom again!

Whatever milkweed this is (swamp?) decided it was going to bloom this year after all.

Tropical milkweed looking well so far!

This is the ‘Blue Fortune’ agastache that I planted a few weeks ago. The third got planted a couple of weeks ago, but it’s all doing well, and the two oldest ones are starting to bloom. Doesn’t smell minty or licorice-y, though. The ‘Tango’ does smell very minty, but it seems like a weaker plant. Dunno if that and the three varieties that I just got will make it through the winter or not. Anise hyssop has sturdy leaves and stems, and so does the ‘Blue Fortune’, and I’d bet the ‘Black Adder’ does, too, because those are both pretty close to the purple colour of the wild stuff, but it would take more work to get the orange, red and pink colours. They have paler, smaller, more delicate-looking leaves, and I’d be willing to be they aren’t as hardy. Anyway, we’ll see; I’ll cut them back to a few inches in the fall and mulch the ever-loving hell out of them. Especially ‘Tango’; Christ knows I went through enough just to get that stuff in my yard, alive!

I knew one was going to bloom, but the echinacea I’d got (from that guy in WV who has the Virginia Snakeroot, I think) was pretty sparse-looking. Apparently healthy, though, since several of the plants are actually going to bloom this year!

Yay for gaillardia that I grew from seeds!

The lazy tomato (forget what it’s called…maybe Porterhouse?) finally has fruit! Just one, but considering that two blossoms had dropped before this, I was hoping I wasn’t going to end up with a plant that had actual blossom drop. Guess those two were just unhappy for some reason. Dunno…I hate tomatoes anyway.

I was trying to pull out a sprig of grass and accidentally pulled out a carrot, too. I had been considering pulling one just to see how they were doing, but this saved me the trouble of deciding. I ate it…tasted carrot-y. Still no signs of Black Swallowtail larvae on the carrot, dill or parsley, though. Is still kind of early.

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I don’t think we’re going to get much out of them because they’re still not very tall (got some damned good roots, though!), but P’s phlox will have at least a few blooms.

I’ve seen stilt bugs in the garden before, certainly, but this is an outright stilt bug orgy! Two pairs, and they didn’t pay much attention to me at all.

I found a little friend on the bee balm! Tenodera (took another shot that showed the tan band on the back of his adorable little alien triangle-head).