Some Bits of Colour

 The garden is not as colourful as usual as I am primarily relying on perennials this year. This tiger lily is fun with all its spots.  We had a very dry spell in June and early July but lilies manage well even in dry conditions.

 I have a couple of containers of zinnias on the deck and they have just started blooming. The plants are a little above waist height so it's easy to get a good look at them.  I like to start zinnias inside in the spring as I find they have a hard time establishing from a direct seeding in the garden. They make very good cut flowers.

The red beebalm and red daylilies are giving the backyard a nice punch of colour. The hummingbirds also like the beebalm and pink phlox. The beebalm wilted a bit in the dry spell but it bounced right back after the rain.

 This is a sweet little pink echinacea.  It has stayed shorter this year because of the dryness but that is a plus.  Other years it has gotten a bit floppy. They are also a very good cut flower.

 Very few summer flowers are a true blue but this Chinese delphinium is one of them. It has proved to be  very winter hardy but it is a floppy plant.

Zucchini flowers are a happy yellow and I have been enjoying them as well as the squash.

I saw a bright orange eft of the Eastern newt in my backyard the other day. I had Pepper, my horse, with me eating grass so I wasn't able to dash in the house  and get my camera. No sign of it later. Fun to see though.  It was only about an inch and a half  long. The adult newts live in water so I'm not sure how the little eft got to our place.  The closest water is a quarter of a kilometer away. The green treefrog is back on the back deck after a two week absence. Such a cute little guy.