I am amused by Darwinian struggles in my yard -- to the left is chocolate ajuga, to the right, a different variety of ajuga, which I planted this year when I couldn't find more of the original variety. They're both crowding out all the weeds (how I do love that phrase, 'crowd out weeds') all around them, and have begun to battle for dominance. Which will succeed? Check back next year.
This lace cap hydrangea is Quickfire -- in theory, the flowers will turn pink, and then be a dark rosy-pink in the fall, though I'm not sure mine ever made it to that color last year. We'll see. This little rose is Dark Lady, I think. Or William Shakespeare -- I get them confused. V. pretty!
I do think the (clover-like) wood sorrel between the stones will have to go -- it's not as hardy for stepping on as the thyme I originally planted there, and I prefer the tiny purple flowers that the thyme sometimes has. But the thyme (center of pic) is slow growing -- I *think* it is aggressive enough that eventually it'll crowd out the sorrel, but if not, I'll help it along.
Rose William Shakespeare, I think. The alyssum came from seed I scattered in a bare spot last year -- it came back on its own this year. I need to do more seed planting of annuals -- so far, my yard is mostly reliant on perennials; eventually, it would be happier with more of a balance, I think. Also, seeds are cheap! :-)
And finally, the ugliest thing in my garden -- a few of these stinkhorn mushrooms came up, and they are just horrible. It's not just that they look like dog penises, although that doesn't help. It's not just that the orange color is wrong for my cool-toned front yard, though I don't appreciate that either. It's that nasty slimy brown gunk on the mushroom cap, a foul-smelling slime is calculated to attract flies and other insects, who land on the slime and eat it, then carry the stinkhorn spores elsewhere. It is just repulsive and gross and we hates it, my precious. They are short-lived, but I have chopped them all down now (just three or four so far), and plan to be ardent in expunging them from my yard. Yuck yuck yuck.
