Last month, I missed the linky for Sandi’s monthly meme: 5 in 5: five photos shot within a five minute time frame. Kindly, Sandi linked me up after the fact, but I was determined to be more timely this month. In June, most of the photos were from the gardens surrounding our patio.  Last night when we came home from dinner, the light was just right so I went out to my cutting garden in our lower yard to take some photos. It takes awhile in western New York for the flowers to get established. The cutting garden is about 85% perennials, and 15% annuals this year. I always plant a patch of zinnias, and usually some snapdragons. The goal is to have flowers to cut and bring inside all summer long.

I love the Shasta daisies. They bloom almost all summer long, and always look great in an arrangement.

Last year a critter ate all of my lupine plants, so I am thrilled to have four lupines one of which is always blooming this summer.

Last year, I bought some plant identity signs and carefully added all the plants’ names to them. Despite the assurance that the ink was permanent, it turned out not to be, and I no longer know for sure what this beautiful orange flower is. I’m guessing someone who’s a finer gardener than I am will be able to identify it.

We have lots of astilbe in our shade garden, and although it provides some color there, it is much more beautiful in this garden where it gets more sunlight.

And finally, one of my lovely zinnias.

I thought I’d add one last photo, not part of the 5 in 5 to show you the vase that’s currently on the kitchen table. There’s another arrangement in the living room as well.

Linking up to Sandi at itchifingers where you can find other 5 in 5 sets.

We’ve spent a lot of time in the yard and on the patio the last few days. Tracy’s done a lot of transplanting, and clearing out in our overgrown shade garden, and it’s looking really nice. I’m the mulcher, and I have about half of it done. Today is too hot and humid to be outside for long. We got a little (much needed) rain overnight, but it didn’t cool things down at all, and the humidity is worse than ever. When I saw Sandi’s post for 5 in 5 this morning, I knew that taking some photos in the yard would be a good solution to getting this meme done before the calendar turns to July this coming weekend. Where does the time go? 

If you’re standing in the middle of our patio looking to the back property line, this is the right-hand side of our garden. You can see beyond it the lower yard, which Tracy has just started to clean out. Shade loving plants are the ones that do well here:  Japanese ferns, ferns, hostas, astilbe, some hydrangeas, and some peonies to the right where there is more sun.

This is the left side, many of the same plants, and our fountain which I should have turned on before I started taking photos.

To the side of our house in the lower yard, I have a perennial/annual bed. Last year some animal ate every one of my lupines. I was so sad, but replaced them this year, and we are spraying our anti-deer spray regularly. This is the latest bloom, although we’ve had several of different colors already.

Next to the house along the patio we have a bed with five large geraniums. I love that they bloom all summer, so no matter how my potted flowers are doing at any moment, there is always some good color. This year we have three of these beauties, and two solid pink ones the same color as the darker pink in this flower.

Last, a Martha Washington geranium in a pot on the patio. I brought it back from a garden store in Evanston, IL when we were helping Sarah get plants for her patio. I loved the colors, and was afraid I wouldn’t find one locally. But, in fact, I saw one just the other day when I was buying some strawberries at the farm market.

I’m linking these up with Sandi’s 5 in 5 meme where you take as many photos as you’d like in 5 minutes, and choose 5 of them. I think I took 16 photos this morning. It was a snap, snap, snap event!