Summer successes

Like most people, I see what hasn’t worked and what needs to be done more than I notice the garden successes.  To remedy that, a few high notes:

The clethra has finally bloomed abundantly and is just as fragrant as I’ve been told.  The bees love it, too.  This is ‘Ruby Spice.”  I saw a clethra somewhere recently that was as big as a small tree, so I’ll have to keep an eye on this.  At least it is finally in a site where it can thrive.

The pink garden is coming right along, helped by the bright pink verbena I bought on a whim, and the pink Mandevilla vine that my neighbors planted. Here you see the crepe myrtle (is it Cherokee?) looming over the fence. It rains down tiny pink blossoms that fall onto the greenery below.

I finally tore down the thuggish morning glory that is self-sowing EVERYWHERE and didn’t look so good, despite this picture of the blossoms at their best.
But you can already see that the leaves are being eaten by something, and the whole thing was looking shabby. I’ve planted some beans in its place.

Finally, the scarlet runner bean, which actually has orange blooms, is doing well on one side of the trellis, while the elegant cardinal climber vine with its finely cut leaves and small, brilliant red flowers is carpeting the other side. They really don’t go together, and although the bean attracts myriad bees, you can probably tell which I prefer.