It was a lovely garden morning – my favourite meadowrue is blooming and the sun was trying to shine.
I came across a morning glory blooming in the dirt pile beside my garage.
When I was on my way
to the lake a few days’ ago, I stepped into the car to discover this grasshopper on my windshield. He stayed there for ages – when I was stopped at a red light, I took a picture of him. It isn’t the best photo, but I got kind of attached to the little critter as he journeyed along with me.
Once out at the lake,
I was busy visiting and only took this one photograph of my parents hollyhocks. They are not as tall as in years past, most likely because of all the cool and rainy weather we had in spring.
One of my favourite plants is Heucherella 
… it is in bloom at the moment and is nestled in with a purple palace heuchera and another beloved blue plant, the balloon flower.
Now it is time to get back to putting more flowers on the garage wall. I have almost finished the wisteria vines … it is taking ages, but I will get them done. Lytton, my big, brown dog, loves to help, usually managing to knock over my oil paints a few times before settling down for a long nap. He makes me laugh.
in the autumn light 
Seems my dogs do the very thing. Now if I can teach them to take the veggies inside, that I have put in the basket, that would be cool.
That happened to me too with a Cicada. We had the 17 year cicada this year and they were the talk of the town but I never saw one in my garden.One day I was complaining about not seeing one when one landed on the windshield of the car I was riding in. It stayed for a while until we slowed down enough for it to fly away.Love your garden Kate.
Hi Kate! Have you tried dabbing paint on Lytton’s paws and having him walk around on some paper? Or adding his colorful pawprints to the garage wall, next to the wisteria vines — Moose is sharing these suggestions! The grasshopper-hitchhiker on your windshield is really cool — it looks huge. Your flowers are beautiful and always make me feel happy. And I am really glad you are continuing with the garage wall mural — I bet it’s going to be a masterpiece.:)
Oh that meadowrue is so very lovely. I have never seen it before. I ENLARGED the photo to see it better and it took my heart away.Have a good evening.~Becky
I love meadowrue and added three more this year.
Cute hitchhiker you have there.I love, love, love heuchera. I bought a bunch of different kinds this year and grouped them together. I don’t have any heucherella though.
Hi Kate – I’m shocked your Meadow Rue is still blooming. Mine has been over for months. You are very lucky. The grasshopper on the windshield looks like something out of a horror movie – “The Attack of the Giant Grasshoppers!”I think heuchera are just excellent. They are so rugged and hung in there during this dry weather. And there are so many beautiful varieties!The lone Morning Glory is great – a neat surprise this morning.
Thank you for your visit! It’s nice to visit your blog again too! :o)
Hi Curtis – It would be great if your dogs could carry veggies. I wonder how hard it would be to train them. Mine would want to lie down and play with the veggies … he isn’t much for veggies or fruit. MrBrown Thumb – I didn’t realise that cicadas only showed up every 17 years. At least you got to see one! Clare – Funny you should mention that. I was trying to figure out a way that I could get Lytton to do some painting … Moose and Lytton could probably come up with all kinds of ideas of what to do with paint and a wall. Lytton once tracked paint on the basement carpet … It is really strange having a grasshopper stare through the windshield while driving. I carried on a conversation with him and I figured he was enjoying it, since he hung on for dear life!Becky – Meadowrues are beautiful plants. I love the way they sway in a breeze and withstand most anything. I added the text above the comment box by going into “Settings” and clicking on “Comments”. Just add your desired text in the “Comment Form Message” box.Sandy – I think it’s great that you’ve added more meadowrue … they are such easy plants to grow plus they look lovely all season long. Chigiy – Heuchera are great plants. The foliage looks wonderful and the blooms last for ages. Heucherella are a cross between heuchera and tiarella. They seem to do well here … probably would in CA too! They have cool flowers. Alyssa – The meadowrue in bloom is a different, later-blooming variety. There are two different ones in bloom although the other one is nearly finished. Both have finer foliage than the spring-blooming one.I like heucheras too … Marie – Thanks for another visit. Even though I don’t read Norwegian, it’s great to see your flowers.
More gorgeous photos! You have a talent with your camera. 🙂
Grasshopper had a wild ride! Beautiful photos, Kate. I love the Lytton tidbit too…that big goofy sweet pea!
Your meadowrue is so pretty! Do you know what variety it is?
That meadowrue looks delightful, Kate. I love all the details you share about your garden – like we get to peek in it too.
I love coming here looking at your garden. And your writing is enjoyable to read! sandy
I love that meadowrue.. I too have never even heard of it.. Is it one that loves the cooler climate?? What other colors do they come in?
Gretchen – I have trouble getting clear photos. So many of them are out of focus. I should learn more about my new camera… Linda – The grasshopper must have been an adventurous sort. I felt kind of sad when he finally flew off. Lytton is always getting into mischief … oh and he howls at sirens. It is so funny when all the dogs in the neighbourhood follow his lead.Connie – I’m pretty sure this is a T. rochebrunianum or delavayi … I have one of each and get them mixed up. Nikki – Meadowrues look wonderful with roses. It is a brilliant combination.Sandy – Thanks for visiting again!
Dirty fingernails – Meadowrues do pretty well in sun, in my experience, although they seem to like some mid-afternoon shade (that is, if you don’t want to be watering them constantly). Our summers can get really hot and they seem fine … they also can survive the zone 3 winters here.
The colour of that morning glory is wonderful Kate! Fancy finding it beside your blue garage. Synchronicity.
I hope your grasshopper friend made it safely to the lake:) The colour of the morning glories is just beautiful – you can see where they got their name. The meadow rue is lovely, I’ve got it in my garden too, such a lovely airy plant.
Your meadowrue looks so lovely. I bought one this spring but it produced only very few flowers, not the bouquet you have. I was quite disappointed. Perhaps it needs to get established first?The colors of the morning glory is quite amazing. How does the plant know what color combinations are the most attractive? Quite stunning. I love the patch of Heucherella, Heuchera and Platycodon. A very nice and lush combination of plants.
Your morning glory on the ground looks like Grandpa Ott’s morning glory which is credited with starting the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Your Meadow Rue is beautiful, that is one plant I have never grown. My balloon flowers are in bloom also but for some reason, I do not have nearly as many as in other years.
Cottage Smallholder – I thought it was pretty cool finding it beside the garage. It looked neat considering it was growing on the dirt pile.Rowan – Yikes! The grasshopper got blown off before we arrived at the lake. I figured it wanted a change of scenery and I missed it once it had taken off. Meadowrues are under-rated plants, IMHO. They aren’t plentiful here and yet some varieties do really well. Ki – Your Meadowrue will bloom much better next year – it takes time to establish the plant. Once it is, it will send up lots of blooms. I love the morning glory colour too. It really is beautiful. I am really pleased with how well the heucherella, heucheras and platycodon are doing this year. We had lots of rain in May/June and I think that made a huge difference.Iowa Gardening Woman – I didn’t know it was a morning glory that started off this seed exchange. I wonder if you haven’t had as many balloon flowers because of the heat and lack of moisture.
i love my Heavenly Blue Morning Glories too. Next year I will plant tons and tons more of them.They are thrilling.
If you like the Meadow Rue, Heronswood Nursery has an outstanding variety called Thalictrum ‘Black Stockings’ with large flowers and chocolate brown stems, that you’ll love.