Now that the creeping phlox is basically finished blooming, my mother looked around the garden and said I must be between blooming cycles. Phooey on that, I say! I'm pretty proud of the multiple things blooming right now that mean I've been decent at keeping something always in bloom, even if the plants aren't as showy as the masses of flowers that the phlox produce.

Right now the blue hydrangea in the front yard is bluing and the pink hydrangeas in the back are going full force.

The scabiosa, despite the unattractive name, is looking great.

I have a really funky flower that the package called a Peruvian daffodil blooming (my father keeps thinking that it's called a Polish daisy or maybe a Pittsburgh dandelion), the violas look sweet under one of the dogwoods, and pink and purple columbines are going strong.

Daisies, day lilies and zinnias are blooming out back -- as well as a few cone flowers, though I forgot to take their picture.

Even "between blooming cycles" I have managed to plan well enough to keep a few things always in bloom. One section that is between blooms at the moment, except for a pot of pansies, still pleases me immensely to see. When we moved in, this sad little area was a spot where nothing much could grow, because for many years it had been the coal dump when our house burned coal fires for heat. The ground is too hard and rocky (well, really coal filled) to do much with and it's even hard to dig weeds out up there, but we dug it out a little, added a few inches, though not that much, good soil, and planted some hardy plants there last year. But last year we hadn't thought much about dogscaping and our very large puppy ran straight through that spot, trampling everything in his path. This year we built him a stepping stone path and used light garden fencing, large pots and large stones we found around the yard to define the area we wanted him to stay out of. He still wanders through once in a while, but when he's running full tilt chasing the cars that drive down the alley or evil rabbits, he goes around. This year the plants are having a chance to fill in and thrive.

When I look out my back door and see this, I always smile.