Tomatoes!

Some decent success, as always, with the tomatoes:

How do they get those entirely ripened tomatoes on vine in the grocery stores? They always ripen one at a time in my yard!

Zinnia 'Scarlet Flame'

From a packet-full of seeds, the chipmunks spared three Zinnia elegans plants. Their perseverance has paid off in the form of two bright flowers:

The protective hardware mesh made for some interesting close-up shots!

Closely bunched

Sedum (left) and garlic chive (Allium tuberosum) blossoms (right):

Pretty weeds

Or are they? The deer leave them alone, so they MUST be weeds 😑

Night and Day

Actually, more like early morning and evening. Here's what the same flowers (Rose of Sharon) looked like when snapped on my Google Pixel phone, one as I left for work and one after I returned from work:

The true (i.e. natural) color is closer to the right hand image, with perhaps a touch more blue.

Born to Bloom

Desperation to bloom, from two small shrubs that I planted last year. They are both less than two feet tall now, dwarfed by much older plants in the neighboring yards. Yet, they are producing huge and impressive flowers. Of course, after some help from me: I had to spray a very smelly deer-repellent concoction on them to protect the buds.

Pictured below are my two star performers: a blue Hydrangea and a Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus):

The Hydrangea seems to be naturally deer-resistant, though the Rose of Sharon got routinely clipped at night. I hope these grow large enough to eventually be enjoyed by both the deer and me :-)