Stella's Gardens

Heavens to Murgatroyd, This is a Summer like I remember from my childhood. With the added attraction of Japanese beetles, which are numerous this year once again in Eastern Iowa. Not as many as a few years ago - when I had sooo many I went ahead and posted a couple of traps - it was like Chicago Ohare airport watching them come in ever 20-30 seconds. Now I just hand pick them off the choice plants - the rose, the meadowsweet. A cup of water with a teaspoon of Murphy's Wood Oil Soap. Then some critter comes and dumps that out and eats all the beetles every night. I imagine a wonderfully "regular" 'coon or possum..... So this was a working 4th holiday - a little yard work early in the week, work in the garage to build new shelves in the AM and peeling *really* gnarly wallpaper inside in the afternoon.....

BUT week before last some awesome alliums and tomatoes up north

Garlic gathered (part 2)

Tiger lilies here at home

And a first time visitor (for us) - a praying mantis - s/he appeared to be young and probably a nymph, since there were no wings...I haven't seen her/him since when we got the pix, so I don't know if someone made a snack of it (maybe 2" long) but we were thrilled to have such a bug in our yard....