All dressed up and no one to show...

Yesterday, on the Fourth of July, it was the National Garden Festival's Open Gardens here in Buffalo Niagara. In the morning, I got the place all spiffed up after a half dozen days of rain. It wasn't easy. Though it was nice not to have to panic about watering for a week.

But no one showed! Or no one that I know of. I was inside for a bit, sequestered in my office. The garden was looking good -- and I enjoyed it by myself.

The checkerboard is filling in nicely. Got its first chop this morning.

The raised bed potager garden is looking better than some past years.
Lettuce is ready to pick, but I'll wait until after Sunday's bike tour of gardens stops by.

I added signage to the rock garden so guests could see where the rocks came from. Additions from this past year? A lava rock from Diamondhead, Hawaii; a cobblestone from Prague, Czech Republic; and a new stone from Sayulita, Mexican.

The dwarf pear espalier is looking resplendent. I will even get a few pears from it this year.

The planters are FINALLY starting to fill out.

 I call it "Still Life with Hypertufa"

From the right angle, the garden looks downright lush. But not many see it from
crouching down over the potager while standing in the middle of the checkerboard.

The Harry Potter Garden has filled out nicely. See Trevor? And the Mirror of Erised?

Interpretive signage is up and hanging. Straight-ish.

Pots on fence have looked better. Last year's Persian shield with coleus was much nicer.

Baskets & boxes are looking okay. The front yard has only intermittent color right now.

The hellstrip is looking less hellish as time goes on. Next year will be its banner year.

The apple tree knee-high espalier living fence around the
vegetable potager garden had two apples growing. Until they fell off.

Under the apple espalier, between the bricks and the raised bed of the potager, are strawberries. The strawberries I purchased, unfortunately, have leaves about the size and scale of the apple tree leaves, and they are tall and gangly. I was hoping for more visual definition between the two. Next time, I'll know better.

I still need a bell with no clapper for this sign.

New artwork looking sharp.

I guess I could have swept under my patio furniture.

The coral bell fountain is fountaining.

The scupper is scuppering.

Here's the coral bell fountain in the bed of coral bells.

Finally found a climber that likes this spot. It's called an Exotic Love Firecracker Vine.
Gotta' love that name.

And you can barely see her here, but nesting in the lantana, with three bright blue eggs is a robin.
Whenever we use the back door she flies the nest, sits nearby and screams at us.
If I use the grill, or trim the espalier, she dive-bombs us. We call her Angry Bird.
The baby robins (nestlings) we'll name Lantana, Fantana and Santana.