Beautiful Ohio

My Florida Backyard has been on its own for the last week, as its owners have been up north for a family wedding. As you might expect from a Florida garden in the summer, we returned to a serious jungle situation, especially since we received about 8 inches of rain in the 10 days before we left. Weeds are rampant, grass is knee-high, and the work ahead of us feels a little daunting.

On the plus side, we managed to squeeze in a little time in Ohio to visit the Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, a part of The Ohio State University's OARDC. Mid-July is probably the best time of the year in an Ohio garden, and we were able to enjoy some of the best flowers the state has to offer. Until My Florida Backyard is back in shape, we thought you might enjoy seeing what's in bloom up north right now.

Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea):

The arboretum also had the newer orange cultivar of coneflower, which is amazing:

Shasta daisies (Chrysanthemum maximum):

Hummingbird Clearwing Moth (Hemaris thysbe) enjoying Bee Balm (Monarda):

The variety of day lilies and Asiatic lilies is astonishing:

Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus) is part of the hibiscus family, so we felt almost at home:

Columbine (Aquilegia hybrida), which unfortunately doesn't grow well in Florida:

A massed planting of Verbena bonarensis:

The arboretum also includes woodland trails and an outdoor amphitheater:

No butterfly lover would be happy without a new sighting on a trip. We saw our first Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis), named for the small white marking on the lower hindwing.

Ohio is truly beautiful in the summer, and we're glad we had a chance to enjoy it. Now we're back home, ready to tackle the jungle that used to be our yard. Florida is beautiful in summer too, once you get all the weeds out of the way!