First rose

Here’s one of the first roses of summer. These are low maintenance, low-growing “knockout” roses. I planted them beside the ditch along the road.

Blackberries volunteer everywhere. This one is in the ditch beside the road, but the edge of the woods is lined with young blackberry bushes.

I’ve planted a number of arbor vitae trees. They’ve become one of my favorite evergreens. They’re growing well. If you look closely, you can see the lighter-colored new growth on the edges of the leaves.

Mystery bud: Last spring I planted several pounds of bulk wildflower seeds. Most of them were perennials and didn’t bloom the first year. This year they should bloom. Here’s an example. I have no idea what it is, but any day now the bud should open, and we’ll see what the mystery buds are.