Waiting on Some Garden Blooms

Out of probably 30+ sunflowers planted, I have only about 3 left from bunny damage. Sunflowers were my mom's favorite flower but also CJ's so this year I wanted to plant as many as possible. As it turns out, they're also the bunnies' favorite plant to eat. I hid a few of the large Pike's Peak in some caging but then I ran out of cages that were open at the top so there's only one of those left of the 15 that I started from seed. I hid a few of the deep maroon sunflowers within Columbine next to the garage for the morning sun since the bunnies seemed to leave the columbine alone.

Bunnies also just loved the really small, new growth on Strawflowers so those I've caged. I pulled one cage off a Strawflower in the front yard and no damage in 4 days so I will pull the cage off the small Strawflower and see what growth that gains over the next week. Strawflowers start off with an unusual flower bud and I'm so excited to watch them bloom.

Zinnias in the backyard are finally growing by leaps and bounds daily. Unfortunately these have to contend with being trampled by the dog AND being part of a miniature monster truck track for Q. These are a mix, I do believe. Not sure what their colors will be when they bloom.

Snapdragons seeded themselves from last year. These are really pretty and I can't wait until the bright pink blooms are here. The bright pink contrasted with the dark green is such a fun and bright bloom. These decided to grow at the edge of the patio and I had such a hard time deciding if I should let them continue to grow or if I should weed them. I left them because I like snapdragons so much. 

This is a native plant. I thought it was a native liatris but I don't remember it looking like this last year? Too many leaves, but I'll leave it to see what it does because it definitely isn't a weed or an invasive that I recognize.

Like last year, I went ahead and planted artichokes again. I found they were extremely easy to grow and I'm happy to grow them again for the blooms. I don't actually like to cook with artichokes - I would rather buy the artichoke hearts already taken care of for me. HA. But the bright purple blooms are absolutely gorgeous and I'm hoping these get growth with the hot few days that are happening. I discovered last year that after they go through the cold vernalization you can neglect them a bit because they're part of the thistle family - so they don't mind drying out between waterings.

I can't wait to show pictures of blooms in a few weeks - or less for some of these!