June Bloom Day

It's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day once again--where has the time gone??  June is my favorite month, and here we are already halfway through it.  One of the reasons I always enjoy participating in this meme is that it gives me a monthly record of what is blooming throughout the year, and I can compare what is growing in my garden from year to year.  Looking back at last year's June post, I wasn't surprised to find that almost everything is later this year. Spring arrived late after the winter that wouldn't end, and then some hot days in May put a quicker than normal end to spring bulbs, but jump-started everything else.  Still, that jump-start wasn't quite enough to bring everything to its normal blooming time.

Usually by this time in June, I have a plethora of blooms from all the 'Stella d'Oro' lilies, but they are just beginning to open up.  Note my little lady friend on the bud.

Knockout roses are virtually indestructible, but even they were hit hard by this winter.  They, too, got a late start, but worst of all, there was some dieback.  I apologize for the bad photo, but I was trying to get a close-up.  The whole plant is not a pretty sight--I pruned these back hard this spring, but not enough. Time to get out the pruners and cut back all the bare canes sticking above the blooms, one more spring chore to add to the list.

The 'Radsunny' roses look a little better.  I bought two of these when they were fairly new on the market, and I wish I had known then that though the buds are a lovely yellow, they quickly fade to white as they open up.

 'Zephirine Drouhin' also got a hard pruning this spring.  She hasn't climbed up very far on the arbor trellis this year, but at least she's still putting out numerous pink blooms.

While the garden may be behind "schedule," one thing you won't hear me complain about this month is the weather.  We have had frequent rain showers, enough to keep all the plants happy.  Of course, it also means the weeds are happy, too, but I'll take some weeding time over a drought any day.

This is the time of year in the garden that I remember Christopher of Outside Clyde calling "the height of the lull."  It's that time of year between all the lovely spring bloomers and the riotous colors of daylilies and other summer flowers.  A couple of early coneflowers have appeared, but not the masses that I will have in a few weeks.  And I do mean masses--they have taken over my sidewalk bed and re-seeded themselves in a couple other flowerbeds as well!

 In a week or two, the lily show will begin as well. 

Act I begins with the Stellas, of course, and this Asiatic lily.

I bought a few of these bulbs at the Chicago Flower and Garden Show a few years ago, and I could have sworn I picked out Oriental lilies, not Asiatics.  Whatever tricks my mind has played on me, I do know I purchased "Salmon" lilies, but these hot orangey-red lilies are anything but salmon-colored!

Other blooms right now are much quieter:

'Neon Flash' Spirea, another shrub overdue for a good pruning.

'Little Henry' Itea

Lamium is filling in nicely as a groundcover in front of a large evergreen.  Note the little bee on the bloom.

This columbine has been blooming for several weeks.  I don't know its name as it was a tiny freebie in a hosta pot I purchased last year--I love a bargain like this, and I hope it re-seeds.

Other plants still blooming after several weeks--Delphinium, name forgotten.

'May Night' Salvia

Native Penstemons

But new blooms are on their way, such as this first bloom of the Nigella.

And the first red Poppy!  The seedlings are so thick in my garden that the pastel hues of June are surely going to turn into a red-hot July. 

What is blooming in your garden today?  To join in and see what is blooming all over, visit Carol at May Dream Gardens, who hosts GBBD the 15th of every month . . . when she's not busy picking peas:)

GBBD: Blooming Days at Home

After a few weeks of posts about this year's Fling in Asheville, you might think I haven't spent any time at all in my own garden.  But nothing could be further from the truth. It's been a flurry of early morning activity--before it gets too hot--catching up on weeding, planting, mulching, and watering.  In fact, June is literally "bustin' out all over" with lots of color.

Here are some of the blooms in my garden this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day:

Poppies were everywhere we visited in Asheville, but they're blooming in central Illinois as well.

Nicotania has slightly fragrant blooms that open up fully in the early morning and again later in the evening. They're so sweet I can't bear to pull them out.

Why should I want to tear them out? Well, as you can see, they have taken over my arbor bed!  Since last year was the first time I had success with them in my garden, I don't know if they normally self-seed so prolifically or if it was due to the mild winter.  I have dug up many seedlings to give away and pulled countless others, but still they keep popping up everywhere. I just don't have the heart to pull up flowers, but I'm giving them another week or two, and then they're definitely going to be thinned out to make room for everything else.

On the other side of the arbor bed, another volunteer--'Sonata' white cosmos.  They have been much more polite than the nicotania, and I wouldn't mind if these spread even more.

This side of the arbor bed also shows I didn't keep my vow last year to stop planting everything so close together.  Blue delphinium rise above spreading mounds of 'May Night' salvia and emerging liatris.

In fact, it wasn't until I downloaded the previous photo that I realized there were a few liatris already blooming--they're almost lost in the crowd.

Also nearly hidden and in need of a move is the new phlox planted last fall, 'Blue Paradise.'

It's hard to believe that until recently I didn't have any phlox in my garden at all, but now I have several including this NOID phlox in the lily bed.  This one almost met its demise last spring, because I didn't even remember planting it and thought it was a weed emerging!

My favorite of all, pristine 'David' is just beginning to bloom.

The red Knockout roses are blooming like crazy this year.  I saw the first blasted Japanese beetle on a bloom yesterday, so I will enjoy these while I can.

The climbing 'Don Juan' is also blooming profusely in the arbor bed, though it's still not quite tall enough to climb up the arbor bench.

Nearby, what was supposed to be 'Zephirine Drouhin" is, I'm afraid, the surviving root stock instead.  I'm don't know enough about roses to know whether I should pull this out, but again I'm such a patsy for blooms--and it's full of blooms--that I don't have the heart to get rid of it.

'Endless Summer' hydrangeas are covered in many more blooms than last year.  That is, one of them is--the other 'Endless Summer' was hit by the late freeze in April, but it's starting to catch up.

The shade garden is all about foliage, but the airy blooms of Heucheras make an eye-catching display.  This is my favorite, 'Tiramisu.'

Although everything has bloomed earlier than usual this year, I think the rate of acceleration has slowed down in recent weeks.  The Asiatic lily 'Brindisi' is only slightly ahead of schedule.

The daylilies are also just beginning to bloom.  After the reliable 'Stellas,'  'Moonlight Masquerade' on the left is always the first to bloom, followed by 'Canterbury Tales' on the right.

Chosen for its appropriate name, 'Prairie Blue Eyes' appreciates a much-needed shower.

Echinacea 'Big Sky Sundown.' As much as I enjoy seeing all the daylilies come into bloom, June for me means the happiest time of all in the garden . . . 

Yes, it's the beginning of coneflower season! 

To see what else is blooming all over, be sure to check out May Dreams Gardens where Carol is hosting her monthly celebration of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.  You're all welcome to join in!

GBBD: Daylilies and Other Delights

Woohoo! It's time for another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, and this July edition is the one I've been waiting for all year.  It's the height of the summer season, and my garden is obliging with a multitude of blooms right now.  I'm always happy to show visitors around this time of year (as long as you don't notice the weeds), but I know you have lots of other places to visit, too, so I'll try to keep the narrative to a minimum and let the flowers speak for themselves.

 

I know I've been going on and on about purple coneflowers for the past few weeks, but I can't help myself.  They are my favorite flower, and their pretty pink faces always make me smile.  I have them everywhere here, including at the back of the butterfly garden along with fading monarda and a barely visible Joe Pye Weed that must be eight feet tall.

Next to coneflowers, my other love is daylilies. I seem to be drawn to peaches and corals, like this 'Prairie Sunrise,' a one-of-a-kind hybrid that I named myself.

 

Another one-of-kind is  'Dragonfly Corner,' a division kindly passed along to me by best friend Beckie.

'Tangerine Orange Ruffles' is really the color of orange sherbet.

Not all the daylilies here, though, are in the peach or yellow color spectrum.  Passalongs from my aunt, 'Nettie's Ruby' is at the forefront of the lily bed. Obviously, I don't worry too much about color coordination when it comes to lilies.

Purple is represented, too, by 'Little Grapette,' a shorter cultivar that works well in front of its taller relatives.

While color and shape of bloom entice me to certain varieties, I'm also drawn in by the names of plants. 'Prairie Blue Eyes' was a natural to be added to my garden:)

As was 'Canterbury Tales.'   I've shown this lily several times in the past few weeks, but I had to include it again because it just keeps putting out the blooms.  Chaucer never got the chance to finish all his tales, but this daylily seems determined to add a new "tale" every day.

The yellow edged and throated lily on the right was chosen purely for its name--'Romeo Lies Bleeding'--whereas the delicate beauty on the left was chosen for her appearance and because she was another unnamed hybrid.  My choice for a name? 'Juliet,' of course!  I'm happy to say that these star-crossed lovers are happy and living peacefully in their first full year in my garden

Trying for more diversity, several new Oriental lilies were added to the garden this spring.  This is the first of what I hope will be many blooms to come--'Stargazer.'

My garden isn't just about coneflowers and daylilies, however, although it may seem that way.  An errant Rudbeckia, variety unknown, found its way into the lily bed.  The yellow spider lily on the right still commands attention, but other daylilies behind are somewhat obscured--there's that need for crowd control again.  The Rudbeckia will be allowed to stay . . . for now.

 

Drumstick alliums bob and sway in the front and center.

My first hybrid coneflower, Echinacea 'Big Sky Sundown,' was a gift last year from Tena, Lisa of Greenbow's sister. I'm happy to see it covered with blooms this year.

No need to adjust your monitor--this is a partial view of the lily bed through the growing switchgrass, Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah,' ready to take over center stage as the lilies fade.

Nearby, in Roco's garden the geranium 'Rozanne' nestles at the feet of super-performer Leucanthemum 'Becky.'  This photo is for Sissy --our faithful companions are never forgotten.

The Knockout roses are starting to put out new blooms again in spite 

of the recent onslaught of Japanese beetles.

The shade garden is primarily a sea of green at this time in the season, except for Hydrangea macrophylla 'Let's Dance in the Moonlight.'  The 'Endless Summer' mopheads are looking healthy and full, but blooms are very few.  They seem to be in a two-year cycle--one year lots of healthy foliage and the next more blooms. 

Hosta blooms are also providing a contrast to all the green.

Other new blooms can be found in the arbor garden.  I've been waiting until later to do a post on this new area because it's still so young, but we can take a peek at a few of the plants, all of which are first-timers here, including this 'David' phlox.

The last of the delphiniums 'Connecticut Yankee' is the tallest and strongest of the three I planted.  No need to stake this one.

Sweetpeas, though, have outgrown their support.  

Sorry about Sophie in the corner of the photo--she likes touring the garden, too:)

Liatris has been a resounding success.

All together they make a combination in one corner that I've been very happy with.

I've tried to resist the temptation to plant too close together in this area, satisfying my need for dense plantings by using annuals, especially in the front part of the garden.  There is still room for Tarzan to perch comfortably behind the 'Victoria Blue' and 'White' Salvia and next to a dwarf butterfly bush, 'Lo and Behold Blue Chip.'

Thanks for stopping by today, and I do hope I haven't kept you too long. There are many more gardens on the tour today--just drop by our hostess Carol's for directions for your next stop and enjoy!