Fireworks in the Garden

Do you have big plans for the Fourth of July?  There are many activities planned in our area to celebrate the holiday, including the annual fireworks show in C-U, which is always outstanding.  But my husband doesn't like crowded celebrations and the traffic afterwards, so sometimes I go to the show with one of my children and grandkids.  Other times, we'll simply sit on the lawn after dusk and watch the displays in surrounding towns from a distance.   I'm not sure what we'll do this year, but we could just stay at home this year and enjoy the garden--in the past week, my garden has exploded into a riotous display of color that's almost as good as fireworks.

Like pink?  There is plenty of it in my garden right now.  The Asiatic lily 'Brindisi' is nearly at the end of its bloom cycle, but what a show she has put on!

She's the biggest and most prolific Asiatic I have, putting out too many blooms to count.

As she is fading away, the pink of the purple coneflowers is taking over.  I have a sea of coneflowers this year, and I'm not exaggerating--more on this in a later post.

Prefer a hotter shade of pink?  These phlox always defy my photographic skills, but they are a dazzling shade of hot pink/fuschia.  And to think I almost pulled them their second year, because I didn't remember planting them!

More hot pink from the Monarda in the butterfly garden, which is a jungle once again this year.  By the way, please ignore the many weeds you may see in the photos.  The abundant rain we have had this year has certainly been good for the garden, but it's also been a boon to the weeds.  I'm fighting a daily battle against them, and I think I'm losing.

Now this is my shade of pink!

We can go darker still with the Drumstick Allium.

Or how about a bright red?  I wish I had taken this photo a few days before, when more of the poppies were blooming. . . and wish I had pulled that buttonweed behind them before snapping this photo:)  I scatter poppy seed in late winter over the snow and never know how many or where they might germinate; needless to say, this was a good year for them.

Going darker still, 'Little Grapette' is the first of several darker daylilies to bloom.

Personally, I like a combo of light and dark as in this early daylily 'Moonlight Masquerade.'

If you prefer the purity of white, there's plenty of that too--'Beckie' daisies are just starting to bloom.

And so are the 'Knee High Sonata' cosmos.

In fact, there will be quite a bit of white in the coming weeks as the 'David' phlox join the parade of blooms.

We can also add some purple to the dazzling mix of colors with some larkspur.

And almost blue--Balloonflowers.  I actually had to pull out some volunteer Amsonia, which were hiding this plant.

There is plenty of yellow in the garden, too, with all of the 'Stella d'Oro' daylilies in bloom, as well as other yellow blossoms, such as this 'Moonbeam' Coreopsis.  In fact, about the only color that is noticeably absent in my garden right now is orange, but that will soon change as more of the daylilies begin to bloom.  Tarzan obliged me by adding a little orange today:)  I think he has the best idea of how to celebrate the weekend.

No Fourth of July would be complete without displaying the red, white, and blue.  Maybe the phlox are a little more pinkish and purple, but it's close.

A little closer to the patriotic color scheme--an "accidental" combination of red, white, and blue.

Wishing you all a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Wildflower Wednesday: A Different Kind of Coneflower

Every time I go to the MG Idea Garden to work, I pass by one of my favorite places, Meadowbrook Park with its prairie restoration area.  All summer I thought to myself that I would go work in the garden for a couple of hours and then take some time for a walk through this prairie area.  But the intense heat of this summer has foiled my plans--by the time I leave the Idea Garden, I am soaked through with perspiration and ready to find a cool spot to sit down, not put on my walking shoes and put in 30 minutes of exercise.  As a result, I've seen the big show of prairie blooms only from a distance as I whizzed by in my car.

Last Thursday, though, with Wildflower Wednesday in mind, I stopped, not to walk, but to see what was blooming in late July and to capture a few photographs.  One of the most prominent flowers right now is the Gray-headed coneflower, Ratibida pinnata. On one of my first posts about this prairie planting, I misidentified this plant as a Rudbeckia, but a reader kindly corrected me. There are so many native yellow wildflowers, including many varieties of Rudbeckia and Helianthus, that even with my trusty wildflower book, I have trouble seeing the distinctions among them.  But once you've become familiar with this coneflower, it's easy to recognize it immediately.  The most distinguishing features are their yellow ray flowers which droop downward from a conical disk about 3/4" tall.  Before opening, the disks are an ashy gray, which is where they get their name.

The Gray-headed coneflowers grow on slender stalks up to 5 feet tall. Like their counterparts, the purple coneflowers, Echinacea purpurea, the Ratibida are popular with wildlife.  In the previous photo, you can see something, possibly goldfinches though I didn't see any on this day, has already devoured some of the seeds from the central disks.

Many of the native plants in this prairie area have already finished blooming, while a few others, such as the ironweed and asters won't be blooming until fall.  But one other plant was noticeable on this hot July day.  Those who attended the garden bloggers' gathering in Buffalo a few weeks ago raved about the bee balm they saw everywhere, so they will quickly recognize this plant, Wild Bergamot, Monarda fistulosa.  Though definitely not as showy as its cultivated relatives, these natives are common throughout the state, not only in restored areas like this one, but also along roadsides.

A member of the mint family, native Monarda can grow up to 5 feet tall with fragrant flowers that form dense round heads.

Many Native American tribes made tea from the flowerheads and leaves to treat colds, fevers, whooping cough, abdominal pain, headaches, and as a stimulant. Chewed leaves were placed on wounds under a bandage to stop the flow of blood.  Wild bergamot is still used in herbal teas.

  (from Illinois Wildflowers by Don Kurz)

I apologize for the lack of good photos--it was windy on this day, and the blooms wouldn't stop moving.  I do have some cultivars of Monarda in my garden, but they're past blooming.  And I had hoped to have some native Gray-headed coneflowers of my own to share this year, but they were the victims of a seed mix-up . . . a story for another day.

Wildflower Wednesday was begun by native enthusiast Gail of Clay and Limestone.  Do stop by and visit her for more features on some native wildflowers.