Garden Journal: June 14, 2009

Warm, humid, sunny days ending in thundershowers have given the garden good conditions for growing and thriving, especially the fungi. Some plants, like the spiderwort (Tradescantia) and yarrow (Achillea) have grown so tall and lanky, I have had to stake them (ugh) or cut them down.

The white crape myrtles, (Lagerstroemia indica ‘Natchez’) in the allee next to the house came into bloom just as I was setting out the long rows of white impatients.

Some of the daylilies on the outer edge are making a spectacular show.   Unfortunately, I have no names for any of the daylilies as they were all cast-offs from a friend of friend.   The bright yellow eye of this one is a lovely contrast to the dark, purple red of the petals.

The thin spidery petals of this cultivar  endear it to me.

For shear bud count and bright lemon yellow you can’t beat this beauty.

In the bog garden, the frail but vibrant bog orchid put forth its blooms.

In the formal garden, the hollyhocks have begun to bloom. These pink ones are the single old-fashioned kind.

The garden phlox (Phlox paniculata ‘David’) bears full heads of flowers in front of the first blooms of white gaura (G. lindheimer ‘Whirling Butterflies’)

White lilies (Lilium speciousum album) bloom with their recurved petals and brown spots that I love so well.    The color of the lilies is picked by the yucca (Y. gloriosa ‘Variegata’) next to it.

The vivid blue flowers of balloon flowers (Platycodon gradiflorus ‘Sentimental blue’) are set off by the airy stems of pale yellow scabiosa (S. ochroleuca).

The double pink coneflowers ( Echinacea purpurea ‘Pink Double Delight’) have large full heads as do the Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Crazy Daisy’.

The coneflowers are an especially appealing shade of pink.

I threaten to throw out the daisies every year because their bloom time is so short and their presence in the garden afterward is not up to snuff.   But then I see their pretty faces and I keep them another year.

This little columbine (Aquiliegia flabellate ‘nan’) made a repeat flowering, much to my surprise.   The white of the leaves of  Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera  macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’) accents  the white in the flowers of the columbine and the similar shape of both creates an interesting echo.

The trees in the dwarf conifer collection are looking good. They were new last season and had a rough time over the winter. This hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis ‘Gentch’s White’) is one of my favorites and is showing off its new white tips.

Another dwarf hemlock (Tsuga canadensis ‘Bennett’) is looking pretty fancy in its new light colored coat.

All is fairly quiet in the rose garden but I still enjoy it.   I love the English boxwoods (Buxus sempervirens suffruticosa) especially when they are putting on their new light green coats.  They give structure to the rose garden all through the year as does the fountain and private hedge (Ligustum japonica) surrounding the rose garden.

One old-fashioned rose, ‘Rose de Rescht’, is already reblooming. I had to cut it back severely after its first bloom because it was draping over the boxwoods and roses near it and it seems to have survived extremely well.  These lovely flowers open from spherical buds are fragrant.

This is the cheapest, easiest container I have ever had. All of these petunias are volunteers from last year. The pot was originally planted with purple grass, pale lavender petunias, and purple gomphrena. The winter killed them all but the petunia seed which sprouted and this was the result.  Not bad for no work at all!

We harvested our second crop of radishes, including some white ones, and our first crop of beets (about 24) , our first summer squash, and first zucchini.

This was a very busy week of spraying the roses and spreading mulch through out the garden beds. We were lucky to have so much rain both before and after the mulch and I think the plants will be well protected from drying out as we move into summer. They have had a good start this year and I look forward to a summer full of blooms. Happy gardening!