Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Blooms from July, 2013

Our yard is going to be on our neighborhood garden tour this Saturday, June 7.  I am posting photos from last July 6, so that people can see how different the yard looks at that time.  I hope to also do a post showing August and beyond.  Most of the plants I'm showing here are native to our area, but a few are cultivars.

The Meadow rue is actually pretty tall already, but not this tall yet.


The Purple praire clovers are in bud, so maybe, they will be blooming earlier than last year.  I have both the native kind and the cultivar, 'Stephanie'.


I dug out quite a few Daylilies last fall and this spring to make more room for native plants.  The milkweeds are in bud now.  I see they were in full bloom last July.


Aren't milkweed flowers beautiful?


The Short-toothed mountain mint is not as tall this year as it has been in the past.  Here's what it looked like last July.


The pollinators love Culver's root.


The Golden alexanders seedheads stay looking pretty good all season.  The plants are taller this year, and are blocking some of the plants that were taller than them the last couple of years, including this clump of culver's root.



Some plants are behind usual this year, but others are on time or a bit early.  The Wild quinine will be blooming by Saturday, but maybe not as full as this.


It's another one that the pollinators feed on frequently.



Here's what is probably the tallest plant here, Rudbeckia maxima.  That's Wild senna on the left.  I dug up about 12 seedlings that I will be giving away at the garden tour.


I can't remember the kind of Poppy mallow this one is, but it is a taller blooming one, and not native to here.  The Gray-headed coneflowers on the right were beginning to bloom last July 7.


The Purple milkweed is in bud now, so maybe there will be some color by Saturday.


Here's a wider view, including an aster, 'Jim Crockett'.  It was named for the man whose show I used to watch, Crocket's Victory Garden.  The Purple poppy mallow plants are already blooming.


I thinned out some of the coneflowers this spring, and have moved some other things around, so this area will look a bit different this season.   I'm pretty sure the front ones are Echinacea pallida.  There are still plenty of coneflowers left, though.  I don't remember whether the white blooms are fleabane or boltonia.


Rattlesnake master is one of the bees and wasps, and my favorites. 


Here's a view I seem to like to show.  I've been cutting back the Joe Pye weed, the plant on the left, closest to the house so that it will be bushier and not flop.  I did that last year, too, yet it still got pretty tall.  I recently found the tag, which said it is 'Gateway'. 


I realized I didn't have some that I wanted to show, so these are from July 10 and 11.

I'm pretty sure this is a red admiral butterfly on some Monarda.  This may be  'Pink Delight'.


This is the area to the east of the back yard.  I've been trimming back the goldenrods and asters, so I'm thinking they won't bloom as early as they did last year.  The blue round blooms are Globe thistle.  While not native, they are loved by the bees and wasps.


This is Virginia mountain mint.  Again, the pollinators seem to love white blooms. 


This is clematis pitcheri.  The plant is doing pretty well on the trellis that looks like a bench, and one that is on the structure around the light pole is doing OK.  I keep having to pull out the potato vine that keeps coming up and is a very nasty plant.


Oh, and here is a photo of Wild senna from July 17.  I have 12 little plants to give away to the first people who want them.



We had some pretty strong storms in our area Tuesday evening, and we did not get the worst of it.  I had spent some time tying plants up so they wouldn't get blown about as much.  It must have helped, because there were some I didn't get tied, that were splayed on the ground.  I tied those up today, and they seem to be doing OK.

I hope some of you are here because you came to the tour and wanted to see what things may look like in a month.  Of course, most of our yard is visible from the street, so please drive by and wave at me if I'm out.

13 comments:

  1. Your garden is so lovely right now. I covet those purple prairie clover--I've been trying for 2 years to start them from seed with no luck.
    The bees must be very happy indeed at your corner. Beautiful!

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    1. I just visited your blog, Sue, and see the comments are still closed. I am not as organized as you are to keep track of things. Your blog truly is a garden journal. I enjoy reading about your goings on and seeing photos of your place.

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  2. How exciting to be on a garden tour. People will be delighted with you gardens.

    Enjoy ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Here's hoping the weather will be great that day of the garden tour. You have some great natives (I grow alot myself) but I have never seen the quinine nor the mountain mint. Perhaps they are not in my area. I do have one senna plant that looks exactly like yours. I do find it hard to place in the garden.

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  4. Sue, your flowers are always magnificent. My Spring blooms are dwindling fast. The peonies are giving their last gasp and the Iris are pretty much done. Now the yard is bloom free until the Hostas display their plumage in the fall. Your black-eyed Susan's look so wonderful. It's one of my favorite plants but I just don't have the knack for growing them. I've tried several times but always a wind storm comes along and blows them flat and they don't return the next year. I have the same issue with the Echinacea. Hollyhocks another favorite flower of mine hasn't really had produced much success either. My flower growing skills are rather lacking as you can plainly see. It's why I'm so fascinated by how easily you grow your flower gardens.

    Have a great neighborhood tour day.

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  5. How lovely that you were chosen for the garden tour. You'll be very busy answering questions! Your photos are lovely, as always.

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  6. I found three, one gallon Rattlesnake master plants at the Habitat ReStore a few weeks ago. I don't know if they'll bloom this year but it would be cool if they looked half as good as yours do. I sure wish I could find purple milkweed. Yours is heavenly. I love all your plants. So pretty.

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    1. I hope your Rattlesnake master plants do well, Grace. It sure is a cool plant! The purple milkweed was blooming for the tour. I was pleased about that. I hope you end up finding some if it can grow in your area.

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  7. Thank you for taking the time to share your garden. I always enjoy seeing how everything is progressing. Absolutely beautiful.

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  8. How did the garden tour go? Did you have lots of people go through? Were they asking good questions?!

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  9. Thank you for the nice comments. The tour went very well. I had so much fun that I was able to go without eating for 5 hours without getting crabby. I didn't even get a chance to take any photos! People were interested in both the native and non-native plants. One guy was visiting with me about how he starts native plants for his butterfly garden from seeds. I would have liked to visit with him more, but there were quite a few other people here while he was here. The plant that people were the most interested in was the Purple meadow rue. Many also loved the foliage of the Wild senna, and all of the plants got given away. Larry enjoyed sitting in the back yard, and visiting with people about his water garden in a big oval tub. Since it was a neighborhood tour, he also had fun connecting with people he knew when he was younger. Oh, and I also got to see people I know from gardening and other places.

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  10. Really Beautiful pics! Thank you so much for the beauty you sharing and congratulation for your garden! Living In NY I'm appreciating even more the importance to having a "green garden" around the house and especially now that I'm going to become father in 4 months :) I'm more concern and interested to create a small gardening. Hope step by step to grow a nice garden like your. How many hours per day do you normally dedicate to your garden ? Thank you again for your work. Sincerely James Smith http://www.simpledailyhealth.com

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  11. Hi Dear,
    just found you and have to say: Your garden is a paradise and a treasure!!! So many rare plants you have and all of them are amazing!!!
    All the best to you and sunny days
    Elisabeth

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.