Foliage Follow up

Thanks to Pam, who hosts Foliage Follow up, I pay more attention and appreciate the differences in the foliage of a variety of plants.

I love the spiky foliage of Whorled milkweed.

And then, there are the huge leaves of the Cup plant.  Water is held where the leaves meet the stems.  Birds and insects drink from them.

I have enjoyed the look of the Agastache 'Golden Jubilee' next to the yellow blooming Foxglove.

I was tickled to get a couple starts of Illinois bundleflower from a local friend, after the seeds I planted in the fall did not come up.  Isn't the foliage pretty?

Rattlesnake master has foliage that reminds me of some of Pam's plants.

Look at the huge leaves of the Rudbeckia maxima!

Grayhead coneflower and Liatris pycnostachya 'Eureka':

Little bluestem and Wild senna:

Zigzag goldenrod:

Globe thistle and Amsonia hubrichtii:

Autumn joy type of sedum, and Costmary:

Black Jack sedum and Rabbitbrush, with maybe a Phlox on the right:

I love the silvery foliage of the Pussytoes.

The foliage of Lead plant is one of my favorites.  I plan on getting some dried this season to make tea with.

I was able to do some succession plantings of lettuce this spring, and we are still enjoying salads, but it's been warm enough for some to bolt, so, the season for this crop will soon be over.

I think I always post more photos than Pam does.  I just have too much trouble deciding what to include, and what not to include.  Go check out her cool water garden, and find the links to other Foliage Follow up posts.

Blooms in the Middle of June

Bloom times for most flowers continue to be behind last spring, and we sure have had much more rain than usual.  Gardening is always an adventure, and I am enjoying the progression of the season.  I took photos of lots of blooms for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.  Like I normally do, I'll switch back and forth between providing common or botanical names for them.

Here's the unnamed rose I rescued a number of years ago from the sale table at a local garden center.  It's the only rose that I grow, because it doesn't seem to require special treatment.

The milkweeds are just in bud.  The pretty pink blooms will probably not be open next month, so I'll include them here.

The coneflowers are just beginning to open their buds.

This bush blue clematis has done well for a number of years.

This is a native Verbena, a low growing spreader.

These Sedums survived winter in this spot.

Purple milkweed:

Golden alexander, a host plant for black swallowtail caterpillars:

I wish I kept better track of the names of different plants.  This large blooming clematis has been growing in front of our porch a number of years.

Amsonia tabernaemontana:

Pincushion flower:

The last bloom of the Gas plant:

Rue, a host plant for swallowtail caterpillars:

Sweet peas:

I think this is Echinacea paradoxa.

The Baptisias are almost finished blooming.

The Shell leaf penstemons are almost finished blooming, too.  I sure love them!

 

These are either Phlox pilosa (Practically Perfect Pink Phlox, according to Gail) or Phlox pilosa 'eco happy traveler'.  I have both, and can't tell the difference.  This is the largest clump.  The rest are pretty small, but seem to be spreading a bit more.

I'm pretty sure this is New Jersey tea.  I am excited for the blooms to open.  I planted it last year, and it did not bloom then.

The Winecups, or Poppy Mallow are doing well.  This clump of 'Logan Calhoun' is very full of blooms.

I planted several Coreopsis lanceolatas last year, and am pleased to see them loaded with blooms this year.

A neighbor lady gave me a start of Honeysuckle when we first moved here 15 years ago.  You can smell these blooms a ways away from it.

A Verbascum of some kind:

I was pleased to find a couple Birdsfoot violets this spring, and they are blooming.

Knautia macedonicas bloom all summer.

This is one of the first coneflowers I planted in this bed, maybe 10 years ago.  I'm thinking it's Narrow leaf purple coneflower.  I planted a few more last year, and even more this year.  Some of them, though, are the Black Sampson kind.  You can see a couple poppy seedheads in this photo.

My friend, Janet, gave me some seedlings of Nigella a few years ago, and this is the best they've done so far.  I cut off some of the seed pods today, hoping to extend the bloom time.

I have been able to keep the Pink primrose from spreading farther than the space I have for them.

A couple hoverflies have been enjoying the blooms on the Foxglove for a few days.  They are fun to watch.

The comfrey plant falls over when it's finished blooming.  I cut it back, and put it on the compost pile, and it grows back, and I'm thinking, blooms again.  This year, I plan to put it in a bucket with some water, and find out how many days to leave it before using it to fertilize my vegetable plants.

The Phlox divaricata plants are almost finished blooming.

I have several spiderwort plants, each with a different color.  I think some have bred with each other, and I have some new colors.

The Lady's mantle and catmint are looking pretty next to each other.  When the Irises were blooming, it was a very nice grouping.  Can you see the Spiderwort in the corner?

I am hoping to keep the Evening primrose from spreading too far.

I don't remember which kind of Amsonia this is.  Unlike the others, it's a spreader, and blooms a little later than the others, which I seem to have a collection of.  It is one I need to keep in check from time to time.

Heidi wants you to know this is Salvia plumosa.

I seem to have a couple kinds of Meadow rue.  Two of the four plants are about 6 feet tall this year.  Maybe it's because of all of the rain we've had. 

The Wild quinines are just opening their buds.  These flowers will look good all season.

I think this is the Allium I bought from a woman selling plants from her yard over 30 years ago.

I didn't get these Clematis plants cut back this spring like I usually do, but did clean them up a bit before they started blooming.  I love how these two intertwine.

I did not plant as many annuals as usual this year.  We are enjoying these Nicotianas and the Lantana, Dalia, Coleus and Sweet potato vines in this double wash tub on our deck.

 I have not been keeping up with blog reading for awhile.  I hope all is well with you and your gardens.  I hope to catch up soon.