So much to do, so little time! The summer is so short here that I'm determined to savor every minute of it that I can. Much of the garden is in it's third year and really starting to look good. Let's take a quick tour to see what's blooming today.
This peony was at my mother's for as long as I can remember. Originally she had three in the back yard and when they were done blooming, more often than not, they were fair game for the lawn mower. Only one survived and Mom said I could take it. I divided it into three and last year got just a couple of blooms on each plant. All three are looking great this year. This is my favorite corner in the garden right now. You can also see the lupines in the background and some hot pink dianthus at the bottom right.
This is another view of the same corner highlighting the red husker penstemon. I'll write more about my quest for this plant and my general love of penstemon some other time but I'm loving the dark foliage and white flowers.
Here's a close-up of the delicate flowers.Note the splash of yellow in the top left corner.
The sundrops are planted behind the ditch lilies and peek out at you as you move around the corner. Right now the sunflowers that are also planted here are well hidden by them.
In front of the ditch lilies are these sweet little geraniums. They have formed a nice clump and are spreading.The middle of this bed is bloomless right now. The azalea is done. The delphiniums have lots of buds. The monarda, butterfly bush, datura metal and red lilies are coming along nicely but are no where near ready to bloom so let's take a peek at the bed on the other side of the walkway.
Not very exciting today I'm afraid. The chives are still blooming but have seen better days. The irises and azalea are spent. Everything else is budding like crazy but apparently most of the plants in this bed missed the memo about today being bloom day.
The picture has washed most of the color out of these dianthus. I call them electric red. When I bought them three years ago they were clearly marked annual. So I've proved it pays not to get the garden cleaned up in the fall. I never remove a plant now until the spring just in case!
This is the best these salvia have ever looked. I'm happy with them this year but if they get a little bigger this year I'll be thrilled.
This tiny little lipstick daisy is way in the back of the bed. Long story and this is a quick tour but it will have a new home soon.
OK, back to the other side of the walkway at the far end. The ox-eyed daisies are still making me smile every time I pull into the driveway.
Around the corner to the front of the house we find more dianthus. I bought these at the Symposium in Rochester last September and I thought they would all be the same. Rearranging them is on my rather long to-do list.
Just a little further down the bed becomes shady. This bleeding heart is huge this year. So huge that I cut it back today so the astilbe next to it could get some light. As I cut it back I discovered a foxglove with buds and very pale leaves. I hope that it will bloom now that it can get a little sun.
On the other side of the front steps we find some pansies. I bought them to fill in an empty spot where a balloon flower had died. Surprise! I guess I was a bit impatient.
This is the columbine that my sister gave me. It self seeds well but doesn't form a nice clump so I want to move it to see if it will be happier.
I have two clumps of stella-doro lilies and they will provide color out front all summer long.
These are PINK colombine. I was surprised when they bloomed because I was certain that they were purple. I still haven't figured out what the deal is with my camera but I still can't get it to get the colors right.
In the middle of the bed are hosta, astibles and giant solomon's seal. For more blooms we need to walk down to the end where the foxglove are just starting to put on their show. You can see another of the peonies in the background.Before we continue around to the back of the house, let's take a walk over to the Nightmare Bed.
A couple of the lupines and foxgloves are blooming. The peony is one I rescued from my son's last year and isn't happy here so I will probably be moving it later on.
The blooms are very pretty and I'd love for the plant to thrive.
I received two of these plants at the swap I went to early in the month. I was told it was a bluebell. I also received another totally different looking plant I was told was called bluebell. This one has very little foliage, just a stalk with a couple of short thin leaves. I have it in full sun. Does anyone recognize it?
Early daylilies, also rescued from my son's.Now you know why this is the nightmare bed. I will get it weeded eventually, really.
A snapdragon volunteer.The nightmare bed needs a lot of work but school will be out in two weeks and I'll work on it then. I actually looks better than it did last year ;-)
We'll take a detour out toward the woods.
We'll take a detour out toward the woods.
The fuchsia I got at the market hangs from the white pine.
These foxglove grow right along with the wildflowers and weeds. A single plant found here three years ago is the source of all the foxglove in my garden.
The spiderwart is blooming next to the shed. The blooms are purple rather than the blue my camera wants you to think they are.Back up by the house the hibiscus is still blooming but was looking a little battered today and camera shy. A new dianthus that I don't remember planting decided to bloom today - after I was done taking pictures and the sun was beating down. It is a lovely pink that I am very happy with.
I received this tickseed for Mother's Day. The Robin's chose this plant to have a fight in this morning so it looks a little beat up. Why do they have to fight in the garden when I have over a 1/2 acre on lawn?
The surprise purple penstemon is now in full bloom.
This is the only blanket flower bloom in the backyard patch. The patch out by the road has lots of blooms. I hope all the truckers that are being detoured onto our road are enjoying them.
No blooms here but we're getting lots of strawberries this year - and the critters haven't been eating them on us this year :-))
This is another penstemon that I picked up at Seneca Hill.
I even have blooms this year on the far side of the garage! More lilies rescued from my son this year.
Country Girl brought me this two weeks ago and I still haven't planted it. It doesn't seem to care as it is blooming anyway.That concludes today's tour and I hope you enjoyed it. For more blooms from around the world visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.
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