Here we are already at the middle of June and soon we'll observe the longest day of the year. I have been loving the extended daylight hours, though not thrilled by the chickens getting up earlier and "talking up a storm until I let them out of their coops."
Flowers are coming on quickly in the garden and some have gone their merry way already. The last of the calla lilies are fading, I've been cutting down the daisies right and left and the last iris bloomed about a week ago and then faded quickly when we had a couple hot days in a row.
It's been exciting to see some of my new plants blooming for the first time and to see others return with a beautiful show for this year.
Life has been busy with a capital B and it's only going to get more so this week. School is out for the summer, for which Levi is quite grateful! Before we know it I'm sure he'll have that look in his eyes that indicates he's ready to go back, ready to see all his friends in one place and have some structure to his days. Until then we'll work at crossing things off his summer bucket list. Things like: burn school papers (boy will the marshmallows roasted over that fire taste extra sweet), sleep in the backyard, go inner-tubing behind the boat, take bike rides, build a fort, have sleep-overs with friends. Cole's goal is to move to Texas by summer's end, until then he will continue working at the store.
Without any more rambling I will share some (lots) of photos of what's blooming in my garden now. I HAVE to share lots now because I really don't have a strong summer garden and in the future there won't be such variety!
The tour will start in the backyard and then we'll come out front.
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Chai, one of my co-gardeners - she lays beautiful green eggs
(Update: Chai died in the summer of 2016, as did Cinnamon and Cookie) |
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| Let's Dance Starlight |
This beautiful Bigleaf Hydrangea was blue on the tag. I don't mind at all that it's blooming pink.
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| Astilbe |
I recently went on the Eugene Symphony Guild's garden tour. It was fun to see the 6 different gardens and their different styles. I picked up a few pieces of garden art including the pink "flower" above.
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| Gartenmeister ? fuchsia |
I bought this beautiful fuchsia for the pink foliage and wasn't even concerned with whether or not it would bloom. I don't think this photo does the pink justice, it's much lovelier in person. The tag is in a "safe place" so until I find it I can't remember the rest of the name.
(I moved it and it bloomed again in 2016 but didn't return for 2017.)
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| geranium from Aretha |
These geraniums have such a lovely color. Aretha tells me they won't take over the garden, but they will spread out. Looking forward to seeing what they do.
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| A native bleeding heart, also from Aretha |
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This happy assortment of flowers is blooming well in the "window box" on the back fence. Hopefully I will keep them happy and not let them dry out as summer goes on.
These snapdragons are doing really well. They were seedlings given to me last year by my friend Katie and they came back nice and strong. I had others across the backyard but they got spots all over their leaves and looked quite unhealthy so I cut them back in hopes of not spreading something to nearby healthy plants.
This hydrangea was a $3.50 rescue plant in a gallon pot from Home Depot a few summers ago. It is thriving and loaded with blooms. I got another rescue hydrangea at the same time but couldn't decide where to put it so didn't get it planted until about 10 months later and it is still fairly small and not yet in bloom.
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| Allium planted last fall |
I wonder just how many tiny flowers there are on this purple globe but I don't have the time to dismantle it and count them so I'll just let it go...
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| Morning glory from seeds sown this spring |
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| Yesterday's morning glory bloom |
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| The bud of tomorrow's morning glory. |
This morning glory bud reminds me of hand spun candy. Gorgeous! From here we'll move to the front to see what's blooming out there.
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| To the left of the front sidewalk. |
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| Just across the sidewalk from the above photo. |
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| Fuchsia & lobelia basket |
The daisies along the front sidewalk and driveway are finishing up so I am deadheading and or pulling them up as I can. The coreopsis are in need of deadheading every couple days as well to keep them looking good.
I'm really pleased with my fuchsia baskets this year. For the first time I joined in on one of the Fred Meyer planting days. I got the starts for 5/$3 and then they planted them up in the pots and baskets I provided. I bought additional starts and scared up a few more baskets and planted my own. Three of the baskets are blooming strongly now, 2 others are just about to get started and one is coming along behind those. I also got a bunch of geranium starts at the sale. Meeting a friend there made the waiting in line go fairly quickly and in the end it was all worth it.
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| Hebe in the driveway bed |
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| Monarda Jacob Cline in the driveway bed |
I've wanted a bee balm (Monarda) for quite awhile now. I really want it in pink but when I saw this at the nursery I just couldn't pass up the $5 price for a gallon plant. The flowers remind me of a jester's hat.
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| Gaura |
Last summer while Levi was having his teeth cleaned I took a walk through the neighborhood. There were a couple ladies out gardening in the parking strip and I noticed these beautiful pink flowers. I commented on them and the owner of the property invited me to just dig some up. We decided that since it was in the 90s that day I should come back later and that's just what I did when I had my appointment a month or so later. I got 2 plants, one is growing big and covered with blooms, the other was planted in a different location and it's still on the small side with no blooms yet. From reading about them I am aware that I should deadhead them to prevent having them reseed all over the place.
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| Geranium |
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| Daisies, Rose campion and the raspberry patch beyond |
The geranium above was a "gift" from a friend many years ago. Unfortunately this IS one that grows by underground runners and it seems nearly impossible to get it out of the garden. I think it's very pretty but I just wish it would behave itself better than it does! If I offer you one of them please know that you've been warned!
The daisies came from Mom years ago, I'll always have them I'm sure. In part because they readily reseed themselves and come up by the "millions" and partly because it is something from her garden that is a wonderful reminder of her generous spirit. Who knows where the rose campion came from. A bird must have shared them with us years ago and I love the color so I let them stay. The raspberries (from Dad and Mom several years ago) are going strong in this location and in fact this year I have been too busy to keep up with the picking!
(Update: The raspberries had a fair harvest in 2016 but really went downhill in 2017. I plan to start over with a new berry patch where we used to park the boat before selling it in late 2016.)
The passionflower is not thriving. I have spent the last few weeks trying to figure out if it's getting too little water, too much water, not enough fertilizer or WHAT! Last week it did have 44 blooms on one day, but many of the buds are just turning yellow and drying up.
(Update: The passionflower was fantastic in 2016 but died back in the winter and there was no sign of it in early spring of 2017. Eventually some starts began appearing in the area of the pot that contained it and by early August of 2017 it was doing pretty well. I don't expect any blooms until 2018 though.)
I'm joining up with Carol of
May Dreams Gardens for the Garden Blogger's Bloom Day. Go check out what's blooming in other gardens across the
country and around the world.
As always, I'd love to know you stopped by so please take time to leave a comment. Happy Bloom Day!
