Friday, July 15, 2016

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day - July

Good day and welcome to Greenbow's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day brought to you with the urging of Carol at May Dreams Garden who started this meme years ago. It has been a nice way to keep a pictorial record of what is in bloom at the 15th of each month. However if you follow me you know I am not all that good at keeping up with scheduled projects. I guess that is what happens to you when you retire. 
The above Swamp Milkweed I planted this spring is doing quite well. After the initial shock of being planted in a not so swampy area two out of the three plants I planted are blooming up a storm. of course the milkweed bugs came out in force to partake of them. They don't seem to do damage and they are a lively color in the garden so I don't worry about them. 
I have a couple of pots blooming up a storm. Do they count as bloom day plantings? Somehow a planter to me shouldn't really count because they are set up for the perfect conditions to grow and bloom. 
I like them anyway. My  planters have had a difficult time this year. I didn't think we were going on vacation and just as I got them planted my DB decided we needed to go. So who am I to argue? Off we went and a dear friend watered for me. I will have to do a post just about pots. I did a bang up job of filling about every pot I own. 
The last of the daylilies are blooming. I mean this is the last one on this clump. 
Here (above) we have a few more buds. 
The last of the red ones out front are blooming here in the background and the Rudebeckia tribola is begining to bloom. 
A few of the tall lilies are blooming. 
I just love these tiger lilies. 
The above lily looks a lot like stargazer but it has no scent. It makes me wonder.
The hardy hibiscus is starting to bloom. It looks like the dreaded Japanese Beetles have been after some of the blooms. 
The last of the hydrangeas are blooming too.
The ever beautiful Strawberry Vanilla Hydrangea that always reminds me of the dear friends that gave it to me has yet to hit it's peak. I can't wait to see the strawberry pink tinge. 
The crocosmia is blooming profusely. As you can see Lucifer is trying to dominate the path along with the hosta blooms. 
This more orangey colored crocosmia has to be kept under control due to it's wish to take over this end of the flower bed.  To me it is worth it because I love to cut blooms for bouquets. They do a dash of drama. 
Last but not least a flower that I can never remember the name of but it blooms up a storm even though it doesn't get enough sun to keep it upright. 
So that is about it for this month. There are more things blooming but I figure I have swamped you with a few too many pictures as it is. I will list below that which I haven't shown you. 
Please join me by posting about your blooming plants.  If you don't have any right now you can go to Carol's here and get a lot of inspiration.
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Other Blooms:
Spiderwort
Russian Sage
Lamium
Hostas
Weigelia
Pink and White Tall Garden Phlox
Black and Blue Salvia
Wendy's Wish Salvia
Cat mint
Pink Monarda
Tomatoes
Cleome
Beauty Berry Shrub
Joe Pie Weed
Dicentra formosa
Heuchera





Friday, July 1, 2016

July Daylily Parade

I can't believe that July is here. June simply evaporated. Part of the reason why I feel this way is because we were away for almost 2 weeks during June. When we returned I nearly fainted at how the weeds tried to take over. It is amazing how my daily putzing in the garden keep the weeds from becoming a major factor. I can now appreciate my own efforts. I had to call in my Dearly Beloved to help tame the beast.

Sophie asked if my daylilies were still blooming. Most of them are blooming now. The very first ones and the ones in the most shade are not but I have a fair amount of them blooming. The following is the daylily parade with the names below the picture of the ones I know or think I know the name.
Paper Butterfly 

Father-in-law 
May May
Mallard 
Baltimore Oriole 
This peachy one and the one below might be part of the Chicago series. 

This is a small one. Nameless at this time. 
This is is supposed to be fragrant. I can't remember what it smells like since my smeller doesn't work so good any more. 
??
Golden Hibiscus 
Wilson's Spider 
George C. Bingham

Now don't go and get all apoplectic on me since I don't know the names for all my daylilies. I have had most of them since the late 90's.  My newest ones are Golden Hibiscus and the Wilson's Spider and I believe they are a 2004 vintage. When I see all the beautiful colors and ruffly petals of the newer varities it makes me want to purchase more. I am trying to not have so much of that strappy foliage in the garden, however if I run into a purple variety someplace I will probably succumb.

My tall lilies are about gone. I have a few with buds. We need rain to make them pop open. Maybe this weekend. 

Speaking of the weekend, I hope you all have a wonderful 4th of July Weekend.  Enjoy and be safe.




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