Little Leaf Linden - Ah the Sweet Smell of Summer

After weeks of dire predictions of rain and wind and nothing happening, we finally got rain and wind.  Lots of rain in fact.  I have watched clouds roll by to the north and south whilst watering my yard.  This morning I went out to get the newspaper in between the raindrops and this wonderful aroma assaulted my nostrils.  The little leaf lindens were blooming.  Enjoy the photos.  Alas, I do not have smellovision.

 A bee, undaunted by rain, enjoys the nectar too

Sunshine Yellow

I spent yesterday afternoon with my grandson at PBS Kid's Live.  I got to see Barney perform.

Charlie enjoyed it.  I'll spare you the videos of the noise.  We also saw, Daniel Tiger, Sid the Science Kid, Super Why, Clifford and Nature Cat.  And took lots of pictures.

Once at home I decided the grass needed cutting.  Yes, I cut the grass even though I am pretty sure that is what caused the hives.  But since grass pollen season is coming to an end, I am hoping for the best.  I still am itching, but at least after using the lotion it eases up in a short time.

Closer to eight o'clock in the evening, as the sun was going down in the western sky, I looked out of the kitchen window and saw these wonderful pictures of the flowers in the late sun.  Here is a view of my kitchen windows onto the north gardens, taken early this spring for a post I never wrote.

And here are some of the flowers that opened yesterday and today in the garden.

Daylily 'Happy Returns'  I love how the sun was hitting the flower and making it look like a mini-sun.

Rocky stonecrop sedum growing by the bridge.  This plant was given to me back in the 70's by a co-worker at the hospital.  It has spread over much of the back garden.

Flowers on heliopsis.  I had four of these, but this spring only one plant emerged.  I am blaming the moles and voles for their demise.  I started these plants from seeds back when these gardens were put in around 1974.  Again, the sun is going right through them.

Oriental lily 'Connecticut Yankee'.  Last year the rabbits ate all the buds.  This year they made it.

Hosta 'Inniswood'

Daylily 'Golden Prize', which opened this morning.

And there you have it.  Sunshine yellow flowers for a day that is supposed to bring rain.

Wordless Wednesday - The First Day of Summer

Meadow Rue

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June, 2017

Not a lot blooming here right now, but I am willing to share what I have happening.  First we were drowning in rain, and now we are frying in the heat.  Oh well.  Enjoy the blooms.  And if you want to see more flowers, hop on over to MayDreamsGardens.blogspot.com.  Thanks to Carol for hosting.

Here are two pics of the same clematis 'Bonanza'.  Interesting how the light changes the colors.

 I had two lovely clematis years ago that got a fungus and both died.  Imagine my surprise when I noticed a young seedling coming up where the other two were growing.  I am debating digging it up or just leaving it grow up from under a juniper.  What would you do?

This is peony Karl Rosenfield.  It was just exquisite this year.  While going through my old plant labels I found that I used to have two red peonies.  One died at some point and I think it is from moles and voles digging around under ground and destroying the root system.  UPDATE:  The label for this peony say Karl Rosenfield, yet I have often wondered if it was mislabeled.  It appears to look more like Koningin Wilhelmina.  Any peony experts want to weigh in on this?  I have seen plants obviously with the wrong tag at the nursery and attribute this to someone just putting a fallen tag into the nearest pot.

This is a Blaze climbing rose.  Now that I have my fence, it has been able to grow without deer destroying it and this year it is putting on quite the show.  Unfortunately, my other Blaze climber had all of the leaves eaten by the $!*!$$#!&#* rabbits.

This is Bonica, an old shrub rose.  It has so much deer repellent on it I am surprised it hasn't fallen to the ground.  Every year they eat all the blooms - it is in the front yard - but this year I put one of those whirly-gig things in front of it.  If the wind is blowing, it would take their head off.

These other roses are all of the Knock-out variety.

Coral

Red

Pink

Last spring when I was in the Netherlands, I saw this fantastic large astilbe.  I found this 'Mighty Red Quinn' at the garden center and had to have it.  It's blooms are just starting to open.

This is an addition to the new planting area I made.  It is a butterfly bush called 'Prince Charming.'  Finally, after all these years, I have found him.  And all he needs is sun and water.  What a deal!

I have many varieties of coral bells and I do not grow them for their flowers, but these old fashioned ones were quite nice this year.  

Empress Wu hosta is sending up the flower shoots.  Last year the deer ate these too, not that it might not still happen.  One leaf is 12" x 14"  and the plant stands about three feet tall without the flowers.

This is Anthony Waterer spirea which I planted over 30 years ago.   Last year I gave them a major haircut and now they look much better.

This is Little Princess spirea and the bees were loving it.  Since I am highly allergic, I did not get too close.

This is the Kousa dogwood which is fading, but I had to post a picture of how lovely it was in full bloom.

This is Lady's Mantle and not only has it really taken off this year, I have five new plants that are also coming along.  A yoga buddy gave me a few small plants a few years ago.

Lamb's ears.  I used to have these  about 30 years ago or more.  Then they disappeared.  Last year two plants suddenly appeared.  BTW, see that mini-hosta on the left?  It is not a mini but it is what happens when voles destroy the root system of a large hosta.  

Sedum selskianum, the first to bloom and it must be loving this weather even if I am not.

Speedwell 'Waterperry Blue'.  I planted three of these as ground cover.  I am hoping that the day will come when ground covers cover all the open areas and I can forget the mulching.  

Last but not least, my new tree.  It is a crabapple called 'Royal Raindrops'.  Having purchased Prince Charming, I needed something royal to go along with it.  Actually, my two old crabapples are not faring too well and this one will replace one of them if it dies.

It has a lovely dark-red cut leaf resembling a maple.  I hope to be here many years watching it grow.

And there you have it.  The real show is yet to come so here is a pic of green, soon to be in technicolor.

You can hop like a bunny over to here to see more blooms.  What's in your garden?

Long May She Wave

Today is Flag Day in the United States.  Someplace around here in my vast collection of photos I have pictures of Betsy Ross's home in Philadelphia.  I visited there in 1967 when I attended my sorority's national convention.  I also have pictures from Fort McHenry in Baltimore from my visit in 1995 during the Government Finance Officers annual meeting.  Someplace.  So, I decided to post pictures that I have on my computer of the flag.  

The Library of Congress

The White House

Blair House

Eisenhower Executive Office Building

Rockefeller Center, New York City

A Sunday Garden in the Rain, the Park and Other Things

It's Sunday.  It is raining and I am not complaining.  It's been more than a week since it rained and if we didn't get any I was going to have to water the flowers.  I may still have to water, just not so much.  Plus, on Doppler it looks like we may get more rain this morning.

So, back here at my Sunday garden, I spent yesterday trying to rescue some hostas whose root systems were destroyed by voles.  I think I am reaching the point of being disgusted with fighting vermin.  There are things I would much rather spend my money on than killing various forms of rats - moles, voles, mice, chipmunks, ground squirrels, tree squirrels...  The next person who tells me they were here first and are god's creatures is going to get punched.  I guess if you are not a vegetable or flower gardener you think they are cute.  I already had to stop trying to grow vegetables due to rabbit and groundhog damage, so I do not appreciate the critters or the comments.  Now...

First, I have a video of the Cowsills singing The Rain, the Park and Other Things.  I only ever bought one 45 rpm single and this was the song.  I was never much of a rock and roll fan, but I did like this song.  Enjoy it while you look at this morning's pics.

I have three varieties of ninebark shrubs and this one put on a beautiful show this year.  It is an older variety and I am not even sure it had a fancy name like the new cultivars do.  It is quite large too, topping the six-foot fence.  Below is 'Cup Race' iris with another ninebark shrub in the background.

My Cornus Kousa dogwood opened and it is just lovely this year.  Covered completely in white flowers.

Next to it is a very old - 40+ years - mock orange shrub.  Last year it did not bloom because I had cut it to the ground the year before when we relandscaped the deck area.  This year it is lovely and the fragrance is magnificent.

A new addition this year is an Itoh peony 'Bartzella':

I don't know about you, but I think this close-up of the flower is just a little creepy:

The first of the knock-out roses has opened.  Since this shrub is in the front yard, I have to keep spraying it to keep the deer away.

And I just had to post this picture of that peony with all the white blossoms now open:

Last but not least, a photo of Wednesday's wisteria growing in front of the neighbor's ugly fence.  Can't wait for all the grasses to fill in and cover up it's ugliness.  Another neighbor called it a 'not neighbor friendly fence'.  He is right.

From the 'Flower Girl', have a great week.