One Bloomin' Season - It's already August!

Welcome.  Is it really possible that we are already in August?  Where did the time go?  Here is the view from one of the kitchen windows in my 'garden kitchen':

That's purple Joe Pye weed standing tall in the back-center of a large flower bed.   Also in that bed are three varieties of heliopsis, the daisy type bloom, and lots of yarrow.

And while all of the daylilies have now appeared and continue to bloom, new hostas are still opening each day.  This past week saw the opening of Hosta 'Gold Standard', an all-time classic.

H. 'First Frost'

H. 'Fortunei Aureomarginata' - I need to move this but don't know where to put it.  It grows on both sides of the fence.

H. 'Guacamole' - it smells wonderful too

H. 'June'

On the left is H. 'Fortunei Aurea' and on the right is H. 'Stained Glass', another fragrant hosta with pale-golden leaves.

And this is H. 'Whirlwind', introduced in 1989 by John Kulpa of Warren, MI.  Yay, John.  I love the variation in those leaves, but then y'all know how much I love hostas.

I'm saving the 'flowering-flowers' for next week, but here is another astilbe that blooms a little later than the others.  It is called 'Color Flash' and has leaves that will change colors as we move into fall.  Fall?  already?

One Bloomin' Season - Week Seven

I just realized that I cut my grass three times in the last ten days.  It rained all day yesterday and more is predicted for tomorrow.  Enough already!

Anyway, here is a sampling of what has been blooming, starting with an croton growing indoors.

Since the view into the back forty hasn't changed much this week, here is a pic of the other side of the fence.  This is the view from the gate and it faces the street at an angle.  It is all astilbe and a few hosta.

Street view:

Way back a gazillion years ago I started daisies from seed.  They are still growing.  I love them and have many plants.

The daylilies are just starting to bloom.  No way will the peak be the Fourth of July this year.  Here is 'Happy Returns'.

The Quick-Fire Hydrangea are opening.  These blooms will turn a rosy pink as the season goes on.

If you smelled something sweet and looked up you would have seen the lovely blooms of little-leaf linden.  Of course that means that eventually I have to deal with seed pods.  Frowny face.

The feather reed grass is blooming now.  I've added several grasses in the back corner where I cut down all the honeysuckle shrubs.  They have now been eradicated from my yard.  I hope.

And last but very certainly not least, hostas are blooming.

 Great Expectations

American Halo

Dream Queen (with Old Glory in the background that may bloom for the 4th)

I know, some of you don't get it.  It's those leaves, those color variations, the size, the ease of growing...

Tours on Sunday.  Call ahead, lol.  Yes, another person dropped by to see but I was busy and told her to come during the week.

One Bloomin' Season - Summer Starts

It's the first week of summer and week six on my garden tour.  It is slow going and I am not sure I will make a July 4 peak in blooming.  We'll see.  This first picture is of a single Dwarf Veronica plant with some budding daisies.  I only bought one Veronica, not knowing how it would take to my garden.  Now, having survived a few years, I might go looking for some more.

Next up is Astilbe 'Rheinland', of which I have several.  That's a Stella de Oro daylily blooming next to it.

And then I have Astilbe 'Visions in Pink' with Coral Bells 'Citronelle' on right.  I absolutely love that lime color!

Here is my rescued Double white peony.  It only has one bloom this year, again, but I am hoping that it continues to thrive.

No one grows Hosta for their flowers, with the exception of Fragrant Hosta, but here is a 'Frances Williams', one of the first hostas I ever bought.  It now grows all over the yard after several divisions.  Did I tell you that I have over 130 hosta plants?

This next one is Hosta 'Elegans'.  This is one big hosta!

And Hosta '???'  UPDATE:  pretty sure this is an unknown blue cup which I will try to identify.

I also have a patch of Houttuynia.  The blossoms are insignificant.  BUT, deer and rabbits do not like the citrus smell and will avoid the area.  It can be a nuisance since it spreads like crazy, but I have yet to deal with that problem in the area it grows.  What I call the 'back swamp'.

Here some Stonecrop sedum lines a pathway.  This has been growing since the garden was first planted 40+ years ago.

A border of Stella de Oro daylilies along the street are blooming.  A combination of smelly sprays and rosemary plants seem to be effective in keeping the deer away.  For now at least.

More yellow with a 'Connecticut Yankee' Oriental Lily...

and one lonely Meadow Rue blowing in the wind.  The Heliopolis flowers are just starting to open.

And so I leave you with this panoramic shot of that front area that I tore out in 2012, replanted, and blogged about.  I've posted pics of many of these plants already this year.

Have a great week and welcome to summer in my garden.

One Bloomin' Season - A Very WET Week Five

As I sit here preparing this post, it is still raining.  I guess that brief spot of sun I saw earlier was just my imagination.  My weekly picture of the garden entrance will be substituted with one of the view from the kitchen door, under the roof overhang, keeping me dry.

Everything always looks nice and green after a rain.  Or during the rain.  This is the area on the east side of the patio.  Fortunately, I took pictures during the week as flowers started blooming.  I've been moving a lot of hostas to new spots.  I hate to throw any good plants away, but I have the kind of neighbors who are mostly into growing weeds, so I look for new areas in my yard.  The last year or so I have been dividing astilbe and now have many plants.  The first one to bloom is 'Deutschland'.

My pink knock-out rose has started blooming, complete with rain-drops.

My climber 'Blaze' is in bloom, below, though it is still pretty short after the winter-kill was removed.

And the beautiful 'Bonica' is also blooming.

My original peony plant has finally opened to a beautiful rose pink.  The bloom will gradually fade to white, if the rain doesn't destroy it first.

Keeping with a 'pink' theme, I have spirea 'Little Princess'

and a really old spirea whose variety I no longer remember.

There is a large clump of Lady's mantle that I am sure is now flattened by the rain.

And last but not least, is a balloon flower that has gone wild in the past few years.  I am literally pulling and tossing this, so if anyone in the area wants some, just give a shout.  With all the rain, I had to take this photo this morning with the telephoto lens.

I did get out in the late afternoon to move some tall grasses and a Rose of Sharon to the area along the neighbor's ugly fence where I cut down all the invasive honeysuckle.   When I put the shovel in the ground, water bubbled up.  It is unbelievably wet out there.  It is supposed to rain ALL week.  Next Monday I may not have any new pictures to post except for puddles.

It Rained - and then it Rained Some More....

First it rained.  And then it rained some more.  And then it really rained.  It was so dark here yesterday at 5:30 P.M. that I had to turn lights on just to walk down a hallway.

Last night at 10 P.M. I was outside with my submersible pump cleaning out window wells that filled with water.  The temperature had dropped so much I had to put a jacket on.  The garden is drenched and the dry river bed in back, well, let's just say it looks more like a pond.

More rain is predicted for today.  I don't know when I will be able to actually get into the garden beds.  If flowers are not along a walkway, it is just too messy to try to get a picture.

The first daylily to open (other than Stella De Oro) is 'Happy Returns', a nice soft yellow. 

 

All of the astilbe are blooming and this double pink is a favorite:

 

 

Astilbes on Parade

 

Something has chewed off some hosta blooms and then left them on the ground.  I am suspecting it's the same rabbit that was chewing up the fern and then leaving it.  Rabbit stew anyone?  I have visions of myself dressed as Elmer Fudd.

Here is Frances Williams:

I wish I could share 'scent' with you, as the Little Leaf Lindens have opened and the fragrance is wonderful.  Last year the sudden warm up and then late frost killed all the flowers.  This year it has certainly made up for it.  Here is part of the crown on one of the trees:

Hope you are getting ready for a great weekend.