July Sizzle

Bench on the back deck

 

The temperature is sizzling on these first days of July, and we've had some 100 degree days this week. Despite the continuing drought, I'm surprised my garden has such a nice display at this time of the year. I attribute it to the new deer repellents placed all over the yard--I haven't seen this many flowers  in several years.

Starting with the front walk, the pink gladiolus and potted Salvias are putting on a good show.

 

Gladiolus in front

Potted plants along the front walk

My climbing rose 'New Dawn'  didn't put on as great a display as in other years--it badly needs pruning and re-training, but still, it's something. My Clematis 'Etoile Violette' seems to have disappeared, probably smothered out by the rose and a black walnut the squirrels planted there that I haven't been able to dig out yet. I've dug out at least a dozen walnut seedlings from my beds this past month!

 

Rose 'New Dawn'

The wintergreen 'Fiesta' in the woodland garden to the east has put out some of their charming little flowers, despite the drought and alkaline soil. I hope eventually they'll make a good ground cover there. 

Gaultheria 'Fiesta'

The Hydrangea 'Invincibelle'  is blooming as usual, and the Oak-leaf Hydrangea 'Gatsby Pink'. 'Endless Summer' may yet bloom later on if we get some decent rain, but the lace-cap Hydrangea to its right, which died down to the ground, is not likely to bloom.

 

Hydrangea 'Invincibelle' wih holly 'Nellie Stevens'

 

I've hardly had any blooms on my Daylilies for several years--the deer eat the buds before they have a chance to open, but this year 'Purple de Oro' are looking very nice. Another Daylily on one of the beds west of the house has blooms too.

 

 

 

'Purple de Oro' Daylily

No ID Daylily

The California Lilac (Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles') near the orange Daylily has also escaped the usual browsing. My Crocosmia 'Lucifer' in the back yard beds also seems to have escaped and is stunning this year.

 

Crocosmia 'Lucifer' 

Ceanothus 'Gloire de Versailles'

 

I hadn't seen this many Coneflowers in my back beds in years! Those deer repellents must be working! I hope the goldfinches, which are starting to check out my yard will enjoy the seeds when they're ready.

 

Back bed with Coneflowers

 

Coneflowers under Honeylocust tree

Herb's bed has a lovely display of flowers, mostly wild fleabane that seeded itself, but my Texas Yucca is blooming, one spike of Clary Sage and some Liatris 'Kobold' too. Towards the rear the Agastaches and more Liatris are looking good. The Yellow butterfly weed in the Little Indians bed put out a bit of bloom too, now that the orange ones are past it. Why won't the butterfly weeds all bloom at the same time?

Herb's bed with Texas Yucca, Clary Sage, Liatris 'Kobold' and wild fleabane.

Liatris, Agastache 'Blue Boa' and Coscosmia 'Lucifer'

'Hello Yellow' Butterfly Weed

The Queen Anne's Lace 'Dara' mix I planted in the Little Indians bed has produced some pink and purplish flowers for the first time--the white ones had predominated before.

Queen Anne's Lace 'Dara' Mix

 

Here's hoping we get some rain soon--it's been a very dry and hot spell, and the predicted thunderstorms have brought only fractions of an inch thus far. I've been spending a fortune watering my garden this year.

I'll be traveling for ten days leaving on the 10th, so I'll miss July's Bloom Day --this posting will have to do until I get back. When I get back I'll be looking into installing an irrigation system. In the meantime, happy Bloom Day!

June 2026 Bloom Day

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sunset'

It's the 15th of June 2026, Bloom Day for garden bloggers hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams blog. Not to be confused with the literary Bloomsday celebration in Ireland, commemorating James Joyce's novel Ulysses, which takes place on a June 16th of the early 1900's, whose protagonist is Leopold Bloom. The Bloomsday literary festival in Dublin now extends over the entire week.

This post is being written a few days earlier, since today I have to help hang our Botanical Art Society of the National Capital Region's (BASNCR) Botanica 2026 exhibition at Brookside Gardens in Maryland. Our theme is a celebration of this year's 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, titled "Enduring Plants from Colonial Times" and I'm proud to say one of my paintings was chosen for the exhibition poster.

 

"Red White and Blue Lobelias" watercolor, 

 

The models for my painting were plants from my garden, Cardinal Flowers (Lobelia cardinalis) for the red, and Blue Lobelias (Lobelia syphilitica) for the blue and white. Thomas Jefferson grew the Cardinal Flower in his gardens at Monticello, and George Washington grew the Blue Lobelias in Mount Vernon's gardens. Of course, these are not blooming right now, but they'll put on a show later in summer.

Here's what is blooming right now in my garden--butterfly weed bushes, and the Fritillary butterflies love them! There were several flirting about when I took this shot, but only one posed.

 

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa) with Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly

 

The Little Indians bed in the east

The red-hot pokers are also putting on a show--two colors in the long island bed by the veggie pagoda, and orange ones on the west side of the house. This spring my 'Color Guard' Yucca regenerated some bi-color growth, so I cut back the ordinary green ones that were overtaking the plant, hoping the golden foliage will predominate once again. But, no flowers are likely this year. 

 

Red-hot pokers (Knifophia uvaria) with Yucca "Color Guard'

 

Red-hot Pokers with creeping and English thyme.

Salvia 'Pink Nebula' with rosemary and English thyme

Red-hot pokers and red yarrow on west side of the house.

The Texas Yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) in the Herb bed is sporting a flower spike this year, though not yet open. The Clary sage, which usually is ready to bloom about now, doesn't look like it will have much in the way of flowers this year--it's a biennial, after all. The poppy mallow planted two years ago is making a nice display next to some lavender.

 

Sedum in flower with Texas Yucca spike.

Poppy mallow and lavender 'Hidcote'

The coneflowers in the back bed are starting to open--we'll see how many the deer leave for me to enjoy this year. The new deer repellents seem to be dissuading them somewhat, but some plants are still way too appetizing for them to pass up.

 

Coneflowers in the back bed.

 

A little Cranesbill geranium in the back bed survives only because of a protective wire cloche--it was decimated a few years ago, and is only now recovering enough to flower. It's a constant struggle!

 

Geranium 'Biokovo'

 My shrub roses have escaped the munching thus far, but the 'Simplicity' rose behind them had all its buds eaten, despite the repellent placed right next to it. Ditto for my red 'Double Knockout' rose right along the front walk. 

 

'Petal Pushers' roses along the west front yard.

 

The deer even munched on the leaves of a Rhododendron in the blue pot that I'd been nursing, and my flame azalea (this shot was taken before they ate them back). But they didn't touch the exotic Florida Coonties (Zamia integrifolia) that I grew from seed collected during a trip a few years ago. Those are growing well, but need to come indoors every winter, as they're not hardy.

 

Potted plants in the front yard, Florida Coonties on the right

My  porch baskets are themed red white a blue this year, with 'Pretty Grand mix' petunias, which I love--the blue ones have a wonderful scent! That's it for June, thanks for visiting!

 

Porch baskets

 

June 2024 Bloom Day

Texas Yucca flowering spike (Hesperaloe parviflora)

 

  Today is Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, but tomorrow, June the 16th, is the actual Bloomsday, celebrated in Ireland and many other places by lovers of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses." The events in this novel take place all on one day, June 16th, 1904, as narrated by its protagonist, Leopold Bloom. Upon the 50th anniversary of the publication of "Ulysses" a group of well-known authors decided to make a pilgrimage to all of the sites in Dublin mentioned in Joyce's book and re-enact its scenes, calling it "Bloom's Day". Since then, every year the celebration has become more elaborate--Dublin's 2024 Bloomsday is scheduled to last for an entire week!

  With that little bit of esoteric literary history out of the way, it's back to the garden for us today, thanks to Carol Michel's May Dreams garden blog. Disclosure: I'm scheduled to be at a family reunion this afternoon, thus some of my photos were taken a day or two before--close enough for rock n' roll.

 

Yuccas in bloom, with my new veggie garden enclosure in back.

Yucca flowers with Red-hot pokers beyond.

  We'll start with the Yuccas--this year my Texas Yucca (not actually a Yucca) put forth its first flowering spike, and I was thrilled! Then my 'Color Guard' Yucca, which is reverting to an ordinary leaf-color Yucca (Yucca filamentosa)  put forth two flowering spikes. I'd trimmed the side shoots which carry the flowers for the past two years, in an attempt to prevent their reversion, resulting in no flowers--but I'd rather have the flowers than the yellow-striped foliage, so last fall I left the side shoots alone.

  Yucca flowers are so lovely and they always bring to mind New Mexico: my first home in the U.S., and the site of my first artist residency. I painted my first Yucca flowers as a young teen for a school mural, and sold a watercolor of another Yucca in Santa Fe as artist in residence at the Mill Atelier. I may yet paint another this summer, if I have the time.

 

Clary sage flower buds with Centaurea 'Emperor William' in back.

 

  My Clary sage (Salvia sclarea), a biennial, bloomed last year, but there are more flowers this year--must be from some that re-seeded and overwintered--it's such a statuesque plant! 

  The Butterfly weed is in full bloom, and I finally have some 'Hello Yellow' blooms, though not many yet. The deer keep eating the yellow ones back though they don't touch the orange variety, go figure.

 

Butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa)

Prairie sagebrush (Artemisia frigida) with Butterfly weed behind.

 

  The deer have eaten all of my Asian lilies, and most of my daylilies, despite my efforts to keep them sprayed with repellent. They left only a few for me to enjoy like this delicate peach colored daylily.

Peach dalylily.

  I'm hoping to save a few of my Cone flowers this summer, last year the deer ate every last one of them! The goldfinches were most upset, they love the seeds.

Cone flowers (Echinacea purpurea) and garden Phlox.

  The west back bed is not very colorful right now--it's all white flowers--but the Anise Hyssop here should start to bloom soon, along with a few blooms of the Monarda 'Jacob Kline.'

Virginia mountain mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) and white Salvia

Red-hot pokers (Knifophia uvaria) and Catmint on west side of house

 

  The hydrangeas growing on the east side of the house are particularly susceptible to the depredations of the deer, so this year I've protected them with physical barriers. Its doesn't make for a very scenic garden look, but it's better than seeing the plants decimated.

 

Oak-leaf hydrangea 'Ruby Slippers' and 'Incrediball' beyond.

 

  Many flowers of the 'New Dawn' climbing rose are still hanging on; it's the only rose that has bloomed for me this year. All the other roses have been eaten by deer or had the foliage stripped by the saw-fly larvae.

Climbing rose 'New Dawn'

  The lavender is in full bloom in various parts of the garden, and the bees love it! I think my Buttonbush is going to flower this year finally--that is, if the deer don't eat the buds.

 

Lavender 'Hidcote' and Buttonbush 'Sugar Shack'

Lavender 'Munstead' and pink Monarda in front garden.

Lavender and pink Monarda in front yard.

   The front walk is now lined with my potted plants--the tropicals winter inside the house, and others I grow as annuals. The sedums growing beside the walk are all blooming.

Potted plants along the front walk.

  

  My porch baskets are starting to fill out a bit. I hope to have more success with these side-planters than in past years. Its seems that every year, at least a few side plants dry out and fail, and the baskets end up looking beat-up and skimpy. I'd like to see good coverage of the coconut fiber liners and fullness.

 

Hanging baskets on porch.

 

   Meanwhile, a few goodies in my indoor garden, in the orchid department. The beautiful white Phalaenopsis is blooming again, and a miniature Phal too. Another orchid in the master bath is also blooming.

White Phalaenopsis with miniature Phalaenopsis in bloom.

Mystery orchid in master bath.

       My next posting will be about my artistic pursuits and exciting events related to art. For today, Happy June Bloom Day to all!