Late Summer Rains and Sightings

Viburnum 'Brandywine' with rough green snake.

 

Close-up of berries.

 

This past week we've had a couple of big storms bring a lot of wind and rain--yesterday's thunderstorm dropped 1.67" of rain on my still somewhat parched garden. These late summer rains have brought out some fascinating sights that I wanted to share.

Let's start with the Viburnum 'Brandywine' berries--this is my favorite stage as they are turning pink, with a few blues here and there. Eventually they will all ripen to dark blue and then black. I took the first photo and didn't notice that there was a little green snake crawling on the branch--it wasn't until I downloaded the photos and looked at them on my computer screen that I realized that what I'd taken for a blade of grass was actually a green snake!

As I understand it, these rough green snakes (Opheodrys aestivus) eat caterpillars and other small insects, and he might have been feasting on clearwing hummingbird moth caterpillars. Viburnum is one of the host plants for this moth, and I've seen quite a few of the moths here this summer nectaring on the Asian butterfly bush. I've seen the caterpillars on previous years, but not recently. I wonder if that could be the reason why? 

 

Clearwing hummingbird moth on Butterfly bush (photo taken by David Maza).

 

The abundant rain has stimulated my 'Natchez' crape-myrtle to produce more blooms than ever before, and my Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance' has been sufficiently spared by the deer to offer a few blooms too.

 

Crape Myrtle 'Natchez'

Abelia 'Panoramic Color Radiance' is blooming.

 

The wild Petunias planted a couple of years ago keep getting eaten by the deer, but recently one of the three plants managed to offer enough flowers to appreciate its beauty. This year I grew some Mignonette (Reseda odorata) from seed. Its flowers aren't exactly showy but the scent is supposed to be wonderful. I've only detected a slight perfume, but the bees love it, so I hope it will re-seed itself for next year.

 

Wild Petunia (Ruellia humilis)

Mignonette (Reseda odorata)

Another pleasant surprise to see was that one of the two Viburnums that I grew from seed collected at Brookside Gardens had some flower buds--my Viburnums appear to be of the Leatherleaf variety or perhaps a hybrid of them--Brookside has quite a variety of Viburnums growing in that area. I'm curious to see what the flowers will be like. Let's hope the deer won't devour them--they seem to be blooming unseasonably, but some Viburnums do bloom at this time of the year.

Viburnum flower buds.

The deer left me a few buds of the bush Clematis 'True Love' to enjoy--the color is lovely!

Clematis 'True Love'

My double flowering quince has produced a few out of season blooms, and other summer flowers are re-blooming after being cut back:  Verbascum 'Southerm Charm' and a red-hot poker.

Double-flowering quince

Verbascum 'Southern Charm' rebloom.

Red-hot Pokers reblooming.

With autumn just around the corner, the Japanese Anemone 'Honorine Jobert' is developing flower buds. It lives under a protective cloche which I removed to take the photograph, but any buds that protrude from the cloche get eaten.

 

Anemone 'Honorine Jobert'

The deer overlooked a few of the blue Lobelias this year--in better years I've had a gorgeous display of these native flowers which have spread over this east bed. Maybe next year?

Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilitica) in the east bed.

At last, my Salvia 'Black and Blue' is blooming! This hummingbird favorite is usually grown in a pot along the front walk, and I'd never known deer to nip it before, but this year they started to munch on it at the height of the drought, so I moved it to the deck to keep it out of their reach. The pruning set it back a bit, so it only started to bloom this past week, several weeks later than usual.

 

Brazilian Salvia 'Black and Blue'

 

I just love the color!

A Rainy May Bloom Day

Peony 'Bartzella'

Peony 'Bartzella' in the "Little Indians" bed

It's raining here today in my Zone 6b Virginia garden, a soft and gentle drizzle making our fields and gardens so green and lush...  Bloom Day is hosted by Carol Michel's May Dreams Garden Blog on the 15th of every month. Happy May 2024 Bloom Day!

My 'Bartzella' peony is in its full glory right now, and holding up well in the rain, for which we're so grateful. Last year I separated the old-fashioned iris behind it, but this year's blooms have been very disappointing. 

 

Iris 'Victoria Falls' with double flowering quince beyond.

 

Purple Dutch iris with Sambucus 'Black Lace'

My irises are just finishing their display for the year, although some of the late varieties are still blooming; now the peonies are coming into their own. 'Duchesse de Nemours' in the Herb bed is just starting to open.

 

Peony 'Duchesse de Nemours'

 

A flowering spike of the Texas yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) I planted two years ago has appeared, I'm looking forward to seeing the flowers close-up. The spike is impressive in height thus far, let's hope the flowers are equally pleasing.

 

Flower bud of Hesperaloe parviflora

Both of my Ninebark trees are blooming at this time, as is the Asian dogwood, which has recently been re-named Benthamia kousa, replacing the old genus name of Cornus.

Ninebark tree 'Coppertina' (Physocarpus opulifolius)

"Coppertina' with Kousa dogwood behind

Kousa dogwood (Benthamia kousa) in bloom

 

The native iris (Iris versicolor) under the Redbud tree has produced one bloom thus far; last year it flowered so abundantly, I don't expect anything as profuse this year. The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' was looking much better before the rains, but what can one do? The Salvia 'Pink Profusion' near it was a new addition last fall, but it's not living up to its name yet.

 

Iris versicolor

Verbascum 'Southern Charm' with Salvia 'Pink Profusion'

The other Ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee' near the Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost' complement each other so nicely. Beyond are some Willowleaf starflowers (Amsonia tabernaemontana) with the Anise Hyssop I planted last year, a sedge, and some white Salvia.

 

Ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee' with Japanese maple 'Amber Ghost'

Amsonia tabernaemontana

I have another variety of Amsonia--hubrichtii--growing in the "Little Indians" bed, but these don't seem to be blooming as well as in previous years--they probably need to be broken up and re-planted farther away from the Korean boxwood. They seem to be re-seeding themselves as well.

Amsonia hubrichtii

The bed on the west side of the house has some nice color--Catmint, Salvia 'May Night,' red Dianthus and a yellow flower that I've forgotten the name of. The Clematis 'Appleblossom' climbing up to the deck still has some blooms

Bed on the west side of the house.

West side of the house with new backyard vegetable enclosure.

Another late-blooming bearded iris variety, 'Wine Festival' offered just one flowering spike this year.

Iris 'Wine Festival'

The pink peony is getting ready to open in the front, by the driveway. The purple Dutch iris are just starting to fade as the Allium moly gets going.

Pink peony with Allium and irises beyond.

Dutch iris and Allium moly

My front yard appears to have the fewest flowers at the moment--the last flower of a lone white bearded iris spike and the red 'Double Knockout' rose. The Double Knockout rose was decimated by sawfly larvae, and I didn't see them until it was too late--the poor rose looks as if it had bronze foliage, but it's only the skeletonized leaves.

 

White iris and red 'Double Knockout' rose

A blast of color is provided by the last of the red Amaryllis flowers opening on the porch.

Red Amaryllis buds.

The Most Beautiful Time of the Year

Fringe tree and 'Blue Barlow' Columbines.

Pagoda dogwood on left, fringe tree and Full Moon maple on the right.

On the east side of the house, my ornamental trees are putting on a lovely show: The Pagoda dogwood (now called Swida alternifolia, a new name for this genus) on the left was in full flower a week ago, along with the Virginia Fringe tree (Chionanthus virginicus). The 'Blue Barlow' Columbines under the trees present a strong contrast to the color of the full moon maple near by.

Such beauty is short-lived, and now the dogwood is setting seed while the Fringe tree finishes its cycle of bloom. But, the progression of flowers continues with lots of other plants.

Yellow iris in front bed.

Yellow iris and blue Camassia on the left.

Front bed by the driveway.

 

The bearded irises started opening around the first of the month, and continue to delight. One of the things I love the most about irises is that deer won't touch them, and they do well in almost any kind of soil. The bi-color 'Blatant' is one of the earliest to bloom, and it's still going strong, joined by the imposing 'Victoria Falls' in the back bed.

The bed in front of the house hasn't offered much of a display this year--I dug up and separated the rhizomes earlier this spring--but the bed by the driveway made up for it with plenty of yellow blooms, and another patch of yellow iris with blue Camassia 'Quamash' on the west side is very pretty.

Bearded iris 'Victoria Falls' on the left and 'Blatant' on the right.

A bicolor iris, unnamed variety.

Iris 'Wine Festival'

 

We've had some good rainstorms this spring, a much-needed respite from last year's drought, so other shrubs and trees are coming into bloom now. The Salvia 'May Night' with the yellow flowers by the side of the house looks so nice.

 

Salvia 'May Night' with yellow Coreopsis on the west side of the house.

Both of my Ninebark trees are starting to bloom too: 'Amber Jubilee' on the west side, and 'Coppertina' in the Badlands.

Ninebark tree 'Amber Jubilee'

NInebark 'Coppertina' in the Badlands bed.

Close-up of 'Coppertina'

The Verbascum 'Southern Charm' which my sister Silvia gave last year is also blooming well under the Seven Son Flower tree in back. I can't wait to see what the coneflowers in the bed will do this summer--last year the deer ate almost every flower here, let's hope this year they'll find something else to snack on.

 

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'.

Peony 'Coral Charm'

 

I transplanted the 'Coral Charm' peony that had been waning for the past couple of years in the front bed to the Herb bed last year. With the help of lots of fertilizer it seems to have recovered enough vitality to produce one flower this year. Not a great show, but perhaps the beginning of its recovery?

First flower of Peony 'Bartzella'

My other peonies are just starting to open up, I hope they'll be the stars for this month's Bloom Day coming up next week. I hope my flowers last long enough to have plenty to show then!