June Bloom Day

Island bed.

 

I'm quite a few days late with this post--my computer was in the shop being upgraded and on top of that I came down with a summer virus (another nasty Covid variant?) and was feeling very poorly. Now that I have my Photoshop back, I'll try to catch up with the flowers in my summer garden--most of these shots were taken last week before I got sick. "Bloom Day" is hosted by Carol Michel's blog, May Dreams Gardens, on the 15th of every month.

We've had an extraordinarily wet spring this year in my northwest corner of Virginia (zone 6b). May topped out at a record ten inches of rain, and this month so far I've recorded about 4.6 inches. Some of the storms have been spectacular, with high winds. After three years of drought conditions it's a welcome change. The deer continue to eat so many of my flowers, but there are still enough left to enjoy.

The long island bed next to the veggie pagoda has been filled to red-hot pokers in two colors, Yucca, Tansy and both blue and white lavender. The Sedum ground cover is full of tiny yellow flowers.The English thyme is lush with flowers, and makes a delicious seasoning for chicken and other dishes.

 

White lavender with red-hot pokers and tansy flowers.

English thyme in bloom.

 This year I finally have butterfly weed in both orange and yellow. That makes up for the deer eating all of my Asian lilies and so many of the Stella de Oro daylilies too. I used to have masses of these in a long row, but this year, only a few buds have been spared.

 

Butterfly weed in the Little Indians bed.

 

Regular and 'Hello Yellow' butterfly weed.

 

Lavender is blooming in several beds--'Hidcote', 'Grosso' and 'Munstead' varieties as well as the white. 

 

'Munstead' lavender.

'Hidcote' lavender.

Lavender 'Grosso' in the front.

 

There's a bit of Veronica 'Skywalker' and a pink variety in the front bed by the garage, but not a whole lot of bloom on them this year--I wonder if it's getting too shady there for them? Some of the Clary sage I seeded into this bed is blooming behind the bush roses. The original patch of Clary sage in Herb's bed is also blooming.

 

Veronica 'Skywalker'

Clary sage with Blue Fescue

Clary sage in Herb's bed with Prairie Blazing Star.

The pink Bee Balm under the cherry tree is blooming nicely, but the red 'Jacob Cline' in the back yard has been eaten back by the deer, so I don't know if I'll get much from it this year. The deer have also been attacking the Wild Bergamot (Monarda fistulosa) I grew from seed last year, so again, I may not get much bloom this year. I'd read that this plant wasn't particularly liked by them, but apparently they will eat it.

 

Pink Bee Balm (Monarda)

 

This summer the deer have even gone after my 'Incrediball' hydrangea--one they hadn't attacked before--so now I've put them behind a mesh barrier. They spared the Oak Leaf hydrangea for a while, but devoured the flowers right after I took this photo.

 

Oak Leaf Hydrangea with 'Incrediball' Hydrangea behind.

 

Oak Leaf Hydrangea

 

Hydrangea 'Incrediball'

 The Tradescantia in this part of the garden also needs protection, or there'd soon be nothing left of it. I'm seriously considering fencing off the entire back yard, these deer are becoming such pests!

 

Tradescantia '

 

The Japanese maples in the east woodland garden are loving the rain, I've never seen them looking so good! The pagoda dogwood has shot up at least two feet, and the Carolina Silverbell behind it is growing well, though since the little bells were all burnt in the early April frost, there are no seedpods this year. 

 

East garden trees.

 

A new Cuphea called 'Torpedo' bought this year has a very unusual combination of colors. Unforutnately, the deer came by right after I took the photo and ate all the flowers--it's now on the porch regrowing, hopefully will have new flowers soon.

 

Cuphea 'Torpedo'

Cuphea 'Torpedo'

 

That's the highlights for June Bloom Day in my garden, thanks for visiting!

 

Bursts of Color

Asian lilies.

The reds.

 This week the Asian lilies are adding bursts of color to the beds in the back yard, along with the daylilies. The red lilies opened first, with the orange and pink coming in behind. The yellow ones are still in bud, and will likely open last.

The pinks.

Asian lilies in the long island bed.

Along with the Stella d'Oro daylilies in the Little Indians bed, the butterfly weed  (Asclepias tuberosa) and some early pale purple Phlox brighten the length of the bed.

 

The Little Indians bed from the front.

The Little Indians bed from the back.

This year the Asclepias 'Hello Yellow' that I planted a couple of years ago has finally produced a few blooms, although the plant is still very skimpy compared to the orange ones. On the western front, the yellow daylilies are blooming. 

 

The back yard seen from the deck.

 

The lavender in the back yard beds didn't winter very well, many branches died off and required pruning. As a result, there are much fewer blooms this year, specially the pink and 'Grosso' varieties. I wonder if the bushes will regrow or if will they have to be replaced soon.

One can catch a glimpse of the row of Stella d'Oro daylilies in the Little Indians bed from the east garden, where the pagoda dogwood is setting seeds after flowering.  I don't recall this tree setting seed before. The hydrangeas here are starting to bloom--I'm not surprised that the 'Endless Summer' variety is showing buds, since this variety can bloom on new as well as old canes. But the shoots on the lacecap variety died back to the ground as a result of the low temperatures during the past winter, so it's not likely to bloom this year. The white 'Incrediball' is a different variety that blooms profusely on new canes, a reliable performer every year.

The east garden.

Hydrangeas one the east side.

The Cumberland azalea is blooming fairly well this year, though the flowers seem to be paler this year than they used to be. Every spring I put soil acidifier and fertilizer around it and my other Rhododendrons hoping to keep them happy, but the sad truth is that acid-loving plants don't like this soil, it's a never-ending battle to keep them alive, much less prosper.

Cumberland azalea (Rhododendron cumberlandense)

Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate'

Last fall I transplanted the Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate' that my sister Bea had given me to a sunnier spot, and that has paid off--the plant is blooming much better. It's a beautiful combination of yellow-green foliage that sets off the deep purple of the flowers.

 

Bunny ears in a rabbit den.

 

Yesterday evening after a long session of watering my front garden, I happened to see a rabbit in my flower bed. Nothing unusual about that, the local rabbit population frequents my garden, the back yard usually more than the front. Fearing that the rabbit had found some plants there very tasty, I shooed it away, but decided to investigate what had attracted the rabbit.

I noticed one spot that I had mulched just a couple of weeks before had fresh dirt and some pebbles, which seemed unusual. There is a bed of creeping phlox there under the cherry tree, and right where the dirt was, there was something that looked like animal fur. I lifted up a bit of the phlox to find a hole, and peering inside, saw several tiny bunnies huddling together. It was hard to tell just how many, but there was a small ear, a tail and an eye. I ran to get my phone to get these few shots.

One bunny's eye looks out.

I covered up the hole, but was so excited that I called Herb over to show him what I'd found. When I uncovered the hole the second time, one tiny bunny got so spooked that he ran out from the bed of creeping phlox (there must have been a second entrance to the den) and jumped into the bushes by the front porch! I covered up the hole again and we left the front yard. I hope the poor little bunny was able to get back to his home eventually, and that mama rabbit came back. I haven't see her today, but I expect she will be back, so I'm keeping an eye out. The things I see in my garden are a constant source of wonder!