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!

A Walk in My Woods

I really miss the Virginia native Plant Society (VNPS) hikes this spring, so on 4/29 I decided to do a spring walk in the woods in back of my house, to see how many plants I could identify on my own. I usually don't go in there after the trees leaf out because I fear the poison ivy and noxious insects, but at this time of the year it's fairly safe.

There are several dogwoods in bloom that can be seen from my back yard. The big trees are mostly black and northern red oaks in their dotage, with some hickories (Bitternut and Pignut). The fact that there is a quite a diversity of plant species leads me to believe that my patch of woods is a small strip of native vegetation that was left undisturbed when the neighborhood was built, probably because the slope down to the drainage ditch is so steep.

Over the years I've managed to identify some of the understory trees. The distinctive flowers of the Witch Hazel trees (Hamamelis virginiana) are visible in the fall and winter months; there is a large patch of them on the east corner of my lot extending into my neighbor's.

Witch hazel

Another understory tree on the opposite (western) side of my lot is the American Hop-hornbeam (Ostrya virginiana). About three summers ago I noticed a particularly abundant crop of the characteristic hop-like fruit on several trees in back, which allowed me to identify them. My explorations this spring reveal that these are growing all over.

Hop-hornbeam 

Pignut

There are several hickories too--Pignut hickory (Carya glabra) and Bitternut hickory (Carya cordiformis)--the nuts fall into my yard and the squirrels bring them too. There's also the ubiquitous red maples, perhaps silver and other maples I have yet to identify, bird cherries (Prunus avium), a few dogwoods, and possibly a Serviceberry that bloomed sparsely earlier on.

Further down toward the forest floor are a bunch of what I believe are Late Low Blueberries (Vaccinium vacillans)--much browsed by deer--and some shoots of bedstraw.

 Blueberries

Going down the steep slope towards the drainage ditch I found a few Lady ferns, (Athyrium filix-femina) and patches of Winterberry (Gaultheria procumbens) and star chickweed (Stellaria pubera) on the forest floor. There were also goldenrod shoots, blackberries, and the usual annoying honeysuckle vines.

Chickweed with Wintergreen

At first I wasn't sure what the plants below were, but farther down I found one plant with flowers and was able to identify it as Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum). I'd seen two lovely specimens of this plant farther up the slope a couple of days earlier, but when I started to look for those, they'd vanished. Eventually I located two decapitated stems--the deer had eaten them!

Solomon's seal

The day was so warm and lovely that I continued downhill crossing my neighbor's woods towards the creek that flows from a neighboring farm. There is a small clearing here where more sunlight reaches that can host moisture-loving species typical of our area: Golden Alexanders (Zizia aptera), Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica), and Bluets (Houstonia caerulea).

Golden Alexanders

Spring Beauty

Bluets

Walking along the spongy creek bed I noticed a distant clump of shrubs and small trees with bunches of white flowers. These looked so familiar, I got closer to confirm my suspicions, and they were native Black Haw Viburnums (Viburnum prunifolium), exactly like the two planted in my yard.

Viburnums

Doubling back towards the drainage ditch, I found a plant of Golden Ragwort (Packera aurea), a clump of Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum), a Buttercup and more Rattlesnake Weed (Hieracium venosum).

Golden Ragwort

May-apples

Rattlesnake Weed

In my own back yard again, I continued through my woods toward the other end of my property, coming across lots of patches of Squawroot (Conopholis americana). This plant lives as a parasite on oak tree roots, and has no leaves.

Squawroot

I also came across a small woody plant with unfurling leaves that I thought might possibly be a native azalea, although the leaves seem a bit large for such. I'll try to keep track of this one as it grows to see if I can identify it.

Unidentified

I continued walking through the woods under the Hop-hornbeams before emerging onto the grassy hillside on my other neighbor's property for the conclusion of a fruitful afternoon exploring my woods.