Tuesday, June 15, 2010

June Bloom Day

Hooray for June, when there’s something blooming in just about every corner of the garden. At least that’s the goal; reality may not be there yet. The front yard is still pretty bare. Daffodils are the star in early spring, then the peony, then, well, I don’t have much else. Except lavender. Severely squished by the winter storms, it doesn’t care. It is taking over my front walk and blooming away:

In the side yard, I’ll have to leave daylilies and Echinacea for another post, in order to get some variety here. I previewed my Asiatic lily yesterday. Moving around back, here is my “Easter” lily:

I don’t know why it is considered an Easter flower when it never blooms until June. It came with the house, and is right where I hang my string trellis. They don’t really interfere, as the climbing things (pole beans this year), don’t really take off until the Easter lily has done its thing. Here you can see some beans climbing up the lily instead of the trellis.

Staying in the herb garden, one of my Phlox paniculata is blooming. This one is ‘Bright Eyes’. The others don’t even have buds yet.

Coreopsis verticillata in the herb garden is blooming, along with Gaillardia ‘Burgundy’.

I don’t know why I have such a hard time with coreopsis, but they are very short-lived for me at about two years. Three years, tops. Over in the terrace beds I have an ‘Early Sunrise’ that has been blooming for a few weeks and a ‘Zagreb’ full of flower buds. The Early Sunrise was from a trade last year, and the Zagreb came from the spring plant swap this year. I have my fingers crossed that they will stick around.

I don’t know how long Monarda ‘Raspberry Wine’ has been blooming in the upper garden. I just saw it yesterday. My neighbor can see it, but it is hidden from my view by my Solidago, which got very tall very early. I think I need to swap those guys so I can see my monarda!

Also in the upper garden: Stokesia ‘Klaus Jelitto and Spigelia marilindica


I just love that Indian pink. It will keep blooming for another month or more. I’m still waiting for it to fill in more, so that it has a presence in the garden. Right now I have to be up close to really notice it.

Moving over to the veggie garden, these are not Queen Anne’s Lace, but a close relative, carrots:

I left them to flower this year, just to see if they really do look like their cousin, and they do! I’ll have to pull them out soon.

I planted nasturtium to guard my squash and melons this year. I’m especially excited to see the first bloom, because this is the first bloom of all the many flowers I started from seed this winter/spring:

And on the other side of the veggie garden is the flower I’m most thrilled about: the cucumbers are blooming! Hooray for my favorite summer vegetable:
cucumber
Also blooming: kousa dogwood (still, though it is very nearly done), hollyhock, buddleia, rudbeckia, dianthus, cupid’s dart, gaillardia, ....

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting another fun Bloom Day!

2 comments:

  1. Nurseries use a growth regulator on Easter Lilies to make them bloom at Easter time (makes more money that way) and that's how they got their name. Their true bloom time is in June. Even if you buy them blooming at Easter time, the next year they will bloom in June.
    I have tried several varieties of coreopsis and the only ones I can grow here in North Forida are the ones with the bigger leaves. The ones with the fine lacy leaves, like Zagreb and Moonshine, always die.

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  2. I have trouble with coreopsis too. My Early Sunrise didn't live very long; the bunch that has lived the longest is crammed under a cherry bush. It seeded itself there and seems to really like it, it has been there for over four years now while all my other patches have died. My Zagreb has been a trooper. I have had it for about 8 years and do very little with it. All my Moonbeams croaked after their first year.

    I love the carrot flowers! I have been hesitating getting Queen Anne's Lace because of its aggressive nature, but carrots would be perfect! I could just pull and eat the extras :)

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