Don't be fooled. Inside this thin coating of sweetness is a fiery core of total insanity.

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June 2014

It's hard to believe we're already half-way through June. I don't know where the days are going, but they are whipping by faster than I want them to. Anyway, it's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, and I have plenty to show off.

Orange Abutilon, in a pot on the front porch


Two Begonia boliviensis that survived being overwintered inside the house

Kniphofia with just the tiniest hint of orange at the top

'Moonshine' Achillea

Blue Baptisia australis, the first bloom from plants that were put in 5 years ago

Kniphofia and Phlomis

Magenta rose campion, with a backdrop of bigroot Geranium

Penstemon digitalis, grown from seed a couple of years ago

I tossed seed for California poppies into this bed between me and my neighbor Mary last year, and this year they have made a lovely swath of self-sown babies

The bees love them!

I do too!


A dark lavender, with some golden conifer foliage (Don't make me look it up)

This lily, called 'Matrix,' is similar in color to 'Royal Sunset,' featured a few days ago in this post, but it's much shorter

Centaurea dealbata has been flowering for a while now

Delicate blue flax/Linum lewisii, started from seed a couple of years ago, languished in 4-inch pots all of last summer, and finally found a home in the new front garden

Chocolate-colored Nicotiana

Salvia greggii, the only one to survive the winter

Dianthus

The Alyssum that I sowed last year on the other side of the garden, has managed to self-sow into the gravel in the gravel garden

I don't remember the name of this Clematis (Etoile Violette maybe?) but it's the third try for a Clematis on this trellis. This one finally took.




Astrantia

 I sowed this Geranium 'Vision Light Pink' several years ago, and now its sweet, delicate flowers are a mainstay throughout the front garden

Dactylhorizae/Ground Orchid

Only one of three Salvia 'Hot Lips' survived our harsh winter, and came back from the roots

This purple Penstemon looks good next to golden Oregano

That's just the front garden, which is much more floriferous than the back. I would have had a single pink peony to show you, but it looks like someone cut and stole it. I moved my three peonies into the front garden bed earlier this spring, but the plants were just a little too far out of the ground and most of the buds they had already produced withered. Except for one, which opened a few days ago, and has since disappeared, cut clean off. Maddening. I hope it isn't the beginning of a trend.

Sorry to end on a downer. Garden Bloggers Bloom Day is usually joyous, and this one is mostly. GBBD is hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, check out her post here, and don't forget to check out the posts by other bloggers who are also celebrating their flowers this month.