A Very Red July

 

The Northwest corner has featured bold red lilies and roses this month.  Vigorous tetraploid 'Red Velvet' Asiatic lilies continue to multiply by the year.  Upward-facing 'Forza Red' Orienpet lilies are still going strong in their second summer.  Not all lilies survive in my crowded perennial beds (I'm thinking of you, wimpy Oriental lilies), so I'm very pleased to see these types returning well.

The 'Florentina' climbing roses have been spectacular this year.  I have them tied up to teepees from Gardener's Supply, which has been working well.  I keep recommending this rose to my gardener friends.  The charming old-fasioned blooms last forever on the plant or in the vase.  The only drawbacks are the lack of scent and the tendency of the deeply colored petals to get brown with sunburn on the tops.  They'd do better with afternoon shade, I guess, but I have no plans to move them.  

The second flush from 'Caradonna' salvia adds some violet spikes to the color scheme, and a few 'Purple Prince' lilies (also vigorous Orienpet hybrids) add a deep pink.  The 'Royal Purple' smoke bush is finally leafed out and filling its space.  It certainly took its time waking up this spring, as did the 'Berry Awesome' hardy hibiscus that will bloom next month.

Last year all my dahlias were blooming by this time, but our chilly, wet spring really slowed down their growth.  Not that I'm complaining - with much of the Western United States in severe drought, I'm very happy that our water supply is plentiful this year.  Even though I waited to plant my dahlia tubers until the end of May, some of them rotted in the ground during our rainy June weather.  The ones that survived have sprouted and some have even formed buds, so I'm being patient.

The back side of the NW corner currently features 'Blue Sapphire' sea holly, 'Summer Beauty' alliums, 'Visions in Red' astilbe, drumstick alliums, a few lingering spikes of 'Caradonna' salvia, and more of the 'Red Velvet' lilies.  

In the background you can see the 'Incrediball Blush' hydrangea I transplanted here this spring.  I think eventually it will be happy with the part-day sun, but so far it wilts unless I water it daily.  These hydrangea flowers last for ages on the plant, remaining attractive even as they age to green.  So I'm willing to keep nursing it along until it gets established.  

August 2021 Big Blooms

Somehow I never posted these photos from August last year, so I'll happily do it now in the middle of winter.  After years of trying new perennials and moving things around, I finally had plenty of late summer color in this area.

The photo above includes 'LeVern Friemann' lilies, 'Big Blue' salvia, 'Penhill Dark Monarch' dahlias, 'Seniors Hope' dahlias, 'Berry Awesome' hibiscus, plus Russian sage, 'Royal Purple' smokebush and 'Jeana' tall phlox at the back of the bed.

The 'Penhill Dark Monarch' flowers were huge and saturated with deep pink color.  The tall plants needed better staking so they didn't lean forward as much, but they produced quite a few flowers as they flopped all over the other plants.

'Seniors Hope' was another new dahlia for me, and I was really impressed with its prolific blooming, dark leaves and long, strong stems that were great in the garden or for cutting.  Its complex blend of burgundy and cream with gold and silver dusting looked great with the 'Berry Awesome' hardy hibiscus.

'Seniors Hope' also looked nice with the 'Big Blue' salvia and 'Miss Molly' butterfly bush in this shot.  I grew 'Big Blue' from seed, and it earned the name with a larger stature than other S. farinacea hybrids.

Here is a closeup of the 'Seniors Hope' blooms, with an aged flower on the left and a newer bloom opening on the right.  Once the center stamens were visible, the bees loved to visit.  

Here's another shot of 'Seniors Hope' and one of my three 'Berry Awesome' hardy hibiscus plants.  My hibiscus plants weren't fully mature yet, but last summer they produced showy flowers for several weeks.  Each bloom lasted for just a couple of days, but there were many buds on each stem.  The leaves on this cultivar were tinged with mauve and maroon, so the plant was showy even before the blooming started.  I highly recommend it.

The dark centers of the hibiscus echoed the color of the 'LeVern Friemann' lilies and the 'Florentina' climbing roses growing on teepee supports.  Towering mauve 'Jeana' phlox was a very long blooming backdrop for this bed, and the lavender spikes of Russian sage made a nice contrast during its shorter bloomtime.  The maroon leaves of the 'Royal Purple' smokebush at the center of the bed provided interest even when fewer flowers were in bloom.

I'll finish with a last picture featuring the 'Berry Awesome' hibiscus, with 'Millennium' allium blooming at back left.  'Millennium' has been another strong performer with a long bloom time for several years.  The pollinators love it.  Last year I planted three baby 'Lavender Bubbles' allium in this bed, and I'm looking forward to watching them mature and add darker color during a later bloom time than 'Millennium.' 

Midsummer Wedding Flowers

 

In August I arranged flowers for a wedding reception.  I used purchased roses and garland, but the rest of the flowers came from my garden.  My dahlias were going strong and provided most of the color.  The photo above includes 'Cafe au Lait,' 'White Onesta,' 'Labyrinth' and 'Linda's Baby' dahlias.

In the small centerpieces I included roses, 'Labyrinth' dahlias, 'Ruffled Swan' anemones, 'Little Lime' hydrangeas, 'Dalmation Peach' foxgloves, peach hypericum berries, 'White Glitter' sea holly, 'Autumn Bride' heuchera, parsley seed heads, scented pelargonium leaves, mint stems and honeysuckle.

This vase for the guest sign-in table used most of the flowers listed above plus some 'Little Quick Fire' hydrangeas.  I was delighted with the dainty white anemone flowers.  I have 'White Swan,' 'Dreaming Swan,' and 'Ruffled Swan' anemones in my garden, and they are all vigorous bloomers from midsummer to frost.  'Ruffled Swan' flowers are the most substantial and my favorite for arranging.

I grew four 'Labyrinth' dahlia plants this year, and they were highly productive.  No wonder this dahlia is so popular with flower arrangers.  The twisting petals combine peach and rose shades so they blend well with many color schemes.

Here's another shot of the centerpieces en masse.  I ordered the glass cylinder vases in bulk from Amazon.

I made two of these large arrangements with a giant 'Penhill Watermelon' dahlia as the focal point of each.  

Here are the large arrangements next to the disassembled arch.  For the arch I used a garland of honeysuckle, salal and bear grass that was ordered from Costco.com, plus more flowers from my garden.  I had never created a floral arch before, so it was fun to stretch my skills.  I have no plans to become a professional wedding florist, but it has been enjoyable to help a friend or two with reception flowers each summer.

Dahlias in Red, Pink and Purple

 

Dahlias in red, pink and purple were fun to arrange back in September.  This vase includes large 'Cafe au Lait Rose,' 'Purple Haze,' and 'Arabian Night' as well as Japanese Anemone robustissima, dried 'Purple Candles' astilbe stalks, 'Royal Purple' smoke bush, honeysuckle and blackberry greenery.

This closer view includes a stem of 'Summerwine' yarrow and 'Medicine Bow' chrysanthemums.

'William Shakespeare 2000' David Austin roses had a nice fall flush and blended with the color scheme.

Here is 'Cafe au Lait Rose' in the garden.  I ordered the standard 'Cafe au Lait' and was disappointed to receive this color instead, but the plants were sturdy and they bloomed like crazy, so I made do.

This is another arrangement using most of the same ingredients, plus some Western sword fern fronds.

Here's yet another variation on the theme.  

'William Shakespeare 2000' had a great year in the garden.  So many of my David Austin roses are growing in too much shade now that trees have matured, or they have been transplanted recently to sunnier spots and are still recovering.  It was nice to have plenty of WS blooms while I'm waiting for 'Gertrude Jekyll,' 'Crocus Rose' and 'Charles Rennie Mackintosh' to recover and bloom heavily again.  Newly planted in 2020 were 'Emily Bronte' and 'Desdemona,' which I loved and can't wait to see mature.  In 2020 I also planted two 'Florentina' and two 'Plum Perfect' roses from Kordes, and I have 'Bolero' and 'Celestial Night' on order for next spring.  I'll probably order 'Eustacia Vye' from DA roses if it's available when their new catalog comes out.  Can you ever have enough roses?

I've got my dahlia tubers dug, cleaned and stored in wood shavings from the pet store in a large bin in our garage.  I've had to spritz them with water a couple of times as they started to soften, but I'm hoping they'll do better as the garage cools down with winter weather arriving.  Last month the garage was hovering about 55 degrees, which is a little too warm for dahlia tuber storage.  

Mmm, I sure love 'William Shakespeare 2000.'  This rose has disease problems in some areas but is perfectly healthy in my garden.

'Purple Haze' and 'Arabian Night' looked good out in the garden as well, shown here with 'April Night' salvia (which didn't bloom until May) and 'Millennium' allium.

Here they are again with 'Pagan Purple' delphinium and 'Mighty Chocolate Cherry' astilbe in the background.  'Arabian Night' started blooming before 'Purple Haze,' but once PH started, it outbloomed any of the other dahlias I've ever grown.  It's near-black leaves were a nice contrast in the garden as well.

'Purple Haze' almost looks like a coneflower, doesn't it?

The dahlia season came to an abrupt end when frost hit on October 23 and then we had 6 inches of snow on October 25, shown above.  But I've already got tiny flower buds on my 'Jacob' hellebores, so spring can't be that far away, right?

More Midsummer Garden Views

With temperatures hitting the 90's this week (upwards of 32 degrees C), it really feels like summer.  It has been a slow process to get more midsummer color in my garden, but I feel like we are finally reaching that goal.  In the front yard a few daylilies are blooming along with 'Walker's Low' catmint, but most of the interest comes from different leaf colors and textures.  

The long-blooming 'Walker's Low' catmint is ready for a trim to get rid of the spent bloom stalks, then it will keep producing flowers until frost.

I posted lots of pictures of this area last week, but I can't resist a few more.  The 'Red Velvet' lilies are at peak bloom and I've fallen in love with this new addition to the garden.  

'Arabian Night' and 'Purple Haze' dahlias are blooming behind fragrant 'Purple Prince' lilies.  Despite the name, this trumpet-shaped lily is actually a deep pink.  The color plays well with the second round of blooms on 'Caradonna' salvia and the main flush of blooms on 'Millenium' allium.

This is the best July ever for this section of the garden.  The lilies are such a special addition.

In this view the 'Fujian' Orienpet lilies are opening behind the 'Red Velvet' stalks.  'Fujian' is a show-stopper with large flowers that are strongly fragrant.  Both types were ordered from B&D Lilies last fall.

The 'Big Smile' daylilies are opening next to the swing set while the 'Lady of Shallot' roses in pots take a break from blooming.  The honeysuckle growing on the frame has hosted several Pine Siskin finch nests this year, and at least two of those nests have been taken over by bumblebees.  

A view toward the northeast corner of the backyard is very green and calm.

The area right behind the swing set is full of floppy 'Chantilly Peach' snapdragons (they'd like more sun) and several types of Veronica.

I just planted a 'Thoweil' Hinoki cypress in this area and have another in a pot to plant in fall after I transplant a viburnum.  The dark, wavy texture will be pretty all year.

The white section of the garden features an 'Annabelle' hydrangea and 'Meidilland White' rose in peak bloom.  Dahlias, anemones and more lilies are set to open soon.

I replanted another white clematis at the base of the arch after the first one died last summer (I think it had fungal wilt), and it's slowly starting to climb up the side. 

Just past the arch are 'Purple Candles' veronica and a young 'Invincibelle Blush' hydrangea next to the birdbath.  

I'll finish with the view of the east side of the house.  Short 'Maggie Dayley' and tall 'Purple Candles' astilbe are in bloom in front of a 'Comtesse de Bouchaud' clematis.  I love the chartreuse leaves with the mauve flowers.

July Bloom Day

July is here and the northwest corner of my garden is blooming hard.  Above are 'Arabian Night' and 'Purple Haze' dahlias, a second flush of bloom on 'April Night' salvia, 'William Shakespeare 2000' roses, and 'Millenium' allium.  I've linked to May Dreams Gardens for the monthly Bloom Day celebration.

In the broad view of the area, you can see that the 'Caradonna' salvia is nearly finished blooming while the 'Millenium' allium are just about to hit their peak.  'Blue Chip' butterfly bushes will soon start producing color at front, while 'Purple Prince' lilies, Russian sage (Peroskvia) and 'Jeana' phlox will come into bloom at the back of the bed.  Next year this view might include deep red blooms on the newly planted 'Florentina' roses on the tepees.  

The 'Berry Awesome' hibiscus will bloom sometime in the next month, but for now the mauve-green spiky leaves are beautiful against the darker smoke bush foliage.

First-time bloomers this year include 'Red Velvet' lilies with dark red candelabras.  I ordered a dozen of this type from B&D Lilies last fall, and the large bulbs are producing numerous flowers already.  This hybrid is supposed to be tough as nails, so I'm hopeful they'll continue to bloom reliably for years to come.

The 'Red Velvet' lilies are planted among 'Visions in Red' astilbe, 'Caradonna' salvia and 'Summer Beauty' allium.

A view of the area from the opposite direction includes 'Big Blue' sea holly along with drumstick alliums and faded seedheads from 'Ambassador' alliums.

'Darwin's Blue' veronica and 'Blue Paradise' phlox cool down the palette of deep reds and purples.

Just after sunset the area looks restful.  From this distance you can't see the jagged edges of leaves eaten by root weevils or the holes caused by slugs and earwigs.  We've been spraying Neem and Spinosad for organic control of these pests.  I'm crossing my fingers that the pest populations get knocked down by our efforts before the weevil larvae do more extensive damage to roots next winter.  Some of my peonies, hostas, geums and heucheras were smaller this year because of last winter's root damage by the larvae.  It's a continuing adventure, right?