June Garden Scenes

June has been a lovely month in the garden, but I've chosen to spend time outside instead of sitting at my computer to post on this blog.  In the scene above, 'Blue Gown' bellflower (Campanula) is smothered in blooms in front of 'Evergold' carex, buds of 'Visions' astilbe, 'Elke' hardy geranium and 'Eola Sapphire' hostas.

In the northwest corner, the 'Caradonna' salvia and 'Moulin Rouge' astrantia are nearly finished while flowers on 'Visions in Red' astilbe and drumstick allium are about to open.

My two 'William Shakespeare 2000' English roses are blooming prolifically this year.  Some of the blooms are too heavy for the stems, but I'm happy to cut those to bring inside.

I used to think alliums were odd-looking, but now I'm a complete fan.  These dried heads from 'Purple Sensation' look nice against the dwarf Arctic willow stems.

The northeast corner is golden right now, and it smells like heaven with the honeysuckle in bloom. 

I enjoyed creating these pots with a sunset color scheme.  'Hypnotica Bronze' dahlia, 'Perfume Purple' nicotiana, 'Honey' supertunia, 'Persian Chocolate' lysmachia, 'Lemon Licorice' licorice plant, and 'Inferno' coleus are planted together.

The perennial clumps of yellow Digitalis grandiflora are having a good year.  The steel blue balls are Allium caeruleum.

Crambe cordifolia made a tall haze of white flowers behind 'Esther Reed' double daisies and the annuals in my broken water fountain.  I had some friends over for a garden party mid-month, and the Crambe was quite the topic of conversation.

Backlighting at sunset makes the buds of 'Bridal Veil' astilbe and seedheads of 'Everest' allium glow.  Soon the annual cosmos and black peony poppies will start blooming in this area. 

End of May Color

After years of head scratching and transplanting, the Northwest corner is finally looking pretty good this year, and I think I've got enough later-bloomers to keep it in color throughout the growing season.

'Medallion' Oriental poppies are the stars this year.  I nearly gave up on them when they were so floppy while growing in a more shaded site.  I'm so glad I found a place for them in the sun and gave them a second chance.  'Caradonna' salvia, 'Totally Tangerine' geum and 'Caesar's Brother' Siberian iris are in the background.

Here is a broader view of the area with a pink 'Rivida' peony in bloom at bottom right.

The 'Ambassador' alliums are still my favorite large allium, although their great height (4-5' for me) makes it harder to place them in the garden.  I never thought of purple as my favorite color, but it must be my favorite garden color since I have so much of it.  Me and the bees.

This is the current view while standing at the entrance gate to the backyard and looking north.

And here is the view looking south toward the garden gate.  I have the 'Firestorm' geum and 'Dusseldorf Pride' armeria planted in zig-zags across the path. 

The peonies come and go so quickly.  This is an early red that I received from a friend.

I have two small 'Buckeye Belle' peonies that have such deep color.  Luscious.

My 'Stellar Pink' dogwood has recovered from transplanting two years ago and looks better than ever.  It had to be moved to accommodate our remodel, and it gets a little more sun in this spot at the northeast corner of the house.  That extra sun has paid off in extra blooms this year.

Sweet 'Stellar Pink.'  This is one of the excellent new dogwood hybrids from Rutger's University.