June 2010 Bloom Day

I always mean to participate in the monthly Bloom Day hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens, but it usually doesn't happen because 1) I only have flowers blooming six months out of the year, 2) sometimes I have another post all ready to go that week, and 3) I forget. But this week all I have to post is a bunch of pictures of flowers blooming right now . . . so I'm joining in the fun. Above is a hazy sunset photo of 'Walker's Low' nepeta, which is blooming all over my front yard right now.



Here is the VERY blue 'June to Remember' siberian iris. You know how all those catalogs cheat and make flowers look more blue than they really are? Well this one really is this blue. It's a stunner.



Here are more unnamed asiatic lilies from Lowes. They're rosy-orange. I'm proud of myself for opening up and letting orange into the color scheme.



The baby 'Rozanne' geraniums are starting to put out a few flowers. The flowers are so interesting, with shades and blue and lavender and a magenta cast that you can only see in certain types of light.



I pulled out all my normal shasta daisies because they smell bad, but this spring I planted some 'Esther Reed' double daisies. They're great for cutting - I remember how pretty they were in the giant bouquets I saw last June at Pike Place Market in Seattle. Give me an armful of peonies, delphinium, double shasta daisies, and maybe some sage, and I'll be happy all day.



My 'Clementine Blue' columbine is putting out more blooms. I have seeds to grow more but keep forgetting to plant them. I'll get that done soon, maybe.



The 'June Bride' heucheras are in full bloom. Recently I started new plants for a neighbor by cutting off some woody stems, pulling all the leaves off except a few at the top, and plunking them into potting soil in the shade. They've grown their own roots now and are doing fine. Did you know it was that easy to get new heucheras?



I'll finish with a shot of 'Rolling Cloud' siberian iris with 'Six Hills Giant' catmint in the background. The evening light makes the picture special. I keep meaning to get up and capture some morning light shots, but it gets light around 4 am this time of year, and I'm not that early of a bird. Evening light will have to be good enough for now!

Wedding Flowers and Temple Landscaping

My brother got married last weekend at the LDS temple in Richland, WA, and of course I took some pictures of the flowers and landscaping around the temple. The roses were in full bloom and were breathtaking!



The landscaping made good use of large masses of plants. I'm not sure which rose this is. The flowers look too big to be 'Bonica' and too full to be 'The Fairy'. Maybe they're J&P 'Pink Simplicity' or something.



Isn't this a lovely scene? Especially for us pink lovers! There was a high wind advisory in effect, and several rain storms passed through in the days before and after the wedding. But were lucky to have sunny, calm weather for photos after the wedding.



I was fascinated with the evening light filtering through these hardy geraniums. They looked magical.



Right now this area is mostly green, but the curving swathe of daylilies will erupt into bloom soon.



This rose is my mom's favorite color. My husband gets a kick from pointing that out whenever we come across some especially vivid hot pink.



The temple had plenty of my favorite shrub: 'Otto Luyken' laurels. What good taste the designers had!



We brought a few of our own flowers to the temple, including this giant fake one in my daughter's hair. You can see the deep blue-violet of 'May Night' salvia and vivid hot pink of 'Knockout' roses in the background.



The wedding colors were orange, aqua and white. The deep orange roses and white peonies in the bridal bouquet were lovely.



I think this photo turned out really cool. Look at that gorgeous sky and white clouds behind the steeple. The temple is such a beautiful place.



And here's the happy couple right after the wedding. Congratulations, you two!

Frugality is Not Dead

This post is dedicated to my grandmother, from whom I inherited a love of gardening and an admiration for thrift - the virtue, not the plant (Armeria maritima is called thrift). Not that she will ever read it, since she doesn't have a computer. But after posting about my extravagant plant purchases this spring (see that post here), I feel the need to write about my frugal habits, too.



I have made use of seeds in my garden, which is a very thrifty way to get plants. Never mind about the entire flat of annuals that I nurtured on my kitchen windowsill for six weeks this spring, then set out in full sun with the cover on and STEAMED to death in a mere hour or two . . . no, let's not dwell on that. Instead, let's focus on all the new columbine (Aquilegia) plants that are growing from the seeds I scattered last fall. The top two photos show 'Melba Higgins', and the one below is 'Clementine Blue'. The new plants aren't blooming yet but should look something like the parents in these photos.



Actually, I didn't kill all of the seedling annuals - some of the 'Dolcissima Fragolino' petunias survived, so I planted them out this week. I ordered more 'Victoria' salvia seeds to replace the dead ones, and I hadn't used up all the 'Twinny Peach' snapdragon seeds, so I replanted those.



My other frugal habit involves a knife to divide plants. Along with two 'Blue Moon' wisteria vines, I ordered two 'Pink Double Delight' coneflowers from ForestFarm.com. The coneflowers that arrived were large enough to divide into four plants each, eight total. You can see a couple of the little clumps above.



Last fall I cut apart my clumps of 'Walker's Low' catmint (Nepeta) to spread around the yard. They're just starting to bloom now, and will continue until October. I love this plant enough to put up with the seedlings that pop up all around the mother plant.



When I found 'Marcus' salvia at WalMart - definitely a store for the thrifty - I snapped up six pots and cut them into 11 plants. The 12th cutting didn't end up with any roots, oops. That's always the danger with dividing little plants. Marcus is supposed to be a miniature form of 'May Night', with slightly lighter-colored flowers and a similar long bloom time. I was in need of some low growers around the front yard, so I was excited to find these.

So there you have it, Grandma. I'm not completely lost to frugality. Phew, I feel better now.