Well, I am spectacularly late for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day this month. My excuse is that we went to England in April and had a chance to visit some of the world’s most delightful gardens. We spent one day at Kew and and another day at Wisley and soaked up tons of inspiration for the future.
Arriving back home we found many things in bloom and some past bloom (as expected). But I will share some aspects of the yard just to provide an insight as to what is going on here. The redbuds, dogwoods, and wisteria are fully out now and the apples are the last of the fruit trees to be flowering but they have a very strong bloom this year.
The peonies have both finished blooming for some (P. caucasica) and just now blooming for others (P. mariei for example).
We were delighted to see the Loropetalum get a full bloom this year. It’s marginal in our climate but the winter was very mild this year.
There are many flowers happening at the moment ranging from very tiny iris to greenhouse delights and onto spectacular wisteria and trillium springing forth.
In the alpine bed we have pulsatillas, poppies and delosperma.
And out in the woods we find numerous surprises.
Altogether there are wonderful things happening everyday. And now more to plant…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2023
Well it’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day again and I would like to begin by celebrating the crepe myrtles that provide a summer flower show. As you can see from the above image the red one has been with us for a very long time. It’s well over the garage roof. The bark is wonderful and the individual flowers are lovely one and all.
We also have a white one down in the pasture and it seems to be growing nicely.
Flowers that we see every day are the Princess Flowers on the back porch.
Both we and the hummingbirds look forward to our daily dose.
The Hydrangeas are also prolific and and an everyday summer flower show.
Looking around the yard you have appreciate just how dry it has been here.
We are currently at 75% of the normal rainfall and that has left us with many dead plants from my spring planting. Yes we run hoses but there are many places on 7 acres that are not accessible the hoses. I have a set of watering cans but that only covers the time when I’m actually here.
Despite all that, and with help of hoses, we do have some more flowers to share. As always the Allium millenium are reliable summer color.
And I noticed (after one of the few thunderstorms that we’ve had) the Cyclamen hederifolium are starting to bloom.
As we wander out to the garden it is clear that the annuals provide a spot of color.
And nearby the sunflowers are on display
The vegetable garden is also where we find a steady supply of gladiolias
And despite the drought we have a good supply of vegetable and fruit. I notice that the raspberries are starting their fall crop.
And we been bringing in peaches and pears.
That’s it for now, I’ll go back to doing my rain dance…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day July 2023
Well, for mid-summer it’s got to be all about the lilies for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day.
Each time the wind begins to chime,
And end begins to near
A whisper of the softest sort
Flows gently to the ear
The scent and sight enough are great
Yet lilies live for more
The lilies whisper poetry
As none have heard before
— The Lilies Whisper Poetry by Deborah Amar
Lilies are definitely the most striking flower in the yard right now. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Of course, the lilies also work on the inside of the house.
However, there are other things happening on our hillside. I notice, for example that the Corydalis are doing there usual magic in the front yard where they just gently spread over any vacant space.
Similarly, the echinacea are everywhere in the perennial beds.
I should also share the Cestrum which is just now flowering for the first time this year and they will go on like this for the next 5 months.
The Hydrangea are just now flowering for the first time this year as well and they will also have any extended flowering.
One of the real delights for us is the Bishop of Llandaff Dahlia which has once again survived a winter in the ground.
In the middle of the backyard there are some allium also showing up for the first time this year.
If we go back beside the greenhouse the alpine bed has some Daphne that are flowering once again this year.
Nearby in the troughs there is one with a little potentilla that flowers for a long time.
And in another trough a very tiny thyme that has taken over a good part of the trough.
I should also share the vegetable garden which has a number of flowers.
Although flowers are not the main purpose there are many, many flowers every day in the vegetable garden.
If you think of corn as a grass, it is the tallest grass we’ve ever grown in our garden this year.
We’re just hoping the raccoons don’t come exploring for the corn. I won’t go into the peaches, pears, and apples — more about those in the future. But the wildflowers in the pasture are quite striking right now.
We mowed them down once because of the poison ivy, but the flowers seem to be outgrowing the poison ivy at the moment. And finally, it has rained now and then for which I’m quite grateful.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day November 2022
As it turns to Fall (wintertime temperatures are on the way but we have been spared a hard frost so far) this GBBD post has to focus on Camellias. It is always amazing to me what a long season we have with the Camellias. Between the C. japonicas and C. sasanquas (and the various hybrids) we usually have Camellias blooming from October through April. I began growing them with 1 gallon pots that brought on airplane rides from California and then put them in the basement each winter until I realized they were actually hardy here. We had one really cold winter that seemingly killed this red sasanqua to the point where i actually cut it back to the ground. And then the next year it came back vigorously. So this bushy flowering plant is actually the second rebirth of our Fall Camellia.
Some of the others in bloom right now are shown below.
Elsewhere in the garden the Cestrum continues it’s flowerful display
Pretty special for a plant that dies back to the ground every winter.
Right next to it is the Japanese quince that has no business blooming in November (but it often does).
We have had a very extended Fall and the roses are still putting out blossoms.
And out at the front fence there are a continuing sequence of flowers on the Daphne I planted there several years ago.
In the pasture I still see spots of color from the gaillardia that have volunteered from wildflower plantings.
In the alpine bed there is still a single Moroccan Poppy remaining from the many that flowered there this year.
In the vegetable garden we not only have flowers of various sorts but fall peas and lettuce still coming in.
And then lastly let me close with an indoor flower. We see flowers twice a year from the potted Amazon Lily and once again it is doing its thing with a minimum of care.
Highly recommended as a wonderful houseplant that can play outside in the summertime.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day October 2022
Just a few items for this GBBD since I’m a day late (as usual). The blue monkshood shown above is sometimes called the autumn flowering monkshood because it comes to the very end of the season. But wow, what a flower. We’ve never grown it before because it is extremely poisonous but it has a long history of being grown in perennial gardens.
Also in the front yard I found the first of the fall blooming in Camellias.
This was planted last spring and I was surprised to see it in flower before any of the other sasanquas.
The first of the toad lillies are in flower now
Otherwise there are many of the carryovers from previous months still in bloom.
Out in the garden in raised beds the calendula continue with their wonderful flowering.
And with regard to raised beds I should mention that Josh and I installed a third raised bed for next year’s gardens.
And as we head out to the pasture there are late flowering sunflowers
as well as some of their smaller relatives
I do have to take note of the Dahlias still coming into the house
And the beautiful beautyberries by the driveway
Finally let me close with our new approach to harvesting chestnuts.
Just stomp on the spiny balls and wiggle the lovely chestnuts out…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day September 2022
Well it’s Bloom Day for September and the weather has been spectacular the past week. There are a great many annual flowers in the garden such as zinnias, cosmos, nasturtium, calendula, and daisies. I’ll just represent them all with the this big Dahlia that Beth brought into the house. And then maybe Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) since it has grown to spectacular heights (at least 12 feet) this year.
Another annual that has grown on our porch this year is Plectranthus. It was overwintered in the greenhouse and then took a while to catch hold in the spring. But it now looks spectacular (and it makes a good cut flower in the house as well).
Another back porch item is the Princess Flower which continues its daily vivid flowers
At the front porch is the very green welcoming garden that Beth built with deep black rectangles.
And a particularly striking addition this year is a Carex with pink flowers that we brought back from Plant Delights this spring.
From the greenhouse comes a very striking hyacinth relative from Madeira.
A few other items struck me as I walked about the yard. There are marvelous peony seeds at this time of year.
The Pyracantha and Hyacinth have intertwined to create a lovely combination.
And a newly planted Arisaema consanguinum looks for all the world like a mother hen for the neighboring Cyclamen.
Then there are the still good-looking repeats from last month.
And I discovered that the Clematis which I tried to remove at least two other times has sprung up again among the roses.
This is a particularly beautiful and vigorous plant that is happy to take over your garden.
And if you go for a walk on the hillside you will see the Colchicum doing their fall explosion of color.
The other thing that happens now are berries and other fruit.
And then I’ll close with one of the workers in the greenhouse that keeps the pests at bay.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day June 2022 (very late)
Well, I’m very late for posting this past month’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. My excuse is that I was in Ithaca for the North American Rock Garden Society’s Annual Meeting. It was a wonderful meeting but I was busy from dawn to later hours and it left me no time for posting. And when I got back I had trunk full of wonderful plants to put in (Enkianthus, Epimediums, Spice Bush, etc.) So despite the lateness there were a few points I wanted to share from mid-June. Firstly it was lily-time as illustrated by Nightrider, the near black Asiatic shown above. Both it and other of the new lilies this year came from The Lily Garden which was new and wonderful source to me.
Both of the next two were also Asiatics from The Lily Garden
There was also a trumpet lily that I planted next to the grapes (from Brent and Becky)
There was also a nice Arisaema below the lilies.
I also wanted to share more pictures from the wildflower meadow that we’ve planted in the pasture this year. I mentioned it last month but it has continued to prosper with new flowers showing up every few weeks.
And just to finish this belated post on a sweet note this is what we expect every evening at this time of year
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day May 2022
This bird has been a frequent visitor to our garden this last week so I thought you might want to join him in perusing the flowers at Ball Road for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day.
It’s very much the Azalea time of year hereabouts. What is especially nice this year is that we dug four layered offspring from this plant last year and they are now to be found in other parts of the yard.
One of our favorite Azaleas is beside the deck. Azalea ‘Visco Sepala’ came from White Flower Farm many years ago, though it’s originally from England. It has a spectacular fragrance.
Naturally at the same time the tree peonies are stepping up to the plate.
Nearby is another very nice perennial.
And a very distinctive Japanese Maple that is worth building a garden around
We also have a reliable showing of Lamium by the garage where it outcompetes the weeds.
One could easily get lost with trying to account for all the things in bloom right now. If we go back to the Alpine bed there are some special repeat performances.
I want to take a few minutes out to share our meadow-like pasture. Last year son Josh, cut the pasture ultrashort and then seeded the area with crimson clover and wildflowers from Wildseed in Texas. The result has been wonderful. It’s easy to get lost in just the crimson clover.
But amidst the clover are wallflowers, peas, flax, sweet william and POPPIES.
We also have for the first time Five Spot
As an ending point for this already long posting let me share the Viburnum on the hillside that overlooks these wildflowers.