Colchicum on the hillside
Well for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day the Colchicum are the bright new stars for the month. I’ve added more this year and I can foresee adding more Colchicum every year. They have real visual impact and last even longer than I had remembered.
Colchicum bivonae
Colchicum x byzantium ‘Innocence’
Another bright spot for this time of year is the emergence of the Cyclamen hederifolium.
Cyclamen hederifolium
First the naked flowers appear and then the wonderfully interesting leaves will appear.
Cyclamen hederifolium leaf
A surprise this morning was seeing that a single red flower was emerging from the perrenial garden foliage.
Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’
Dahlias are not normally hardy over the winter for us but this is the fourth season for the Bishop to return.
Nearby is the Black and Blue Sage which was also said to marginally hardy for us and continues to regrow and spread.
Salvia guaranitica ‘Black and Blue’
Of course the Cestrum continues to flower for us.
Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
But right next to it the Clematis virginiana is now trying overgrow the rose bush.
Crocus Rose surrounded by Clematis virginiana
We also see this Clematis abundantly spreading the woods so we will need to try to trim it back.
Clematis virginiana
And when we turn to the annuals in the vegetable garden they are flowering beautifully.
Annuals in the vegetable garden
Including also the glads in neighboring rows.
Aaralyn Glad
Glad ‘Margaret Rose’
Lastly I should mention that we have had Evening Primrose growing on the hillside through most of this year.
Evening Primrose (Oenethera speciosa)
I was surprised to discover while perusing some my old orders from Park Seeds that I had actually order Oenethera seed back in 2001 and I’m now think this may be why we now have wild primrose growing in the pasture…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day June 2024
The pasture at sunset
I’m going to lead off this edition of the Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day with a picture of our pasture at sunset featuring the wildflowers that son Josh planted last year. They really exploded into flower this year with no extra labor at all.
Wildflowers in the pasture
He created this field by laying down a tarp to kill off the existing plants before seeding and it has really come into fruition (literally) this year. There has been one series of flowers after another since early spring.
Looking the other way on that same sunset evening shows the wonderful light off of our larger trees.
Pin Oak over the house at sunset
Another tree well worth sharing is the Stewartia japonica in the front yard.
Stewartia japonica
I have never seen so many flowers on this tree.
Stewartia japonica in full bud stage
The buds from the top of the tree are covering the lawn below
Stewartia japonica blossoms in the grass
Another plant worthy of particular attention is the Princess Flower which spent the winter in the greenhouse.
Princess Flower (Tibouchina urvilleana)
It is becoming big enough that we will have to think about the best plans for it over this next winter.
Full size picture of the Princess Flower
Zooming in on Princess Flower
The porch gets a few tropicals in this season
Brugmansia (Angel’s Trumpet)
The other item worth mentioning at this season is the beginning of the lilies.
Trumpet Lily
Red Asiatic Hybrid Lily
Yellow Asiatic Lily in the Herb bed
Lily ‘Pink Perfection’ in the grapes
Lily ‘Pink Perfection’
There are many other flowers happening now but here are a few that I should single out.
Gentiana septemfida (Summer Gentian)
Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
Alstroemeria ‘Sweet Laura’
Arisaema candidissimum
And let me end with our contribution to the food supply for Monarch Butterflies.
Orange Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day May 2024
Stewartia malacodendron
Well I’m later than ever this month because we were on travel again for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. But I will try to quickly share some of the most interesting of the many flowers on display this month. First and foremost is the Stewartia shown above. It is also known as Silky Camellia because it’s part of that family and it is also a native tree (the Carolinas) though the chances that you have ever seen one are probably not very high. It’s basically an understory tree that doesn’t stand out unless you are looking for it. But oh my the flowers are wonderful. This year is the first time we have ever had so many flowers on this very small tree (maybe 8 feet tall at the moment).
Stewartia malacodendron with many flowers
Another tree that is very nice right now is the Chinese Dogwood
Chinese Dogwood (Cornus kousa)
I really have to look at this from the second floor of the house to get full appreciation of it’s upward facing flowers.
And as long as we are talking about trees I should mention the Golden Full Moon Maple with it’s delightful lime green leaves.
Golden Full Moon Maple (Acer Shirasawanum)
Nearby is one of our oldest Rhododendrens
Rhododendron ‘Chionoides’
The flowers cut from this shrub are incredibly long-lasting in the house.
The first of the lillies is adding to our garden pleasure.
Enchantment Lily
While the roses, peonies, and Iris continue to provide flower after flower
Tess d’Uberville rose
Crocus Rose
Light Pink Tree Peony
Iris gracillipes
Beth has been bringing in many of the garden flowers for the kitchen counter.
Garden Harvest
Another nice item is the Chinese Ground Orchid and I like the purple one the best.
Bletilla striata (Chinese Ground Orchid)
In the Alpine bed we have a very nice Rock Rose that is flowering up a storm.
Rock Rose (Cistus albanicus)
Cistus albanicus outgrowing its location in the alpine bed
And nearby a trough has a dianthus overflowing the container.
Dianthus overwhelming a trough
And I should mention the Clematis which is always very striking.
Clematis ‘Crystal Fountain’
There is also a flower on the giant Podophyllum in the side yard
Podophyllum delavayi
Podophyllum delavayi flower
Finally let me mention the Evening Primrose which has decided to make a home in the pasture on Sunset Hill.
Oenothera speciosa in pasture
Pink Eveing Primrose (Oenothera speciosa)
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day April 2024
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.
Kew Garden
Wisley Garden
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.
Pink Dogwood in the front yard
Fragrant Cloud Dogwood
Kwanzan Cherry is finished
Apple Orchard getting organic spray with radish flowers in abundance
The peonies have both finished blooming for some (P. caucasica) and just now blooming for others (P. mariei for example).
Paonia mairei
Early Tree Peony
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.
Loropetalum chinense var. rubrum ‘Zhuzhou Fuschia’
There are many flowers happening at the moment ranging from very tiny iris to greenhouse delights and onto spectacular wisteria and trillium springing forth.
Iris henryi
Watsonia from the Greenhouse
Viburnum carcephalum
Trillium grandiflorum
In the alpine bed we have pulsatillas, poppies and delosperma.
Pulsatilla albana v. flavescens
Morrocan Poppy (Papaver atlanticum)
Delosperma basuticum
And out in the woods we find numerous surprises.
Narcissus ‘Badgeworth’
Camassia in the woods
Shooting Stars (Dodacatheon meadia) in the woods
Arisaema triphyllum (Jack-in-the-Pulpit) in the woods
Viburnum prunifolium (Blackhaw)
Altogether there are wonderful things happening everyday. And now more to plant…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2023
Crepe Myrtle
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.
Individual Crepe Myrtle flowers
We also have a white one down in the pasture and it seems to be growing nicely.
Crepe Myrtle white
Flowers that we see every day are the Princess Flowers on the back porch.
Princess flower (Tibouchina urvilleana)
Both we and the hummingbirds look forward to our daily dose.
The Hydrangeas are also prolific and and an everyday summer flower show.
Hydrangea ‘Limelight’
Looking around the yard you have appreciate just how dry it has been here.
Dry ground
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.
Watering Cans
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.
Allium millenium
And I noticed (after one of the few thunderstorms that we’ve had) the Cyclamen hederifolium are starting to bloom.
Cyclamen hederifolium
As we wander out to the garden it is clear that the annuals provide a spot of color.
Annuals in the veg garden
And nearby the sunflowers are on display
Sunflower
More Sunflowers
The vegetable garden is also where we find a steady supply of gladiolias
Gladiolus ‘Princess Margaret Rose’
And despite the drought we have a good supply of vegetable and fruit. I notice that the raspberries are starting their fall crop.
Fall Raspberry crop
And we been bringing in peaches and pears.
Harvesting Pears (Crispie)
That’s it for now, I’ll go back to doing my rain dance…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day July 2023
Orienpet Lilium ‘Scheherazade’
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
Orienpet Lilium ‘Scheherazade’
Lilies are definitely the most striking flower in the yard right now. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Orienpet Lily ‘Anastasia’
Lilium oriental ‘Muscadet’
Lilium oriental hybrid ‘Casa Blanca’
Lilium ‘Madame Butterfly’
Oriental Lily ‘Stargazer’
Orienpet Lily Conca d’Or
Of course, the lilies also work on the inside of the house.
Showy lilies on the mantle
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.
Corydalis lutea
Similarly, the echinacea are everywhere in the perennial beds.
Echinacea purpurea
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.
Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
The Hydrangea are just now flowering for the first time this year as well and they will also have any extended flowering.
Hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’
One of the real delights for us is the Bishop of Llandaff Dahlia which has once again survived a winter in the ground.
Dahlia ‘Bishop of Llandaff’
In the middle of the backyard there are some allium also showing up for the first time this year.
Allium ‘Millenium’
If we go back beside the greenhouse the alpine bed has some Daphne that are flowering once again this year.
Daphne collina x cneorum
Nearby in the troughs there is one with a little potentilla that flowers for a long time.
Potentilla hyparctica ‘Nana’
And in another trough a very tiny thyme that has taken over a good part of the trough.
Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’
I should also share the vegetable garden which has a number of flowers.
Vegetable Garden
Although flowers are not the main purpose there are many, many flowers every day in the vegetable garden.
Cucumbers
If you think of corn as a grass, it is the tallest grass we’ve ever grown in our garden this year.
Kandy Korn
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.
Wildflowers in the pasture
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.
Fall Camellia
Some of the others in bloom right now are shown below.
Camellia x ‘Survivor’
Camellia sasanqua ‘October Magic Orchid’
Elsewhere in the garden the Cestrum continues it’s flowerful display
Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’
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).
Red Japanese Quince (Chaenomeles)
We have had a very extended Fall and the roses are still putting out blossoms.
Rose ‘Knockout Red’
And out at the front fence there are a continuing sequence of flowers on the Daphne I planted there several years ago.
Daphne × transatlantica ‘Eternal Fragrance’
In the pasture I still see spots of color from the gaillardia that have volunteered from wildflower plantings.
Gaillardia
In the alpine bed there is still a single Moroccan Poppy remaining from the many that flowered there this year.
Papaver atlanticum ‘Flore Pleno’
In the vegetable garden we not only have flowers of various sorts but fall peas and lettuce still coming in.
Fall Peas and a strawberry
Fall Peas
Calendula and Lettuce
Calendula (Pacific Beauty Mix)
Tithonia
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.
Amazon Lily flowers
Highly recommended as a wonderful houseplant that can play outside in the summertime.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day October 2022
Aconitum carmichaelii ‘Arendsii’
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.
Camellia sasanqua ‘Northern Lights’
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
Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta ‘Sinonome’
Otherwise there are many of the carryovers from previous months still in bloom.
Colchicum ‘Bornmuelleri’
Princess Flower
Plectranthus
Cyclamen hederifolium
Out in the garden in raised beds the calendula continue with their wonderful flowering.
Calendula
Calendula
And with regard to raised beds I should mention that Josh and I installed a third raised bed for next year’s gardens.
Assembling new raised bed
And as we head out to the pasture there are late flowering sunflowers
Late Sunflower
as well as some of their smaller relatives
Swamp Sunflower ‘Helianthus angustifolius’
Gallardia in the pasture
I do have to take note of the Dahlias still coming into the house
Dahlia ‘Bodacious’
And the beautiful beautyberries by the driveway
Beautyberry
Finally let me close with our new approach to harvesting chestnuts.
Harvesting Chestnuts
Just stomp on the spiny balls and wiggle the lovely chestnuts out…