Stewartia japonica center
This is the middle of the gardening year with abundant flowers, never enough rain, and rarely the time to think about what chores to take on next. For Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day I thought it appropriate to lead off with the exotic center of Stewartia Japonica. The last flowers are just finishing up on this wonderful tree. It not only flowers abundantly but has exquisite bark as well.
Stewartia japonica
But the dominant theme for this time of year is LILIES. They are popping out like mad with their extravagant blooms. Some are super tall (Scheherzade) or small (Madame Butterfly), but all are worth paying attention to. Beth often brings them into the house for the fragrance. Here are some of our lily companions.
Oriental Lily ‘Time Out’
Orienpet Lilium ‘Scheherazade’
Orienpet Lily ‘Anastasia’
Oriental Lily Star Gazer
Oriental Lily ‘Muscadet’
Oriental Lily ‘Casa Blanca’
Oriental Lily ‘Marco Polo’
Orienpet Lily Conca d’Or
Lilium ‘Madame Butterfly’
And at the same time that we are bringing lilies into the house the gladiolias are coming into bloom.
Gladiolus ‘Margaret Rose’
This year I noticed a particular red and white that is large and very frilly. No name yet but I will research that.
Red and White Glad
In the garden there is a lovely long row of glads and dahlia with flowers still to come.
Glads in the garden
Our hardest working gardener is son Josh, and he has put a wall of sunflowers on the border of the garden
Sunflowers form the border of the vegetable garden
At the same time there was a volunteer sunflower in the vegetable garden that we just let grow. I would estimate that it stands about 12 feet tall at this point.
Volunteer sunflower in the vegetable garden
I should mention that we put a barn owl box in the pasture.
Barn Owl Box
It’s too late this year but hopefully we get a family next year to take of some of the small critters.
Nearby is a wildflower patch that Josh created by covering the existing grasses with a tarp until he was ready to plant. It’s worked out quite well.
Wildflower patch in the pasture
And then lastly, because we live not by flowers alone, here’s an update on the upcoming orchard fruit.
Redhaven peaches getting ripe
Kiefer pears in abundance
You must have a large amount of property. The riot of flowers is amazing, and so many fruit trees. What a blessing.
I’m mesmerized by the close-up of the Stewartia bloom.
Fingers crossed that a Barn Owl will occupy the box next year. It should be great fun!
Hi Chavli, always good to hear from you. Stewartia’s are lovely in every way. It’s amazing to me that the S. japonica has grown nicely in a rather lousy location in our front yard. It’s all shale and not much in the way of water and humus. If I had known how rewarding Stewartia’s are I might have taken more care.