Lily ‘Forever Susan’

In June the lilies begin to make their statement for Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day.  They are exploding around the yard and they provide excellent cutting flowers as well.

Lilium ‘Forever Susan’ inside the house

One of my favorites is in the monument bed

Lilium ‘Netty’s Pride’ group

Lilium ‘Netty’s Pride’

In addition to the lilies another regular for this season is a very extravagant japanese iris

Iris ensata ‘Flashing Koi’

The bletilla continue with their orchid-like flowers.

Bletilla ‘Brigantes’

And nearby is a new Roscoea that we got from Far Reaches this year.

Roscoea purpurea f. alba NAPE 239

We have several clematis that have been trailing on fences and trellis including this one that runs up the sambuccus.

Clematis ‘Krakowiak’

A very long-lasting flower is one of the gentians in the alpine bed.

Gentiana dahurica

Walking in the front yard you discover there are many white flowers on the grass and then you look up in the tree and see the source.

Stewartia japonica

There are many, many flower buds on the tree.

With all the rain that we continue to have it’s not surprising that the green leafy plants are doing well.

Pinellia ‘Polly Spout’

Arisaema farghesii

Arisaema candidissum

In the greenhouse there are multiple habranthus in bloom (they seed around abundantly).

Habranthus robustus

The habranthus are much bigger than their zephyranthus cousins.

We were in the orchard this week bagging apples (basically to ward off insects).  The really odd thing is that we have a much smaller crop than normal because many of the trees flowered last fall in response to our tremendous rainfall.  It turns out that one the few trees to have a few apples worth protecting is our Spitzenburg.  I don’t know if you have tried Spitzenburg but it is one of the best apples ever.  In our case this is the one survivor of a row of Spizenburgs and it is barely hanging on as a tree.

Spitzenburg trunk

Nonetheless the apples on it are looking very nice.

Apple ‘Spitzenburg’

This is usually a tree that is very hard hit by pests.  So it’s very strange to see it outyielding much bigger stronger trees.

By the front of the second pasture is a volunteer adam’s needle that is flowering by its lonesome.

Adam’s Needle (Yucca filamentosa)

And nearby are various meadow plantings of wildflowers that son Josh put in this year. They are prospering.

Wildflower mix

And of course the wildlife are enjoying Josh’s efforts.

Cosmos in wildfire mix

Stewartia malacodendron

Last year at Stonecrop’s alpine sale I purchased this small tree from Don Dembowski with the hope of someday seeing the beautiful flowers that websites described.  I was amazed this year when several flowers appeared in its first year on our rocky hillside.  This is multiple weeks ahead of it’s neighbor, Stewartia japonica.  Not to take anything away from Stewartia japonica with its lovely bark and many flowers, but the S. malacondendron has much larger and absolutely gorgeous flowers.

Stewartia malacodendron flower

So far the deer have chosen to ignore this wonderful addition to our front yard.  It seems happy within the shade of surrounding trees.  Inspired by this success I’ve purchased Stewartia monadelpha as well and I’m looking for where to place what will eventually be a pretty large tree.

The remarkably consistent event on the first of June is the appearance of the Arisaema fargessi and Arisaema candidissum

Arisaema fargessi emerging

Each year I wonder if they have disappeared over the winter and each year they check the calendar and stick up their cone on June 1st (A. fargessi was a day early this year, but A. candidissum was right on schedule.  Meanwhile many of their Arisaema brethren have been up and about for many weeks.  The most striking at the moment is a new Arisaema ringens cultivar.

Arisaema ringens ‘Black Mamba’

The Arisaema ringens are big plants with leaves that extend over a couple of feet.  Here is the normal A. ringens in its third year.

Arisaema ringens

This is also the time of year for the martagon lilies to share their elegance.

Lilium x martagon ‘Claude Shride’

This one looked particularly nice when we put it in the middle stones that had been painted at a garden party last week.

Martagon lily with stones

In the front yard right now we have white daphne that is covered with fragrant blossoms.

Daphne x transatalantica ‘Eternal Fragrance’

And an azalea with some of the largest azalea blossoms I have ever seen.

White azalea

A focal point of the center garden is a large spuria iris with striking purple blossoms.

Spuria Iris ‘Stella Irene’

And in the monument bed a very pretty bletilla is in full bloom.

Bletilla ‘Brigantes’

The greenhouse still has a few contributions as well.  A pine woods lily that has appeared in other years at this time.

Alophia drummondi (Pine Woods Lily)

And a flower from Brazil that I don’t recalled having flowered before.

Neomarica candida

It’s very exotic, but you have to pay attention because the flower is only there for a day.