Sunday, June 15

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: June 2008


Usually, gardeners wax poetic about the blooms of this month, but the middle of June is kind of a weird time in my garden. The irises are already done, including my gorgeous 'Samurai Warrior' red iris, and the only other typical mid-June bloomer that puts on a show for me is my 'Dortmund' rose.

Here you see 'Dortmund's lower blooms, the first ones to open, partially obscured by bronze fennel foliage. Outside of the rose, the only other really showy thing in my garden is a stand of goatsbeard (aruncus sinensis 'Zweiweltenkind') plants. The goatsbeard is very pretty, but even if you don't like the flowers themselves, they are amazing to see in bloom due to their size. The 6-strong clumps flower at about 4ft in height!

My 'Samobor' geraniums still have a few delicate blooms holding on, but most of the flowering stems were cut back a week or more ago.

One of my lady's mantle had to be deadheaded when its great chartreuse blooms turned brown. A second lady's mantle is sporting a new haircut ever since I decided to move it (which was cause for a huge pouting--er, wilting--episode) last week. But the other alchemilla mollis is still blooming nicely, with the variegated sedum behind it picking up its color for a 1-2 punch.

The abutilon megapotanicum that I grew in the house over the winter was cut back severely this spring when it was shipped outside, but it seems to be much happier in its new, sunny situation.

Across the driveway from the pot of parlor maple, some cute little rock garden plants are starting to cover up the retaining wall block nicely. At left and bottom is the 'Chubby Fingers' sedum album, and in the middle top is a pretty gray creeping germander that I bought last year from High Country Gardens. To the right is the woolly thyme that makes me smile when I step on it to weed the bed behind--it has a very pretty, light scent. It's got scattered blooms in a color similar to the germander, too.

More rock garden plants are blooming in the backyard. Inside one of the "locks" is 'Metallica Crispa' ajuga and silene maritima.

Behind the locks, the perennial snapdragons, saxifrage and 'Cape Blanco' sedums are settling into their new home, with the linaria not really missing a beat in terms of bloom.

The front yard has some interesting blooms, too. On the left side (streetside) of the Japanese maple, you can see the pretty contrast between the lacey Japanese maple leaves and the 'Purple Dragon' lamium that is planted underneath it.

Moving around to the left (house side) of the maple, its lowest branches have started to grow together with my 'Northern Halo' hosta. I usually cut off hosta flowers before they have a chance to really bloom, but for some reason these really work for me in conjunction with the cream-edged hosta and the Japanese maple foliage. So they get to stay. Other flowers that usually get cut before they can even bloom are those on my coralbells, but a few heuchera flowers got to stick around this spring as well. Maybe I'm getting soft in my old age?

At the other end of the soft spectrum, the most unusual blooms around here are a funky little pink blossom on my cobweb sempervivum, and the little clustered flower/seedheads from my carex buchanii. I couldn't get a really good picture of either (in the second shot, you see a few clusters cascading into the other sempervivum, below) but I think that this will look really interesting once the hens and chicks fill in. It has a natural xeriscape look to it that I really like.

Make sure to check out the rest of what's blooming around the world via the June GBBD Post at May Dreams Gardens (hosted by the lovely Carol)... here my full blooming list:


Shrubs, climbers and grasses:
- 'Black Beauty' sambucus nigra
- 'Sykes Dwarf' oakleaf hydrangea
- 'Dortmund' rose
- unknown dark purple clematis (probably jackmanii)
- carex buchanii
- carex 'Beetlemania'
- physocarpus 'Diabolo' (almost done)

Perennials/bulbs:
- cobweb sempervivum
- digitalis parviflora
- allium ostrowskiana
- 'Walker's Low' catmint
- 'Ivory Queen' hellebore (kind of--faded blooms with seedheads)
- 'Doone Valley' thyme
- sedum 'Angelina'
- 'Northern Halo' hosta
- 'Purple Dragon' lamium
- 'Samobor' geranium
- 'Chubby Fingers' sedum
- alchemilla mollis
- salvia officinalis 'Newe Ya'ar'
- salvia 'Caradonna'
- no-tag thornless blackberry, probably 'Navaho'
- 'Cape Blanco' sedum
- linaria 'Mini Lights'
- asclepias tuberosa
- silene maritima
- 'Metallica crispa' ajuga
- salvia plumosa
- aruncus sinensis 'Zweiweltenkind'
- heuchera 'Silver Scrolls' (the only one whose flowerstalks I leave)
- gray creeping germander
- salvia 'Marcus'
- salvia lyrata 'Purple Knockout' and 'Purple Volcano'

Annuals, vegetables and houseplants:
- 'Infinity Orange Frost' New Guinea impatiens
- 'Flora Showers Lavender' bicolor snapdragon
- dark purple verbena
- 'Totally Tempted' cuphea
- NOID red bedding begonia with white flowers
- 'Yubi Red' portulaca
- crown of thorns
- abutilon megapotanicum

17 comments:

growingagardenindavis said...

Silly me, I thought I read that you cut off the hosta and heuchera flowers before they bloom! They may not be as impressive as some but...cut them off?!! Well...I'll look for your list tomorrow! I may do am addendum since I missed a few on my post...

joey said...

A lovely post, Kim, especially considering your hefty schedule. I was delighed to find my 'miniature' goatsbeard hiding in my 'miniature' garden that through the years is now not so 'miniature'! I found it a new home and hope it will be happy beside my 'miniature' lady's mantle that I also found hiding in my 'miniature' garden. Hugs ...

Anonymous said...

I love your germander and that red-and-yellow abutilon. I've seen that particular abutilon growing in Austin too, albeit in the shade. I've got to get one of those.

Colleen Vanderlinden said...

I am inlove with that 'Samobor' geranium! The blooms are so delicate and pretty. Now I have to get one, too :-)

Annie in Austin said...

Hi Kim,

Unusual and interesting stuff you have there! The cobweb sempervivum can bloom? I bought some this spring but never thought about flowers.
Some of the hostas have such flimsy, mauvey flowers that I used to cut them off, too - but if they had some substance and/or were white, they stayed, and frequently had fragrance.
It's good to see alchemilla again - hope they settle in after their move.
The new design is Lock-ing Good.

Happy Blooming Day!

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Is your variegatede Sedum 'Becka' (Autumn Delight)? I just planted one of those, so now I think I should move an Alchemilla over next to it, as yours look so great together. My Sempervivum hasn't bloomed in a couple of years, but I think it had brighter pink flowers than yours. I like the contrast between the petals & the maroon ring, which complements the other Sempervivum.

Unknown said...

Oh, Leslie, you read correctly... sorry about that! *grin* Maybe I'll do a post explaining my rationale for that soon. (I do have a reason, I swear.) Don't feel too badly about the addendum, btw. I regularly have to go in and edit my Bloom Day post for things I forget. :)

Joey, thanks! All those things... they don't sound so miniature to me. lol. But they sure are pretty plants.

Pam/Diggin, I really love that germander, too. I meant to plant the abutilon outside (even though it isn't hardy here) but when I saw how nice it looked in front of the artemisia, pot and all, I relented. Funny thing is, though, that now that it's outside the red bleeds into the yellow when it rains.

Colleen, DARN IT! I could've given you a freebie since I had a volunteer, had I known. Since I cut them back already I don't know how much reseeding I'll see, but I'll keep an eye out. :)

Annie, nice job on the pun! :) I don't think that these have fragrance, but they do have some presence. I do leave the pretty darker purple flowers on my miniature golden one, too, but all of the rest of them are rather nondescript and get cutback. It's so nice to see you excited about seeing "your old Northern garden plants" on our blogs... since we get so excited about seeing the tropical treasures that we can only dream about on yours!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter, I'm really not sure. I bought it at a master gardener plant sale and it was just labeled "variegated sedum" on the homemade tag. It made me feel a little bit better at the time, that master gardeners don't always keep better track of their plants than I do. *grin*

I wonder if the brightness has to do with the amount of sunshine you get down there? Hmm...

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Gorgeous blooms Kim. You have lots blooming in your garden in June. A friend of mine cuts off her Hosta blooms too. She says that if she does this her hostas grow larger. I don't know if this is true but I usually leave mine. I have found that many of them have a lovely fragrance. Happy bloom day.

Shady Gardener said...

Beautiful tour around your yard! I'd never heard of abutilon megapotanicum and had to look it up. How unusual! I hadn't realized Lady's Mantle could be so lush until I saw one in a friend's garden (!), so I moved mine last fall. Makes a difference, doesn't it? ;-)

Anonymous said...

Is this yet another new style for your blog? Love it as always and the bloom day post has many interesting items. The picture of the Japanese thread leaf maple over your hosta is a beauty. I think you have been working too hard as I miss your frequent posting. Will make do with what you can manage!

gintoino said...

As usual, very interesting blooms. Funny that you have silene as a garden plant, I have it as vegetable garden weed ;-)

Muum said...

great to see your blooms. My roses are just starting, I still have my irises. Last year at this time I think both were done! I'd love to see more pics of your rock garden plants.

Unknown said...

Greenbow Lisa, huh... I've never heard that about the hosta leaves. I guess it sorta makes sense, if the plant isn't putting energy into making flowers, maybe it will put more into making leaves. But then, things like Sum & Substance get so large anyway that I don't see the need! :)

Shady Gardener, it really does make a difference. The one I moved was a little fried out in too much sun... so even though it completely drooped when I moved it, I think it will be happier next year! (And yes, I really like that abutilon. So graceful!)

Layanee, it is a new look. I'm still experimenting with something that I like, find to be clean, etc. And once I settle on something I will probably only change the header graphic to reflect current pictures each season... so maybe the changes will be ending soon. Thank you for the kind words about missing my posts. I miss posting, too, but am working on that--the garden center job will be ending fairly soon.

gintoino, HA! How funny. I wonder if it's the same kind of silene, though? (Mine is silene maritima, and I know that there are taller varieties, too.)

Muum, I was kind of thinking that my roses were a little behind, too... but I think that my iris were spot-on in terms of last year. Now that you say that, I'll have to check.

I'll try to post more pics of my rock garden plants soon. :)

Anonymous said...

Wow, what different zones we live in! I've always admired goatsbeard - but from a distance, and few geraniums can manage it down here in the south. Your gardens look just beautiful - and makes me want to stop by with a pitcher of martinis for a real tour!

K.C. said...

So pretty and so inspiring to be around that much nature. Could just smell it all through the screen. So glad that I popped in.. Kayce

Kerri said...

You do have some interesting blooms, Kim.
I love your a. megapotanicum. I was wondering what to do with the abutilon I wintered over, and thought of putting it in the ground, but now, seeing yours, I may leave it in the pot. And I'll cut it back. Did you try rooting the cuttings? I've heard it roots easily.
The germander and other rock garden plants look very pretty.

garden girl said...

Love the nice selection of blooms. It's fun to see so many different things blooming in everyone's gardens.

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