Friday, June 3, 2011

And the Garden Played On


I'm not holding my breath, but I think maybe the monsoon season has ended here in northwest Ohio. May brought over 10 inches of rain, which is way over normal and it prevented us from doing so many things in the garden.

Because of the construction of the conservatory last fall, we had to move several plants to a temporary location in the vegetable garden until this spring, when the plan was to then move them to their final destination. I wanted to tear out a large section in Max's Garden where yarrow had spread too much and wasn't performing well and the yellow scabiosa was threatening world domination, starting with my garden. I'd be using some of those moved plants in this area.

So as you can see, one action depended on another and the entire garden depended on all of it. The continual rains just didn't allow for any of it, but I decided to go ahead and play in the mud. I realize this isn't the best way to dig out plants and plant others, but it was never going to get done if I didn't! I may lose some things, but such is the life of a gardener.


If I hadn't had these grandiose plans for the garden and the plants had been where I wanted them, the garden would be looking just fine, in spite of several times where it looked like the swamp it once was 150 years ago.  The cold temperatures and soggy soil had some effect on the plants, with some of them skipping blooming altogether (yes, tulips, I'm talking to you!), but for the most part, the garden played on:

Siberian Iris 'Flight of Butterflies'

Siberian Iris 'Chilled Wine'

Unidentified miniature rose

I trialed this Blooms of Bressingham Penstemon 'Prairie Twilight' last year and it
did well right out of the pot. It came back even more robust this spring!

German Bearded Iris 'Red at Night'

Unidentified German Bearded Iris

The inside of that same iris has some amazing color going on!

Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'

Geranium sanguineum

I don't remember planting a white Dutch Iris, EVER.

Dianthus 'Testar Red' just gets bigger and better each year.

A bumblebee goes after the nectar in Baptisia 'Twilite Prairieblues'.

Columbine (Aquilegia 'Origami Red & White')

White wild Geranium

Perennial Flax


Geranium phaeum 'Lavender Pinwheel'

Supertunia 'Bordeaux', Osteospermum 'Soprano White', Penisetum 'Fireworks',
Lobularia 'Snow Princess', Tradescantia 'Purple Heart'

Aquilegia 'Little Lanterns'

Allium christophii in bloom

Bloom on Syringa lanciniata. Too bad it isn't very fragrant.

I don't know the name of this yellow and pink columbine, but I love it.

Columbine (Aquilegia 'Clementine Salmon Rose')

Columbine (Aquilegia sp.)

Peony season has begun, just in time for the Van Wert Peony Festival. Romie and I are happy to welcome Chris Tidrick (From the Soil) and his wife, Melinda, to our home this weekend! We'll be going on a tour of several gardens and hopefully it won't rain on the parade tomorrow night.

I wish I knew the name of this one! It's a beautiful shade of pink/almost coral.


11 comments:

Darla said...

and we are over 11 inches behind in rainfall. Your blooms are just gorgeous and I LOVE the container combination!!

Commonweeder said...

What beautiful photos - and a useful record of what is blooming right now. The weather seems to be playing all kinds of tricks all over the country these days.

Julie Kroske said...

How beautiful! I love the columbine. Wish it would bloom longer! Oh, by the way, maybe I was very sneeky and planted the white iris for you! Well OK, maybe not!

minhus said...

I hope you're right, but they're calling for rain all next week here in central Ohio...

Lona said...

I am hoping the Monsoon weather is over also. What a spring.Your garden is starting to shine Kylee. So many wonderful blooms.I love the irises and that Chilled Wine one is a stunner. The Penstemon Prairie Twilight is heavenly.I love the color. You have so many pretty Columbines also.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

The Garden Fairies must have been awfully busy in your garden since you weren't able to be out there in the rain. Your garden looks beautiful bloom by bloom.

Bethany said...

I live in lower West Michigan, I was afraid it was NEVER going to stop raining! We meant to start our vegetable garden weeks ago but were only able to recently. I don't know anything about flowers, but yours sure are pretty! :)

Unknown said...

As aways Kylee, your photographs are spectacular! Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Well, I'm glad to hear the rains have finally begun to cease and desist. Let's hope so, anyway - that "swamp shot" was a sad sight to see.

How wonderful that most of your garden has not suffered too badly (except for those tulips!).

I particularly love the iris photos you included this time and have added 'Flight of Butterflies', 'Chilled Wine', and 'Red at Night' to my "someday" wish list. =) They are just gorgeous!

Your columbines are exceptionally lovely too.

Alan Moore said...

Fantastic flowers, absolutel stunning!

Here in the UK, we've had unusually warm and dry weather for a few months. It's a real chore having to water the veg garden every day but the ground is just so dry it has to be done.

Shouldn't complain as it usually rains here in Yorkshire for most of the Summer!

Alan

Landscape Resource said...

Despite all the water, your blooms are still to envy. The irises are just gorgeous. And aside from gardening, you really are good at taking photos.

So vivid... so beautiful.

Happy gardening :)

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