Sunday, June 15, 2008

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June 2008


How did summer get here so fast? It seems as if just a few weeks ago we were still watching spring unfold in our gardens and now they're bursting at the edges with blooms and lush green growth. Maybe this is that third-year phenomenon going on in my garden, seeing that this summer is my third as a 'real' gardener.

The first year they sleep,
The second year they creep,

The third year they leap.
Definitely leaping here. And now I present to you some of the best blooms Our Little Acre has to offer if you were to visit today:

Astilbe x arendsii 'Peach Blossom'
I've said before that I haven't had tremendous luck with Astilbes, but last year this one negated that statement and it has continued to perform very well - the best of any of my Astilbes.


Kniphofia (Unknown cultivar)
I bought these several years ago from Spring Hill during one of their one-cent sales, and they've performed very well for me, in spite of being moved twice.


Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold'
I love this Campanula! It glows in the garden and the combination of purple and chartreuse is one of my favorite shockers.


Clematis 'Huldine' has really come into its own this year.


Rosa 'Chihuly' continues to wow me.


Rosa 'Disneyland' is still at the top of my list of favorite roses because of its beautiful blend of pink and orange hues.


Rosa 'Crown Princess Margareta'
The English Roses have begun their first flush of blooms.


Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Moonlight' is also known as Japanese Climbing Hydrangea. In this first spring in our garden after a fall planting and surviving the winter, it seems to be very happy. It's grown like crazy and from what I've read, it can be a slow grower if it's not in the right conditions. We got lucky!


For the life of me I can't find the tag for this Allium I planted in so many places last fall. I love it, no matter what its name is!


After I purchased this first Astrantia 'Roma' last fall, it quickly became one of my favorite flowers. I've got a new darker burgundy one, too ('Ruby Cloud'), but the plant is not well-established enough yet to give a show of flowers like this one.


Clematis 'Niobe' blooms in spite of its location on the east side of the pool house, where it's shaded all day by a flowering crabapple tree.


Eryngium 'Blue Hobbit' has a profusion of smaller blooms on a dwarf plant in comparison to the other one I have ('Sapphire Blue').


Coreopsis 'Jethro Tull'


Veronica 'Royal Candles'


Dutch Iris (Iris x hollandica 'Oriental Beauty') has just finished its last blooms after looking like this last week.


Campanula persicifolia 'Kelly's Gold' keeps its brilliant lime green foliage nearly year-round, then blooms big white flowers in June.


This Paeonia lactiflora can be depended on to bring showy, frilly blooms that have that classic peony fragrance. Looks like the Leafcutter bees like these as much as we do!


I grew this Potentilla nepalensis 'Melton Fire' from seed the first year that I winter sowed (January 2006). I love the color of the small flowers it gets, but the plant is a sprawler and I don't care for that. Maybe I'd like it better in a different location, or maybe it could be helped by cutting back by half, early in the season. Maybe I'll try that next year.


Geranium pratense 'Victor Reiter, Jr.' has dark foliage that needs a brighter-leaved something around it, or it tends to fade into oblivion in a mulched bed. This year, I planted Helichrysum petiolare 'Limelight' around the base. Once that starts spreading, it should bring attention to Victor as well as itself.


Geum 'Double Bloody Mary'


There are other bloomers, too. It's been such a warm, wet spring that everything has just taken off and grown and bloomed like crazy. I almost can't keep up with what's flowering. The weeds are doing their thing too, of course, but in the three years that I've been actively gardening, this is by far the best spring ever.

I'm just loving living the lush green life of my garden . . .

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ooh, Campanula 'Dickson's Gold,' Disneyland rose, 'Blue Hobbit' eryngium, and veronica 'Royal Candles'! Wow, those are wonderful.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Beautiful photos. You have some varieties I've never seen before.

The astilbe and the companula are my favorites.
Marnie

min hus said...

You have lots of cool blooms here! I love that Astrantia.

And what you mean it's only your third year gardening? How can that be? It's only my third year gardening too, but I still feel like a newbie, whereas you seem like an expert to me...

I know, I know can't judge our own progress against others but...

Naturegirl said...

Kylee your flower garden is simply magical! I see so many varieties for the first time!! Summer already! Hurrah..what a wonderful word!!
So much happening at this end too..especailly a ~special delivery!~

Muum said...

I am looking at that Chiluly rose, and I think I'll have to get one at some point. It really looks great. Does the Geum bloom all summer, or just for a usual perennial season? I haven't grown them.

Rose said...

What a lot of lovely blooms! I especially like the Astrantia--that's a new one to me. For being just a third-year "real" gardener (me, too) you have an amazing garden.

Unknown said...

Seriously? Your third year gardening and you have that many LIVE roses? I must say I'm rather impressed. I'm not good at my plant's names, but they don't seem to mind as long as I take good care of them!

Beautiful. I rescued some flowers from my old garden on my last trip before the sheriff's sale. I'll blog about it later this week, I'm too lazy to do it right now.

Kylee Baumle said...

Pam ~ They really are, Pam. I don't know which of those I like the best!

Roses and Lilacs ~ Thanks, Marnie! I do like the different varieties of things as well as the oldies. Isn't there just so much to love in the plant world?

minhus ~ I love Astrantia, too! Yes, this is my third summer, after starting to garden for real at the end of summer 2005. Max's Garden didn't even exist until October 2005, when we dug out the grass and planted a few shrubs and some clumps of daylilies.

When I get hooked on something, I'm obsessed. Truly. Being an internet junkie since 1997, I read a lot, a lot, a lot. It was like I just couldn't learn things fast enough! I love nothing better than to be on my hands and knees digging in the dirt and I'm fascinated by plants and how and why they do what they do.

No, you shouldn't compare yourself with others. And no matter what I may have learned by reading, there are so many things that can't be learned any other way than by experience. I've got a long way to go before I feel experienced! ;-)

Naturegirl ~ I just read about Christopher! I adore newborns and I'm so happy for all of you! Someday I hope we have some of those around here! :-)

Muum ~ 'Chihuly' has been such a wonderful rose for me, ever since I planted it in the spring of 2006. Each bloom looks just a bit different than the other, but all are gorgeous.
The geum blooms all summer if you keep deadheading it. It will bloom even if you don't deadhead it, but of course it will have more blooms more often if you do.

Rose ~ Thanks, Rose. Astrantia is commonly called Masterwort and it was new to me last year, too. I really love its intricate blooms!

Cinj ~ Yes, this is my third summer. I went to the 2005 Cleveland Flower Show with my mom and that kind of sparked my interest in gardening. I bought a few plants that summer, but it wasn't until spring of 2006 that I jumped in with both feet and got serious about things.

I've killed and lost my fair share of plants, but with each loss I learned something. In the rose department, I've lost 'Diana Princess of Wales' and 'Sutter's Gold'. Right now, my 'About Face' is really struggling, as is my seond "Diana Princess of Wales' (which I thought I'd lost altogether, but when I went to dig it up, there was a bit of green on it).

I look forward to your rescue blog post!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

Everything looks so pretty, Kylee. I have a lot of plants doing that third year leaping thing too. I think it's all of the rain we've had. Even the trees are growing fast this year.

Kylee Baumle said...

Thanks, Robin. I agree, about the weather and the trees! We noticed how much our trees have grown already! We're glad of that, because we've planted several new ones in the last couple of years and we aren't getting any younger. No saplings for us anymore, if we want to see them reach a decent size! LOL!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

Campanula 'Kelly's Gold' is one of those that I've been thinking about getting. You should post a photo of its foliage. Astrantia 'Roma' is lovely. I like the pink & burgundy ones so much better than the white ones. But my favorite of your bloomers is that Astilbe 'Peach Blossom.' It is outstanding.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

All I can say is WOW Kylee. Your blooms are lovely.

Unknown said...

Wow! I LOVE that dutch iris. And the geum--I've almost bought geum now for the past two years, but somehow keep changing my mind.

Is your bright pink allium rather short? If so, I wonder if it could be allium ostrowskiana. (It also has an alternate name, allium oreo-something. I just remember the first part because of the cookie! lol.) I planted some of those in the midst of my groundcover sedums last fall, and they look really nice,hovering over the sedum in bloom.

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Remember when you had nthing to show for GBBD and look at your garden now. Isn't it amazing? Such lovely blooms, I like them all except for the Kniphofia I hate those plants with a passion. Red hot pokers, yuck! ;-)

And yes I'm back from Scotland.

Shirley said...

Hi again Kylee, where to start? So many flowers I love here :-)

I love the golden foliage and blue flower of ‘Dickson’s Gold’ – that’s just my type of plant. I must look out for that here. So many for favs. I will need to be selective.

‘Crown Princess Margareta’ is the next to really catch my eye. What a glorious colour! Closely followed is the allium and astrantia. ‘Niobe’ I do have but it isn’t flowering here yet in my part of Scotland.

I love the sea holly ‘Blue Hobbit’ this is another I will look out for. It really is quite delicate looking. I will finish with the blue of ‘Royal Candles’ wow that is striking!

Sorry, I must leave space for other comments but I love the peony too :-D

Enjoy the rest of your week :-D

Carol Michel said...

Indeed, that third year is when you really see the results of all your hard work.

I have 'Royal Candles', too, and get quite a few compliments on it.

Thanks for joining in for bloom day.

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Sarah Laurence said...

Those dutch iris are so interesting. I love the diversity of color and texture in your garden. Nice photos!

Kerri said...

I can imagine you exalting over your garden right now, Kylee! All your blooms are truly beautiful. I've had the same experience with Astilbes..3 out of 4 of mine grow slower than I don't know what. Your pink is gorgeous!
I saw Clematis Niobe at a local garden center recently and thought it might be redder than the color I'm after, but your photo looks more pink..and just right to me. I may go back and buy it. Thank you!
I can see why Disneyland is a big favorite with you. It's glorious!
Wonderful photos..all!

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