Oh, that poor Kousa, but it looks like it's recovering and those protected branches are lovely. The tree must have been spectacular in previous years. Maybe we need to wish for either milder winters or deeper snow (I'll take the milder winters, thank you very much, if I have a choice).

That's a lot of seedlings, almost like the progeny of maples. Is there a point where people start getting mad at the seeding around and just rip them all out? I'm new to Kousa dogwoods and it's all a wonder to me.

Claire

I'm in awe of the beautiful plants (with and without blooms) on the last thread and this one. Gorgeous images everyone! I haven't had much of quality to share, but here are some...

Coral Bells (Heuchera) Dolce Key Lime Pie

Bellflower (Campanula)

Salmon pink poppy with lady's mantle

Mock Orange

Susan

I have to add one more...my heritage rose started blooming today!

Susan

A few more blooms.

'John Davis' Rose (one of the Canadian explorer series) with the remains of Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight'. (The Clematis that were supposed to be climbing the obelisk were all decimated by voles.)

Climbing hydrangea

A deciduous rhododendron that I expected to be yellow, but looks lovely spilling peachy-colored flowers down the slope. There aren't any other flowers nearby at this time, so it doesn't matter that it would be difficult to find compatible colors.

This combo of Variegated Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum) with the delicate foliage of Veronica 'Georgia Blue' was lovely in the rain yesterday.

Susan, your blue/purple bellflowers are lovely!

I like your roses, NHBabs. Sorry about your poor dogwood, but at least it looks like it is on the mend. I have a couple crabapple seedlings that were eaten by deer but they too have grown new foliage and are leafing out. I guess where there is a will, there is a way!

The only thing I have blooming right now are Siberian iris.

NBabs, I like your climbing Hydrangea!

Despite everything last winter threw at it, my southern magnolia (Bracken's Brown Beauty) has several gorgeous white blooms now, and not one single branch died. A high percentage of the old leaves have been shed, but every twig is covered in new growth!

The Penstemon "Dark Towers" makes a nice play against the boulders.

I'm surprised that Braken's Brown Beauty didn't get clobbered by the snow. They are notorious for breaking branches that way. And thanks for showing Penstemon Dark Towers. I just bought a plant and wanted to see how it did. Does it seed in the way that Husker Red does?

Here's a few pics from the garden on the solstice.

We had 2 inches of rain yesterday morning. The plants loved it. This is Hosta Blue Mammoth soaking it up.

Rudbeckia Prarie Sun with some kind of pollinator on it.

Daylily 'Stella Supreme' just beginning to bloom.

The yellow roses just keep on coming.

The early season Hostas are just beginning to bloom now. This is the flower bract from Baby Bunting, a miniature.

Steve

So many lovely pictures of a variety of plants!

Bill, your garden thumbed its nose at the winter! I remember how concerned you were at the beginning of spring but everything is beautiful!

Nothing unusual here, but plenty to delight me.

Rose 'Zepherine Drouhin' waiting for the hydrangea, hosta, and meadow phlox under it to bloom

Peony 'Red Magic' looking like a rose.

Good old daylily 'Stella de Oro' giving a shot of gold to the garden.

Jazzing up some hostas.

And another classic, H. 'Black Eyed Stella' glowing in the sun.

Claire

Steve, yes "Dark Towers" seeds all over the place, but I don't consider it invasive because it's really easy to control. The plants pull with little effort, and they often pop up where they seem to belong!

Claire, thanks. Nothing actually died from last winter, but several things took a hit. But, all of them are recovering well. I think two of my camellias got a lot of burn/damage but they are showing new growth on all the branches now.

I wish my DT seeded. It is so much much better than Husker's Red which limped through winter and needed to be coddled every spring to get going. I like DT 's color better.

Marie, I am surprised that your penstemon doesn't set seed. I have TONS of them, and although I like them (dark foliage, delicate sprays of flowers right now and brilliant red foliage in autumn), I do have to pull them every so often. I wonder why yours don't seed.

Dianthus

Clematis

ColumbineThose are some of my beauties

Nightmart I like the columbines! Do they bloom over a long period?

bill_ri_z6b, colubine is pretty short lived, it almost gone at this point, this pic i took almost two weeks ago, now i have like pone or two flowers left

Hydrangeas already, suzabanana? Very pretty, and I love Jizo protecting your garden.

Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire) is opening, to the great delight of the bees. That's a self-seeded foxglove lurking there - maybe I should call it Jizo.

The Blue Billow hydrangea behind it isn't quite ready yet. It's always a cliffhanger whether the itea will stay in bloom until the hydrangea flowers with its deep blue color making a pink white and blue July 4th statement.

Phlox maculata (Meadow Phlox) is beginning to dominate, photobombing every view.

I actually pull out a lot of it each year but I'm no match for it.

The hummingbirds love it and the woodchucks don't, which is a good reason to keep it, and I appreciate anything that will look pretty with minimal maintenance.

Claire
.

Will you look at that! no mildew. Despite the dryness, or perhaps because of the stress of it, my early blooming phlox has a thick coat of mildew.

I found one I'd wanted to get for years: Minnie Pearl. Very early and no mildew! Pretty white, touch of pink and a reasonable size. Not like that hulk "David".

No idea why is it posting in on the side, i tried rotating it but doesnt help, either way, gayfeather getting taller and taller

Yellow day lilies

Ajuga

Hydrengaea getting more color

Gliardia/not sure about spelling

Another dianthus

Kalmia almost gone

Butterflyweed

Does anybody know what this is?

Great photos everyone

Yucca filamentosa x rostrata hybrid is blooming. This is an outstanding hybrid grown from seed sent to me from Benny of Denmark. Yucca rostrata in the background.

That Yucca rostrata looks like a palm tree.

Steve

Holy Cow! What an awesome display of photos from everyone. These threads are great to get some ideas for new plants to add to the garden.

Seeing the high quality photos makes me realize I should stop using my little point and click and resurrect my DSLR. Alas, these are from my point and shoot on a cloudy evening.

View from our bedroom window

'The Fairy' never disappoints! Needed a huge pruning after last winter but recovered nicely.

Dayliles arestartomg to bloom on the rock staircase

Trollius and delphinium...both staked up before the last 3' rainstorm we had.

Delphinium are a little ragged after the last rains, but I went out this evening and tied them up higher hoping this next rain storm won't do them in entirely. For some reason they photograph quite blue. They're a hair more purple than shown.

View into the cottage garden

Elderberry in the background and a lacecap hydrangea in the foreground just starting to develop color.

Thyme, I gotta ask - how do you keep your gardens always looking like they are ready for a photo shoot? Your trellises and fence always look gorgeous - no peeling paint, no mildew or lichen growing on them; your pathways are always weed-free - I get exhausted just looking at your beautiful photos just thinking of all the work you must do. And then I get extremely jealous. :)

Dee

I have another phlox, 'Miss Lingard', which is blooming now. It's very mildew resistant and is supposedly sterile so it won't seed around. Depending on what site you look at it's either a cultivar of Phlox carolina or Phlox maculata or a hybrid between the two. Mine shows no mildew and hasn't been grazed by the woodchucks.

Phlox 'Miss Lingard'

I did try Minnie Pearl a few years ago but I sited it poorly and it got overgrown by the taller phlox. I was worried about woodchucks eating it but instead it got eaten by its own kind. Minnie Pearl is really short, Miss Lingard is medium height, and paniculata is much taller. I may try Minnie Pearl again but somewhere else where it has a chance.

Phlox 'Minnie Pearl' two years ago on June 10, 2013:

Claire

My miniature bleeding hearts still in bloom

NHBabs, do you have any picture with your elderbelly as a whole? i just bought a young plant and i am just wondering how big did yours get?

Beautiful lilies, nightmart! And you have a long-legged fly on one of them as well.

Claire

Dee, you're too funny. Here's my secret......the fence is brand new two years ago, so it is still in fairly mint condition. It has three coats of solid stain so hopefully will look good for years to come. Out with the old!

And the paths......preen. It's the only place I use preen.

I'm in a fortunate position to work from home a lot now, so I spend my lunch hours puttering in certain areas weeding (although most borders out back are filled with chopped leaves, so very little weeding) or staking, or cutting. That leaves weekends for family time so I'm not a slave to the garden.

Thank you for the nice compliments.

nightmart, the one pictured is Sambucus canadensis, a large somewhat floppy, suckering shrub. It was already here when we bought this old farmhouse, so I am not sure if the family made elderberry wine or this was one of the 10 or so types of ornamentals planted here. I've let it expand as it wishes since I like the contrast of the flowers with the surrounding plants as well as the berries for the songbirds. It's also a great plant for its location since I live on a commuter road, and part of the reason for this garden is to be visible to those passing by in cars since this bed runs parallel to the road. It doesn't hurt that it doesn't seem bothered by voles, always a plus in my garden! I've been thinking that I really need to add some poles and a cord along the front to hold it a bit more upright since with our recent heavy rains on top of last winter's heavy snow they are bowing far down over the bed in front of them.

I am not sure if yours is the same variety since most of the ones sold ornamentally are other varieties that don't sucker as much and are more suited to suburban yards than my plant.

NHBabs i have two type actually, i have bought them probably two months ago and they are sitting in pots because i cant decide where to put them, sometimes i am so neglectful i let the plants die, they like sun and it looks like they spread some.

Also what isthe plant in the bottom right corner of the first elderbery picture? Is it ligularia???

I have the purple thread-leafed elderberry (though I can't remember its name), and mine is in most day sun, but doesn't sucker like the one pictured above. Every elderberry I have had has been in between full day sun and half day sun, so you should be fine with that. I have seen S. canadensis like those pictured above growing wild in mostly shade, but the are a lot sparser and less dense.

My big-leafed plant is edible rhubarb. I love it as a large-leafed plant for full sun, and it's stunning when it blooms.

Looking out my window I see that that the roses in the alley are blooming.

Claire

Beautiful.

Claire, your roses always look so nice. I got a Zephirine Drouhin rose because of the great photos you post of yours Though it's a bit borderline for hardiness, mine is planted at the base of a rock wall where it gets good snow cover, and so though it dies back to the ground, mine now has 2 flowers and at least one bud on it after just one full growing season. I'm quite pleased and glad you have been so enthusiastic about it.

Thanks, NHBabs. Roses do very well in my coastal zone 6b garden. The thought of zone 4b - 5a scares me so I'm glad you're succeeding there.

Zephirine Drouhin is a favorite (of many favorites). Besides its inherent beauty it's almost thornless which makes it good for planting by a deck or porch, and it tolerates a little more shade than most roses, although it's easy to overdo the shade. I just moved two of them that had become unhappy.

Claire

I don't know, thyme... not sure if I should feel better because you make it sound like not a lot or work, or worse, because then how come my gardens don't look like that? ;) Of course I'm just teasing you. But I was serious when I said I was envious, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the photos you post. Love your beautiful garden and thanks for sharing it with us!

Dee

Two thugs in my garden; one of them native and both of them beautiful.

Carolina Rose and Bouncing Bet/Soapwort (see July 5 post for explanation)

It's difficult to get any enthusiasm to weed them out, except that I'd like to have other plants too.

Claire

Thyme2dig, I adore your cottage garden! The blue/purple of the delphiniums and trellises/obelisks really pop! Your stonework, in the cottage garden and stairway is beautiful.

And Claire, those rose pictures are, each one, a magical vision! They are really breathtaking.

NHBabs, your garden borders alongside expanses of lawn are very similar to the look I have going on here, except yours look better tended.

Lovely photos all!

Major correction due here! For lo these many years I've been calling that pink phlox-like flower in my garden a Meadow Phlox (Phlox maculata). I don't remember where I got that identification but I think I'm wrong, and that the plant is actually Saponaria officinalis AKA Bouncing Bet AKA Soapwort. It's not native; it was introduced from Europe and can be used as a soap, which hints as to why the woodchucks don't like it.

This change in identity throws a monkey wrench in my plans to establish Phlox maculata cultivars in the garden as a woodchuck-resistant alternative to Phlox paniculata which gets chowed on. Now I don't know for sure whether true Meadow Phlox is resistant to woodchucks - I suspect not.

I realized my mistake when I was happily researching maculata cultivars and noticed that none of the petals looked exactly like my plant. I searched for other phlox and did find some with similar petals but the rest of the plant didn't match. And then bouncing bet/soapwort pictures popped up and the light bulb in the head turned on.

It's back to the drawing board (and entry editing) time.

Claire

edit note: houzz won't let me edit the June 27 post, so that will have to stand uncorrected. I don't remember a time limit on editing or deleting a post.

Oh no, Claire! How does this affect the Phlox Protection Zone? Do we have to start calling it something else? ;)

The Phlox Protection Zone is still valid, Dee, - it's still protecting Phlox paniculata, the tall garden phlox, and the lost Phlox 'Minnie Pearl'. Like every moderately sunny spot in the garden it's been invaded by the interloper saponaria/bouncing bet/soapwort (I haven't decided yet what to call it) but the real phlox are still there. Maybe the soapwort is helping keep the woodchucks away.

I can't imagine having to establish a Soapwort Protection Zone. Maybe a soapwort-free zone?

Claire

Several of the perennial Geraniums are in bloom, include this dark-leafed variety, probably Midnight Reiter. It's much looser in growth than I expected.

The reverse of clematis Rebecca

There's quite a bit in bloom now, but the dark buds of this hand-me-down phlox is nice.

Bed behind the house, mostly blue, purple, orange, and gold. Not sure of the clematis ID off the top of my head, but the daylily is the weedy old-fashioned one, perfect for holding the slope, Knophia is a seed-grown unnamed, and the Caryopteris is Sunshine Blue.

Further along, Scabiosa Butterfly Blue (which needs deadheading) with a young Spiraea Ogon

And a favorite clematis that seems happy here, Venosa Violacea.

And turning around, the corn is so far past the "knee high by the fourth of July" goal, that it's already over the farmer's head, so it must be close to 6' already. The wet spot on the left side is wet again after about 5" of rain in 10 days or so.

Babs,

How about viticella Venosa Violacea for that Clematis? Does that ring a bell for you? Love the Caryopteris. Mine is only half that size.

Here's a Daylily that bloomed recently called Third Witch.

I think it's July because the daylilies are blooming.

Steve

I like that Third Witch daylily, Steve. A nice spidery type. I have a new daylily, just planted this spring, which has its first bloom.

H. 'Mikado'

The itea just barely held on until the hydrangea 'Blue Billow' bloomed. The bees happily moved over from the itea to the hydrangea.

Claire

I have itea right next to Blue Billow as well.

Does it get bluer as the flowers age? Right now its almost blue gray

Gorgeous plant.

It should get bluer, Marie, at least I think mine does. I almost always post photos too soon and then kick myself a few days later.

Claire

Steve the clematis in the closeup is Venosa Violacea, but I can't remember the name of the integrifolia on the other side of the bed that is in the first larger view photo. The bed has by now about 8 or so clematis, and I can't remember which is where.

Claire and Marie, I wish I could grow Blue Billow, but I don't think it's hardy enough for here.

What happened to the July thread?

Spedigrees just put it up - I'd forgotten it was a new month.