Did everyone get rain last night? We had some brief downpours. The gutter in the front was running over. It must be those helicopters off the Maple trees. There's still so many of them still on the trees, we were waiting to do the gutters.

This morning is sparkling out there, Everything is soaked and happy. Not a lot of wind, the temperature is just right and the sun is coming out. Ahhh!

Starting to get some order to the garden, but still digging out the vegetable beds for tomatoes today, so I can get those in the ground.

Here are a few photos... 'Aloha' almost open....

A pot in some shade...

Elderberry in it's 2nd year, seems to be happy.

Not sure which Salvia this is, but maybe 'Rose Queen'? Do they usually open this early? I haven't grown them for awhile.

My favorite Hosta, 'June'....

Nice, PM2. Everything looks happy. Our rain came through in absolute buckets from 5-6 pm, canceling our Sunday evening neighborhood volleyball game. The rest of the weekend was at times overcast but generally pleasant though cool.

I have been taking photos but will wait to upload until I am somewhere with a reasonable internet connection.

June is also one of my favorite hostas. I just checked and my similar purple Salvia is pushing buds also, and this seems fairly typical I think. My elderberries have leaves but I don’t see evidence of flowers yet. What clematis do you have growing with Aloha?

The two doublefile viburnums are in full bloom now by my deck and the breezeway.

The wild black cherries are starting to bloom but not quite photo-worthy yet, and the Zephirine Drouhin roses have buds.

Claire

Babs -We also got buckets of rain and it was just a little later than yours. My rain barrel is full. We seem to have gotten more a couple of times over night as well. My rain gauge showed about 3/4 of an inch. We had more sun than clouds all weekend, which was really nice for a change.

You play a volleyball game in your neighborhood? Interesting. :-)

I’m looking at that photo of my ‘Hosta’ and I see I have two leaves that have reverted to solid colors.

The Clematis by my gate with ‘Aloha’ is ‘Blue Boy’ I’m pretty sure.

Claire, those pink lady slippers are amazing! So rare to see. I guess they like the same conditions as the Poison Ivy. And I see your Rhododendron is still going strong, pretty color. Look at that pollen on the car… I hope you don’t have allergies!

That ‘Yankee Lady’ Rugosa is really a big flower for a rugosa. Is it fragrant too?
Yes, the bluebells and white bleeding heart look pretty together for sure. I didn’t realize the bluebells were so tall. I'm not so sure I could stand the ripening foliage when they're done blooming. I've started ordering bulbs with small easy to disappear foliage. [g].

And the double file Viburnums…you must really be enjoying those too. Gorgeous!

PM2: I do have allergies but the pine pollen doesn't seem to be a problem. However, I can't really smell the rugosa rose which is supposed to have a nice strong fragrance.

I forgot to add a few more photos:

Early daylily - Orangeman

and the cotoneasters are blooming:

The wisteria is also blooming but the flowers are lurking behind the leaves.

Claire

PM2: I should have mentioned that those particular bleeding hearts are really short - maybe 6 inches tall if they stretch.

Claire

Claire, that does seem short for bleeding hearts. I have whites that seem to be over a foot tall.

You really do have a LOT Of plants in your garden. [g]. Are the cotoneaster blooms, red? It looks like the berries. I only have two daylilies in my whole garden. And one I just added last year, as an impulse buy.

Wisteria is supposed to be fragrant too...but the allergies I guess. Now I remember you said in the May thread that you're allergies were keeping you from smelling the lilacs. Do they clear up in time to smell roses later in the season?

Babs, I'm waiting to see more photos from you. :-). And everyone else. :-)

PM2: I was wrong about the size of the bleeding heart. My memory says they're really short, at least compared to the leaves - my memory failed me. They do look short when I'm thinking of the huge Gold Heart (spectabilis)

I just checked; they're maybe up to 16 inches tall.

I also looked for the receipts to identify them but I didn't find them, at least in the email receipts. I didn't go into the paper records.

I think they're dicentra formosa which is the Pacific coast native, but they could be dicentra eximia which is the east coast native. My faulty memory seems to think I ordered both at some time in the past. In any case, they like it here.

Claire

They resemble my Dicentra examia which flowers in both pink and white in my garden, depending on the genetics of the particular plant. They are quite a bit shorter than old fashioned bleeding heart.

I'm going by the description in Wikipedia which says

This is a tentative ID and I'm not at all sure of it. Pretty plant, whatever it is.

Claire

I love seeing your pictures because they let me know what I've got to look forward to in a couple of weeks up here! Lady slippers are out now for us, and we have a HUGE one in the yard. This tree azalea, which I think is part of the Northern Lights series (but I'm not sure) is always a treat because it pokes up above the deck behind it, giving us a view of its wonderful luminous blooms. It's past peak now.

Prairie, June hosta looks great!

Claire, I should have noticed you were not describing the Dicentra spectabilis. I was comparing yours to that. Those get pretty tall. I have the pink ‘Luxuriant’ and mine is much shorter than the spectabilis. I like having both. Your patch of the white is really pretty. Mine struggles in a bed of vinca that it’s barely competing with. I need to move it.

Deanna - SO pretty! That pink Lady Slipper is such a nice deep pink and so tall. So is that naturally occurring? And you’re lucky to have the deciduous azalea. I’ve tried growing a few with no luck.

I’m still waiting for Poppies and Roses to start blooming. My Kolkwitzia shrub is in full bloom. It usually is starting around the 1st, so it’s just about on time. Mine was put in when the house was built in the 50s, so it’s old. And mine is fragrant, which I never hear any of those available today are.

Finally got the rest of my tomato plants in the ground and a few peppers and basil.

I didn’t do a good job of deadheading the native columbine, so they seeded vigorously last year. The native trumpet honeysuckle in the background is just beginning to open buds and will be glorious in a week.

I have one Rhododendron that overwintered well, but all the rest of the evergreen rhodies look like the second photo with the upper half severely damaged.

Cornus alternifolia just beginning full bloom

Deciduous azaleas (Rhododendron Narcissiflora) just starting to go past

This took more than a half hour to upload these 5 photos while I was cooking supper which is why I often don’t post photos. I do have some more.

Babs, I don't have the native columbine, but, the common columbines I have reseeded a lot this year.

Do you have a theory of why some of your Rhododendrons suffered some damage over the winter?

I've thought about getting a Cornus alternifolia. Does it branch out like a doublefile viburnum? Very pretty and native too, right?

That's too bad it takes so long to post photos. Even when you resize them? Nice to see your garden. Seems like a good way to do it, while you are making supper. :-)

PM2, I think some Rhodies were just a bit less hardy. We had so much rain this winter, that our snowcover was less deep, and I imagine that the exposed parts got nailed on one of our colder nights. A lot of wind likely didn’t help, though all of my rhodies have some shelter from wind, being tucked against buildings or woodland edges.

Cornus alternifolia has a really nice layered structure that I enjoy in winter. It often grows as a multistemmed tree.

My photo posting issues are entirely due to my internet connection. Living in a rural area leaves me with no high speed options. Every time I have called my provider I have folks say that they have never seen connection speeds that are this slow. We had a satellite internet connection for a while, but they had soft data limits (beyond a certain usage per month they slowed the connection to a speed that made getting email difficult) and it cost 3x as much without being much faster. At least with my phone line connection there isn’t a data limit.

First is an Enkianthus that I found of all place at a big box store. I got it as an inexpensive way to test this genus for hardiness here, and this one seems perfectly happy. The flowers are fairly subtle, especially when compared with the Rhododendron Rosy Lights in the background, but the fall color is a stunning mix of gold and orange and it is an easy care plant with a slightly layered look that is happy in my unimproved sandy loam with no supplemental irrigation.

The next two photos aren’t a good advertisement for Epimediums, but they are past their prime as far as bloom and the patterning on the new foliage. They are another plant that is happy in the same woodland edge, part shade bed as the Enkianthus and Rosy Lights.

A dark lilac that I planted for DH’s enjoyment at his shop. They make me sneeze, but he loved them. It is planted with some more of the yellow narcissiflora rhodies shown in the previous post, but it is difficult to get a good photo of both in the same frame. It doesn’t get quite enough sun so is a bit floppy.

My apologies for the photo quality. The mosquitos were fierce and I was trying to not donate too much blood while taking photos.

Babs, Sounds like all good reasons why some of your Rhodies had some damage. I forgot about hardiness. I always think of Rhodies as very hardy for some reason. And we really did have a lot of wind, even into spring. I guess I’m still trying to figure out the snow cover though. I expected to have more damage this spring because of lack of snow cover, but I had less damage than usual, especially on my Holly. And I’m looking at how large some of your Rhodies are and wondering how deep your snow cover usually is. I would have thought some of them have exposed tops every winter for the most part.

I have a neighbor who has a huge Rhodie that reaches his gutter in front of his house and it always is covered in blooms. Now that you mention ‘sheltered from the wind’, his is in a very sheltered position against the house, with a small entry way to the north of it and a tree to it’s West.

I love Enkianthus, but I tried one and didn’t have much luck with it. They have gorgeous red foliage in the fall, right? Those hanging bells are so pretty.

Epimedium do well in my shade beds too. You still have a few blooms, mine are all gone by.

Very pretty lilac, nice long blooms. Mine is not in a full sun position either, but at least they get enough to bloom.

Going to be lots of mosquitoes this year, I’d think. My neighborhood is getting bombarded with advertisements for a company that sprays for them, which I hate. I see two properties with signs on them that they’ve already hired them. And there are little yellow flags on my neighbor’s lawn again. They spray something on it. A TruGreen truck seems to be where it’s coming from. When I first saw it, I thought, oh, that’s nice, they’re using a company that is trying to be ‘green’. LoL. Nope, just trying to get the lawn green I guess, with herbicides or something. I worry about the bees and the butterflies. I've been seeing a small Monarch - a single one - which is sad. And I thought it was early for them. Too cool and windy too. No hummingbird sitings yet either.

What a nice day it is out there!

Lovely photos, prairie! The colored glass is beautiful.

Claire, you remind me to put epimediums on the list. I lost 8-10 brunerra varieties, all with silver veining, this past winter. Still trying to decide if I try brunerra again or go with something else like epimediums.

NHBabs, your columbines make me kick myself. I still have all of your seeds, but this winter flew by with no time to do ANY wintersowing. I really don't like that feeling! I still have the seeds and they are in the fridge. This fall I'm going to broadcast them outside. I keep waiting last fall for "the perfect time," which is always a mistake. I still appreciate your generosity, and next year will have shady areas covered in seedlings!

Fling at least some of the seeds around now, Deanna; you have enough to save some for later if you want. They will be ripening and dropping here in the next few weeks, so it can’t be a bad time. They will grow when the conditions are right.

Great advice. That's exactly what I'll do. Yes, you did send me plenty! Thank you!

Not much new to show yet, but the regulars are just melding together nicely.

View from my front porch with the rugosas starring. That's pink Yankee Lady and white Blanc Double de Coubert.

Yankee Lady from another angle with a Bosnian pine in front.

The kousa dogwoods are blooming. This one is in front of the house with hostas and geraniums behind it.

The wild black cherries (Prunus serotina) are blooming now. The flowers don't last very long but the trees seem to stagger their bloom. I'm hoping for lots of fruit for the birds.

I'm waiting for the foxgloves and peonies to open their flower buds. The rain tonight will help (this time the rain should actually show up).

Claire

Love those rugosas and that Yankee Lady is SO huge!! You must be enjoying your garden. It all goes by too fast! June already and the roses are starting to bloom. I must have walked outside about a half dozen times today, trying to catch Julia Child blooming. [g] Foxgloves are blooming here.

Today is the first time I've had open blooms on 'Julia Child'. That's about 2 weeks later than usual. Still waiting for 3 new roses that were just planted this spring. They all have buds.

'Julia Child'

'Aloha'

My first season with Amsonia 'Blue Ice'.

Lovely roses, PM2, and the Amsonia is a great color!

We finally got some decent rain, a little less than an inch, on Monday and yesterday the rose petals were scattered on the path and steps.

Peonies are beginning to bloom! That's Serene Pastel and Festiva Maxima.

Festiva Maxima

Foxgloves have started too. They keep seeding themselves in the gravel paths. These are on the edge of the path so I left them there.

My Zephirine Drouhin rosebuds are tantalizingly close to opening but not there yet.

Claire.

Ooooh, how pretty! I love petals on the ground. I have Kolkwitzia petals all around the shrub on the ground. I love that effect. We had at least an inch of rain too, which we needed. I had to put the sprinkler on the other day. And I had the same trouble with my Prairie Sunrise. The flowers have so many petals that when they get wet they get heavy and droop over.

I still can't get over how large those Rugosa flowers are on Yankee Lady.

I have foxgloves open. Some of the bottom foliage has rust on them. So disappointing!

I love your peony and that's my favorite variety. I just wish the blooms lasted longer.

I look forward to seeing your ZD blooming.

The Amsonia 'Blue Ice' is supposed to be smaller than the regular variety. We'll see.

Well then, I should have posted the pics of the fallen petals of the doublefile viburnum, as seen from my deck.

Next step for this viburnum is fruit. The other doublefile viburnum, Summer Snowflake, will continue to flower for most of the summer. Unfortunately, there will be no other viburnums to pollinate those flowers now that the big one is slowing down.

Claire

PM, let us know how you like your Amsonia as the season progresses. I never answered your question about the lady slipper, but it is planted by nature. Propagating them is not on my list yet, but will be eventually. They have a propagation program at the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens to increase their own population. They post instructions as to how they do it.

Claire, way back on June 3rd, what is the name of your light pink Geranium in the photo with the Dicentra Gold Heart? Would love to know.

I'm slowly figuring out what to do with much of the remaining space in my garden. It is now its third year and I still have large areas waiting for a plan. I'm taking P. Allen Smith's advice and deciding on the colors in my garden "rooms." This shady area is behind a large swath of ladies mantle, salvia (several types), and catmint. It is now a green/white room with a good deal of chartreuse to tie in to the ladies mantle, which is not in the photo. I moved two large 'Journey's End' hostas into the "room" because they didn't really go where they were. Honestly, they had been "plopped" three years ago and each year I've wondered exactly what to do with them. I like how this area is coming along. When the dianthus begin blooming it will have some needed color accent, and I'd like to find some more magenta to add for a small bit of early season color. Scotch Moss 'Aurea' has done very well here for two full seasons and last week I added more between the pavers, which now needs to spread. As the anemone and tiarella mature the white will increase, which will be welcome. Can't wait for everything to fill in!

Here's my before and after:

Deanna: Your green/white shady area is coming along nicely. The hosta fits well there.

The geranium is Geranium macrorrhizum 'Ingwersen's Variety'. A lot of vendors sell it, including Bluestone Perennials.

It's one of my favorite plants - trouble-free, spreads happily but easy to remove and transplant, and it looks good with a lot of different plants including hostas. My next favorite geranium is Biokovo with white flowers.

Claire

Claire, I should have taken a photo of the petals of my Kolkwitzia on the ground. I was out taking a walk the other night about dusk and I noticed that it was just exactly the moment when it looked it’s prettiest, but it was too dark for a good photo and then I saw a rabbit that I was distracted by and I forgot about it until the moment had passed. [g]

Thanks for the photo of the double file petals. ‘Summer Snowflake’ - I remember that one, that keeps on blooming. Very nice. You have SO much! LoL

Deanna - I will let you know about the Amsonia. I was noticing this morning that the rain really weighed it down, but it held on to it’s flowers so far. I will be interested to see how big it gets and what kind of a fall display it produces.

On the Lady Slipper - yes - I would think that propagating them is quite a project. Are you close enough to go to the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden? I do want to get up there, one of these days.

Very pretty area you are working on. I really like the way you have arranged the stepping stones. They are a good size and have that natural placement that doesn’t look arranged. I have had no luck with Scotch Moss, yours looks great between the pavers.

My Northern Hi-Lights azalea is blooming now. Last year I posted a picture at this time on June 6th. I know just two to three days ago there were no flowers opened, so that means we are over a week late.

Mine is now in too much shade to bloom well. I need to move it. Thanks for sharing yours!

I love Northern Hi LIghts. I had one and it didn't do well for me. Maybe I didn't have it in enough sun. Are they fragrant? How long did it take to get to that size? Very pretty!

Yes, blooms are late, but with the cooler rainy weather, I feel blooms are lasting longer to some degree. Does the deciduous azaleas bloom later than the other?

That azalea is gorgeous, I love the color. Deanna, also love your stone walkway. Oriental poppies are blooming now but some of the iris are fading. I have an all yellow old variety of bearded iris that is fragrant. I think it came from someone else's garden a long time ago. I was worried about the wild iris that bloom in the wet areas of our boggy meadow but I was worrying too soon. The bloom isn't as great as it used to be since I think a wild grass is taking over but we have two, we think, two new clusters of them in a different location and I can't imagine how that happened. All I can think of since each patch is about 3 feet in diameter is that some animal ate a bunch of seed pods and then pooped them out.

I need to take photos.

Prairie, the azalea is very lovely scented. It is blooming with my earliest huge rhododendrons which have the vibrant red/magenta blossom balls, and before the rhododendrons that have the more lilac/purple balls, but after my deciduous shell pink tree azalea above (see photo from June 5). All of them were here when I bought the house, so I'm not 100% sure it is Northern Hi-Lights, but NHBabs gave me that feedback last year. I thought maybe it was Daviesii, and it looks EXACTLY like both! Hard to tell, because they are both about the same height, etc. It has the darker color in the unopened buds just like the Daviesii, but it has the hardiness of the Hi-lights. Both are fragrant. Either way, it is lovely, and I'm trusting NHBabs with this one. I haven't examined the leaf structure in enough detail to see if there is a difference between the two. My list of garden chores is too long for that to ever make it to the top!

I would guess that the deciduous azaleas often bloom early, like my shell pink one. My Mt St Helens is deciduous (my favorite) and it is blooming now. Not the earliest, though possibly on the early side of normal.

That is a great azalea, Deanna - such a lovely color.

My azaleas are all gone by now, but roses keep on appearing. Zephirine Drouhin is now blooming in two separate locations. Here alongside my porch railing, above some hostas and of course the geranium macrorrhizum..

Seen from the porch trailing down to Hosta 'Guardian Angel' and some Siberian irises and the Bosnian pine.

The flower is lovely and scented.

I mentioned up-thread that my second favorite geranium is Biokovo, which is now blooming at the feet of the Gold Heart dicentra.

I moved some foxglove seedlings out of a gravel path and planted them in a more reasonable place where I wouldn't step on them. I had no idea what color they would be but i'm pleased to see them so varied.

Itea buds are showing along with the Blue Billow hydrangea. I'm keeping an eagle eye on the lilies - I saw two red lily leaf beetles a few days ago on one lily but I sprayed them with spinosad and I haven't seen any particular damage.

Kousa dogwoods are in prime bloom, and Siberian irises are blooming everywhere.

Claire

Just a quick note: this morning I noticed that the old-fashioned daylily called 'Lemon Lily' (Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus) is blooming. It always blooms with the Siberian irises which is nice timing. I found the first one in my yard, probably planted by my mother, and bought more once I'd identified it.

According to Old House Gardens

"For centuries, this and the single orange “ditch lily” were the only daylilies common in gardens. Always the more prized, lemon lily is smaller, much more graceful, and early blooming, with a sweet scent that led one botanist in 1733 to call it the “Yellow Tuberose.” Best in cool climates and moist soils."

Claire

I just noticed that Rhododendron 'Gumpo Pink' is blooming. Usually this rhodie is struggling after hard winters and seems to survive by huddling under a Roseum rhododendron. It was right next to the protective cage I put over Percy Wiseman and maybe that helped the Gumpo Pink. The little leaves belong to the Gumpo, the big leaves are Roseum.

I put the cage over Percy to prevent squirrels from eating the flower buds, but it seemed to be winter damaged as well. I took the cage off a few days ago and Percy was growing from the base with dead branches on top.

I pruned off the dead branches and Percy looks healthy.

I have blueberries developing. I'm showing the green fruit because it's unlikely I'll get to see any ripe ones, given that the birds are watching them very closely.

Itea virginica is beginning to bloom but I'll wait a bit until they're further along.

Claire

Prairiemoon, should have mentioned earlier that those roses are so beautiful! I am too chicken to try roses. Hats off to you for such wonderful growth. Can't wait to see more.

Claire, your yard is a study in texture. Love the far shots that show your design and placement. Just wonderful!

I finally have some photos of things blooming. I've been spending time painting our sailboat and actually working in the garden so I haven't taken the time for photographs.

My Bath's Pink cheddar pink is an absolute favorite. I love its color, its placement, the foliage, and the way the flowers rise above the foliage. To the right of this photos is a small area for which I had no vision before now. The Bath's Pink has changed that, and now it will be a small silver/pink/magenta area. The white and pink Arctic Ice dianthus was grown from seed last year and is starting its first bloom this year. The flowers are smaller than my other dianthus.

I love plants that intermingle, and these old-fashioned fringed dianthus look better than expected, and I expected a lot, with 'Visions Pink' Geranium sanguineum. Both were seed grown, but of the five Visions Pink seeds, only two made it to adulthood. Seeds are still pricy for those if you only get five seeds per pack! I welcome how the old-fashioned dianthus is seeding all around the garden.

This will be my third year to try to get 'Georgia Peach Pie' dianthus to overwinter. I actually shouldn't count last winter because too many things didn't live. If they don't make it here in this raised bed with plenty of drainage, and where my lavender is flourishing despite the fact that lavender is barely hardy, I promise to give up on them. The apricot is a perfect accent to the Nepeta. In my main bed with Nepeta, salvias, and Ladies Mantle, I have planted apricot perennial poppies as an accent, too. Hope to plant more next year because I harvested oodles of seed. I love the apricot accents in the garden.

Lastly, I do love this viola. I have multiple welcome seedlings all over, but he seedlings don't come true for this particular plant, and I love its saturated color.

Claire, you must be so pleased to find these Rhododendrons have survived. Let's hope they put on some growth this season and we have a better winter next year. The itea here is at it's peak.

Deanna - I enjoy Dianthus. I have the one you have that is the deep rose. I like your 'Bath's Pink' and 'Georgia Peach Pie'. I hope you will update as you work on that new garden space.

Well June is almost over - my gosh how fast this month flew by! This has been a strange gardening year so far. Not all that different and not in a bad way, because my garden has loved all this rain. I'm usually too dry and as a matter of fact, plants that underperform, I'm always explaining it away because of so many tree roots that suck all the moisture and nutrients out. So this year, I've seen that a lot of those same plants had a very good spring so far. They look better than I can remember from other seasons.

I should really get out and take a few photos tonight. It's still light out. There are a couple of places I walked by today and thought, oh, that's pretty. I have an Itea virginica in my front foundation that has bloomed profusely and has been covered with bees for days. I may give it a try.

In the meantime, June is always rose month - and Deanna, I was surprised, that roses are not as difficult as I thought they were. For me, it's all about the choice of which rose. If you get one with a reputation for healthy, vigorous growth, roses can really be very rewarding and resiliant. I've been on a mission to find healthy, no spray roses. I've tried about a dozen already and shovel pruned a number of them. But now I have a few that I feel really do stay healthy. Not perfect, but really quite acceptable. I have three new ones this year that I am trying. Being their first year, they are small with only about 7 roses a piece on them, so I can't wait for next year. Here are a few photos....

The white one is new - 'Pope John Paul' and that is how large the bloom is next to 'Julia Child'

This one is called Beverly. When it was fully open it is almost a bubble gum pink, which is a little too much for me, but in a day it had faded to a softer pink. Great healthy foliage

This one is 'Savannah' - some of the blossoms are affected by all the rain. In person, the color of this one, is luminous and very appealing. Again healthy foliage so far.

And the front bed, pink 'Savannah' with 'Julia Child' in the background.

I'll come back later with a couple more. June is the most blooming month I have in the garden.

I’m back. I didn’t get a chance to take the photos I was looking for, but I’ll try again tomorrow. I was just looking back over this thread, and I see I missed some of the posts.

Deanna, you asked for updates on the Amsonia. I just noticed yesterday, that it is still blooming and looking very fresh. And I’m happy to hear that your Northern Hi Lights azalea is fragrant. I’m going to keep that in mind. You have a lot of Rhododendron and Azaleas. I have very few. I should try for more.

You have a sailboat - how amazing. It’s out of the water getting painted - will you be getting it back in the water this summer?

That’s a nice combo with the fringed dianthus and the Geranium. I like the pink. I wish I had more geraniums. I saw an article in a garden magazine years ago of a collector of cranesbill - wow - her garden was amazing. She had all kinds of them, Tall ones too and they all mingled together really well. I haven’t seen anything like it since and I am always on the lookout for some of the varieties I remember but I haven’t seen any yet. Maybe I dreamed it. [g]

My Nepeta is still blooming. It’s having a great year. Still upright in full sun.

Reminds me, I have Salvia, that I just started to cut back on to allow for rebloom and I looked out the window and saw gold finches sitting on the stems and appear to be eating something. I didn’t think there could be seed right now. I didn’t know they like Salvia.

That is a very pretty color on that viola.

Claire, Your Hosta near your railing is getting so big.

I have Geranium ‘Biolkovo’ as well. What a great, easy care plant it is. I also have ‘Karmina’ with it. They are a good combo. Yours looks so pretty with the bleeding heart.

Look at how tall your foxglove look. And erect. I am going to have to take a photo of how badly rusted some of my foxglove are this year. I don’t remember having that happen before. I think one I have is ‘Snow Thimble’? I was just noticing that I have two Foxglove that are very robust with healthy foliage and one just started blooming and to my surprise it is sturdier, stockier flowers and stems. I was at the nursery where I bought them last and I spotted them there. Good thing because I couldn’t remember the name of them and really want to have more of them. It’s a Digitalis mertonensis. What a difference next to the purpurea. The foliage is completely clean, with erect flower stems, next to rusted flopped over purpurea.

I’ve been noticing amazing blooms on the Kousa dogwoods in our neck of the woods. They must love all the rain.

Aren’t you lucky to have daylilies that your Mom might have planted. And fragrant too.

I haven’t netted my blueberries either and the birds will get them, I’m sure.

A gray morning out there, but I tried to get a few photos before some plants were past peak. My last post for June....

Itea virginica with asclepias...

The new Savannah rose with a dark sedum I got at Bluestone and forget the variety. It looked awful last year, looks great this year. Edit: I just looked on their website, they still carry it, it's Sedum 'Blue Pearl'.

Close up...

I missed it's peak, but here's New Dawn rose, Clematis 'Blue Angel' and 'Aloha is in there, but no blooms left. There was just one pretty one in there yesterday and it dropped.

Malva 'Zebrina' with a new lily just starting to open and I'm not sure which one it is yet. I suspect it will get bigger next year. First time I've tried one of the candalabra lilies. Amsonia is peeking out on the lower left.

Not a lot of blooms here with the lack of sun...

And my visitor who seems not to be the least worried about my presence....

Prairiemoon, how long did it take your 'Ghost' fern from the top of the posts to get that big? It looks great. I just bought one because it is supposed to be happier with dryer conditions than other painted ferns, but I wonder how quickly it will grow. It's not dry now! I also bought 'Godzilla,' but I know that one is supposed to be a slow grower. How is the bird nest now?

And, prairie...

I

JUST

LOVE

YOUR

GARDEN!

The roses add so much to the photos. I'll have to get some recommendations and see if there's a good area to try one. Do they all need as much sun as possible? I'm going to put a climber on a north-facing wall, but I thought roses were out of the question because they need more sun.

Yes, the sailboat will be on the water before too long, hopefully. This year it needs more work because of painting the topsides and deck. Usually I only need to varnish the woodwork and paint the bottom (the part that stays underwater). Hoping to get some of that done this fall so next spring/summer I can get it in the water faster. The past two springs have been uncooperative weather-wise since I do the work outside. Too much rain. Plus, there's too much to do to finish up school, even thought we finish probably the third week of May. Just no time before that to do much work.

Deanna, that ‘Ghost’ fern has been there for years. It grew large by the third year, maybe. But we had quite a few dry summers after that and each year it would come back smaller. It is under the drip line of a large Silver Maple, so I’d say that area is fairly dry. With all this rain this year, suddenly it is larger again, which I’m very happy about. I have divided this one and added more to other areas. I also have a number of Japanese Painted ferns. I love all of them. I had one volunteer under my spigot in the back and I noticed yesterday, it is very large this year. I took a look at that Godzilla fern, wow, that is huge! lol.

The bird’s nest, was a mourning dove. They seem to have left the nest. We are overrun with robins this year. I’m filling up my birdbaths twice a day and they have them empty pretty quickly, lining up for baths.

And I’m very happy you are enjoying my photos. We all love our gardens and I guess we all love to share what we love. :-) I’ve seen your garden photos and you have a beautiful woodland setting that must be so much fun to work with. I’ve tried a number of woodland plants that don’t grow for me, like trout lilies and lady slippers. And if I remember right, you have a very pretty sunny garden with a lot of color. And I have Rhododendron envy. [g]. And Babs has all that space with vistas, and a number of very well planned, colorful borders and woodland gardens with a lot of fall color, which I don’t have. While Claire, well, I think she has just about every single inch of her property planted with something beautiful…lol

I mean really, I don’t know what I did before Gardenweb. None of my friends garden and my kids have other interests, so it is just so much fun to talk to people who love gardening as much as we do and to see all the different ways people create a garden. It’s fascinating. I love it.

Roses - yes, I look forward to them so much every year. Most roses will perform their best and push out tons of flowers in full sun. There are some roses that will grow with less than full sun. I’m not so sure a north facing wall, would work. I have read suggestions for all kinds of things on north facing walls, but I’ve always been disappointed with performance in that location.

If you haven’t already, visit the Roses forum. You can really get the bug looking at the threads there. Amazing rose growers there, and I’m sure there are many who grow roses in shadier locations.

That sailboat has to be painted every year? Lol. Well you are ambitious to have gardening and sailing for hobbies. Both seem to take a lot of time and energy. :-)

Thanks for the kind words, PM2.

While we're on roses (and yours are lovely!), I have another inherited plant that's just started blooming now. I found two little sprigs struggling to survive in pure sand a number of years ago in an area where my mother had two roses growing. I've moved them several times to avoid construction and wind storms. I started to put them in order a few weeks ago but there was apparently a catbird nest in there and the birdy outrage drove me away. The catbird babies have fledged now and I can get near the roses. I need to separate the Sweet Autumn Clematis and the rose.

I think this is the Cape Cod rambler Excelsa which isn't as fancy as the newer roses but boy, is it robust! It always blooms around the fourth of July and there are still a lot of buds left to open.

Another rose beginning to bloom is the native Carolina rose which keeps planting itself everywhere there's a spare spot. I'm not sure if it finds a spare spot or creates one by squashing itself in there.

I think that's an ant on that bloom.

Sailing is a lovely complement to gardening, Deanna!

Claire

Claire, I said nothing that wasn't true. ;-) You must have a lot of energy, that is a lot of garden to take care of. I wonder what size your property is and with all the trees you have, how you manage to have enough sun for plants like roses?

It has to be a rarity for a gardener to still be gardening in the same garden as a parent. I guess it gives you quite a sense of connection. I love to see gardening passed from one generation to the next. Especially now when it would seem there is a dwindling interest in gardening for this generation.

That 'Excelsa' is another very pretty rose. I like the deep pink color, clusters and the fat buds. Is it fragrant?

Prairiemoon, you are so right. I LOVE all the sharing on the forum. i do love how everybody appreciates their own home. We all have different settings, views, vistas, and plants, but everybody seems to notice even the smallest things of beauty in their area and share them with us. Meadows, rivers, the Cape, shade, sun, all of it. I do think the love and appreciation of our small portion of the world which colors everybody's posts are magic.

NHBabs has been graciously thanking us for all of our posts, but no photos from her for a while. She always shares such beautiful things. (Hint, hint!)

PM2: I've lost several roses as the forest creeps toward my house. I have to be ruthless with removing tree seedlings so that I can keep a few sunny areas open for roses and peonies and such.

Alas, the Excelsa isn't at all fragrant.

I've spent several days lately removing hundreds of jewelweed seedlings from those sunny areas. Last year I left a few jewelweed plants to flower for the sake of the hummingbirds and bees (and because jewelweed flowers are pretty). I figured I'd regret it this year but at least they're easy to pull up. I left one big patch in a woody area and I'll see what happens this year.

We had around an inch of rain dumped on us in about one hour this morning! The yard feels happy. More rain is forecast for this afternoon

I've seen fireflies several nights now as it gets warmer. Last night had a good number of little sparks flying around.

Claire

Claire, I don't have a forest, but my neighbors have a lot of mature trees right up to my lot line. I get a fair amount of half sun in the back and some full sun in the front, but I made the choice not to plant more trees on the property in order to keep that. Sadly, because I do love trees, but on a 1/4 of an acre, trees are not something you can really do without losing the small amount of full sun you have.

That Excelsa is still really pretty!

I've never seen jewelweed before. It's a cute little flower.

We had another round of downpours this morning that were fairly brief with some thunder and lightning and then this afternoon about 3pm we were coming back from shopping on the highway and saw the sky getting darker and darker up ahead of us, then the traffic slowed down to a crawl, and then woosh...torrential rains. We could barely see, even with the wipers on high. But the water was pooling along the edges so we stayed out of the right lane. We didn't dare pull over, afraid with such low visibility someone would hit us, so we kept crawling along. I was surprised that it continued all the way home without let up, until we got off our exit. Wow - it was only about 20mins but it felt longer. [g] So happy the garden has had so much rain. We were just starting to dry out enough to consider the sprinkler. Perfect timing! We had standing puddles in the back for a half hour.

Fireflies? I haven't seen a firefly in years. Maybe decades. That must be great to still have them in your area.