Thanks for posting this Babs!

'Blue Pearl' Sedum

'Beverly' Rose heavy with buds with Amsonia 'Blue Ice' in front and Hydrangea 'Little Lime' behind.

Cranesbill and Nepeta 'Walker's Low'

Ooh, great flowers, PM2!

Congratulations Dee! Twins! How exciting! Are these your first grandchildren? It's a beautiful time of year for a new baby! I hope you enjoy your time getting to know them and the garden will wait. 😃

How exciting, Dee! Best wishes to you and your daughter’s immediate family in adjusting to the changes of a rapidly expanding family. Enjoy!

Thank you guys! Just took a quick stroll in the garden for the first time in days. Some things are half dead from dryness lol but rain is in the forecast for this afternoon. Also there are crazy strong winds today! It's kinda ticking me off because my Zephy roses are taking a beating on the arch near the patio. On the upside my patio is strewn with pink rose petals lol!

Got my first Julia Child blooms of the season (new shrub, planted last fall, got two blooms in November!). The yellow is a bit stronger than I expected but will work perfectly in this bed, and the blooms are perfect.

I wish it wasn't such a hassle to get the photos to my computer. I will try to post soon!

:)

Dee

Dee, I have two rainbarrels up and full. We are expecting rain later tonight and a good amount of it. My yard is pretty dry too. I saw Mums wilting out there today. So I decided to fill some watering cans and water one of the beds nearest to the rainbarrel, so the plants won't have to wait and they'll get a double dose of water. The plus is I get to refill the rainbarrel in the next rainstorm. I'm not going to have the energy to empty the other one. [g] Oh well, half a loaf is better than none.

Glad your JChild is blooming. I remember I was also surprised that the yellow is so deep and saturated. Somone explained to me that the rose was named after JC because she loved butter so much and the color reminded them of butter. [g]

I don't have a smart phone and I take photos with a camera and then have to get out the cord and connect it to my laptop and open the photos software and upload them. I'm in the habit of it now and the convenience of doing it easier or faster does not tempt me in the least to get a smart phone...lol.

I should just access GW from my phone and upload there. But I like to have the photos on my computer. So I should just get a photo card and do it that way. But I do it the old way of emailing the photos from my phone, opening the emails on the computer, and saving them, then uploading them. I need to get more tech-savvy lol!

I love the story about Julia and butter! Can't wait to tell my husband that. He's the cook in the family and loves Julia so he'll appreciate that!

PM2, are your rain barrels hooked up to downspouts? I think they are not but can't quite remember. I have (I had, I should say, they are in the garage now) free-standing ones - hubby refuses to cut into the downspouts - but they never seemed to collect enough rain. I may try again.

:)

Dee

Dee, I am a techno phobe. [g] I have a very strong dislike for anything technological. Not that I can't adapt, I just don't want to have to and I resent the time and effort it takes when it's supposed to simplify things. And I like the old fashioned more organic way of doing things that is more attuned to humans, rather than machines. I have had to adapt - I have an Apple laptop that I use a lot. I have a flip phone that I bought a few years ago, just to have for an emergency since I had an accident on the highway and had no phone to call anyone with. But I pay for it every month and rarely ever use it. I feel like I should have been born in a different era. [g] So I do understand.

I do have our rain barrels set into the downspouts. Both my husband and I did not want to cut into the downspouts. We resisted for a long time and didn't have rain barrels because of that. But I finally wanted them bad enough to cut the downspouts. It works perfectly, with a diverter that inserts into the downspout that flips up and down. But, it just "feels" like the downspout is not as solid as it was, which it isn't. lol The section below the diverter can be moved around more, but doesn't move on it's own. BUT - we have not had one problem with it since doing it in 4 years. The downspout has not fallen off or had any issue at all. I think it is the 'idea' of cutting it and having the bottom section be a little moveable that bothers me, it's actually functions just fine.

The diverter stays in the downspout all winter in the up position. We just put the rainbarrels into the basement for the winter and then bring them out and position them on cement blocks every spring. We only did it to 2 downspouts, and I bought a third rain barrel that connects to one of the rainbarrels and the overflow from one fills the 2nd. But the rain barrels we have, don't overflow easily because of a design that seems flawed to me. I would look for a better barrel if I wanted to string more together. I am considering putting one on two more downspouts. They fill up quickly even in small rain events.

Of course, a smarter person than I am could figure a way to make better use of the barrels with a hose system to make it more automatic, but I gave up trying to figure that out. \ And if you plan on doing that, you should figure out the system before you cut the downspouts, because with a hose, you should set the barrels higher off the ground, unless you are going to use a pump. I only use watering cans, which is more labor but, actually, I probably pinpoint where the water is going and use less water that way, so there's that. And It is helping me to keep my upper body muscles! [g]

June and the roses are just opening up. Of course they had to open just before downpours. [g] The Prairie Sunrise, opened mostly all at once, and now 1/2 of them are on the ground. Good thing I got a photo before that. And I brought a bouquet of roses in the house before the rain and it's worked out great. They all opened and the house is full of fragrance. Still plenty left on the bush.

Julia Child was not bothered in the least by the rain. The buds on 'Beverly' are many petaled and they get pretty soaked and hang down after rain. I'm still waiting for 'New Dawn' Last year my holding area all bloomed together, this year it's a little more staggered.

'Julia Child' and 'Beverly'

'Aloha' was the second rose open in the holding area, after 'Penelope'

'Penelope' and 'Orange Mandarin' Honeysuckle

The first of the 'Blue Angel' Clematis to open

'Prairie Sunrise' before the rain. These blooms do not last long on the bush. Next year I am going to prune it to the ground and let it grow again as a shrub. I don't think it has done well this year in the standard form. The weight of the blooms, especially after rain, are pulling the branches down a lot.

I hope everyone is too busy to post photos because they are enjoying this gorgeous weather! I end up taking a lot of photos in June, first thing in the morning, trying to catch the best of the rose display before I have less to take photos of.

I'm very happy with the roses this year, all I can think is the weather over the winter and this spring has been just right for them. Best they've looked.

New Dawn is opening up now and best they've looked too...

'Aloha' still has just a couple of buds to open.

Julia Child bushy and full of buds. I should get a display for awhile.

Blueberry bushes have enough berries this year to hopefully pick some before the birds get them. This is one of 3 bushes.

That's it! Hope everyone enjoys this beautiful day!

(Ugh I wrote this whole post last night and then houzz glitched and I lost it all and have only just summoned up the will to write it all again...)

Wow, PM, your roses are spectacular. Truly. New dawn especially enchanting, and I love the color of the yellow one. At some point I will have to extract some of your rose wisdom from you as I feel I must be doing many things wrong with my own. I have three David Austin roses and one random miniature rose that I got at home depot one year. They all flop hopelessly in a big rain and the David Austins get nibbled to death by whatever horrible creature it is that likes to nibble holes in rose leaves. My attempts at protecting with insecticidal soap this year have been to no avail....

But enough complaining! The garden is actually looking pretty lovely on the whole, and lots of nice little surprises / successes this year. My favorite new plant has to be this miniature verbascum ("dark eyes") (pictured here next to one of aforementioned floppy roses!). I just love the coloring and the compact size:

Astilbe are about to put on their show:

So impressed with the beauty of this Campanula, sown from seed last year. The White flowers seem to hold the sunlight in the most amazing way.

(Will post now and continue in a second thread for fear of losing this one...!)

Also new to the garden this year are martagon lillies -- LOVE the color and wish I'd planted more in this spot (maybe it will multiply?!)

And astrantia, which seem to be a special favorite of the bees; although I wish I'd planted some darker colored ones too

It's not much to look at yet but I am very proud of myself for successfully propagating this dicentra gold heart from a basal cutting taken in April. My first time propagating from cuttings! (Other than easy things like coleus).

Oh and that's cosmos apricot lemonade next to it -- they are just starting to open.

Finally, a view of the patio with my containers. It took me a while to get these layers right but I'm very pleased with how it looks now!

Nemira - My sympathies - That happens to me every once in awhile with GW losing your post after you’ve composed it. I try to remember to compose it on a separate text file and then copy/paste it, that way I don’t lose it if there is a glitch.

On the subject of roses, I’ve been on a journey about 8 years now. I grow organically and thought it was too hard to grow roses so I was avoiding them, then 8 years ago, I thought why not try it, since I love them. I researched and searched for ‘no spray’ healthy roses. Spent a lot of time on the rose forum where I was directed to lots of different resources and given the advice to buy bare root roses from specialty companies.

I tried the David Austin roses first and they were just frustrating. Also tried a couple of roses from local nurseries that didn’t work out either. And I’ve bought and discarded a number of roses. But now I have a core group of very healthy, productive, fragrant roses. It is a project to go from not being happy with roses, to figure it out to your satisfaction.

I buy good stock, I get them off to a good start planting them well and I really only add compost and alfalfa meal in early spring, prune them, deadhead them and that’s all I do. I’m lucky I don’t have a big beetle problem that some people do. Whatever insect issues I’ve had, have been very manageable and infrequent.

You have a Verbascum! I LOVE Verbascum and grew them from seed at one point. I just can’t seem to find time to do it any more. One of these years. [g] The same with Campanula…that’s a nice one you have!

Astilbe…wow you have a lot! I can’t grow one here for love or money. Haha

Oh my, Martagon Lilies are going on my list. I like that they bloom earlier than those I have and that’s a pretty red one!

Astrantia I’ve never grown.

You should be proud of yourself for propagating the dicentra. I can’t remember the last time I attempted propagating anything. Good job!

Nemira, you have a really great garden there! And what a nice patio area to sit with all those containers too. I see you have a hummingbird feeder too? Thanks for posting photos of your garden. You’ve given me some new ideas to think about growing. I enjoyed seeing your garden!

Such INCREDIBLY helpful advice re roses. Thankyou for taking the time to write it all out! It makes sense to me that it would be a process of finding the ones that work in your garden and not trying to swim against the tide and invest all this effort in making things work when they aren't happy. On that note, I suspect it may end badly between me and the David Austins in the long run. I don't have any of those nibbling issues with the other rose I have so it must be something about their thin leaves?

I mean just look at this guy! (To be fair I also didn't give enough room when I planted last year and so it didn't get the best start. That was Another good tip from your list!)

And this one. Ugh its very annoying, esp when the flowers are so amazing (and smell so good!)

Funny story about the astilbes. I would never usually buy 8 of a single plant (im sort of someone who wants to try every flavor of ice cream...) But they were the first thing I bought when I started making this garden and I had literally no idea how big plants were or how many I would need for a certain space. I mean, I knew nothing at all. Looking back its amazing how many things you have to learn about gardening that you later take for granted! Anyway, it worked out in this particular situation.

Thankyou for your lovely comments on my garden. I'm glad it inspired you! I get inspiration from people's photos on this forum all the time 😊 and certainly from your roses!

Nemira, on the subject of David Austin roses, I love them, really. I tried getting them to work out for me for about 4 years. I knew they weren't going to work long term, so I just decided to enjoy them until my frustration made me get rid of them. I would have a good first flush of blooms and the flowers and fragrance were great, then it would go downhill from there. So what I did was I cut Golden Celebration to the ground after the first flush was done and just let the rose grow back and not expect anything more from it until the next spring. Of course, I could do that because I grow roses in a mixed bed with perennials, annuals and grasses.

That way I didn't have to look at the ugly foliage. [g] And I understood I could lose the rose doing that. Plus, after doing that for about 3 years, the rose lost it's vigor and I just dug it up at that point and by then I had already researched which roses I wanted to try next.

Both your roses are so pretty, I love the first one, that color and the way the petals form the bloom, I love that! I think you should post your photo to the Rose forum and ask what kind of insect makes that kind of cut in the foliage. Believe me, my foliage was a lot worse than your photos here.

I have never bought 8 of anything...lol. I'm the same way, I want to grow so many kinds of plants and I only have a quarter acre, so I can't really justify planning drifts of the same plant. If I had a larger property, I'd love to do that. I think. [g]

Nice talking to you Nemira. 😃

So I've been meaning to post for the last two weeks and just can't find the time! I have been reading though, and enjoying the photos and conversation! I'm just going to post a couple pictures now. Maybe if I do it in dribs and drabs it won't be so daunting and I'll get my June photos posted before July lol!

My new Julia Child - really falling in love with this one!

Zeprine Drouin

She really needs some shaping, and you can see my clematis Rooguchi smothering her on the right side of the photo. I have to move the clematis but dread the work - maybe you can tell how small the bed is on the other side of the fence - only about 2 feet deep - and I have to dig up the clematis, the rose and also work around the cement base for the arbor. There's also a little hedge of boxwood and an overgrown hellebore in there. It will be a lot of work, and I still have to decide where to put the clematis. It was a gift from a friend, and I enjoy it close to the patio, so moving it is hard because I just don't know where else to put it!

Here's a shot of the Rooguchi from the other side, showing it's growth. I guess it's happy here!

Well, l guess this post is going to be short because that's all I've uploaded from my phone lol. I swear I moved more photos and now wondering where the heck I saved them to. Oh well, more to come!

:)

Dee

Gosh, I might have to get one of those Julia child roses. They look so good in both of your pictures! I'm not a big fan of many yellows (I don't really love rudbeckia for just that reason, which is unfortunate since it's one of the only things in bloom for a certain period in July...). But I LOVE that yellow. It's so rich, like a sunset.

Lovely arbor with climbing rose, dee! Such a beautiful romantic look.

Dee, your Julia Child looks great and I agree that arbor is such a romantic look!

I feel somewhat late to this party since some of these pictures are two weeks old.

Quadra on the arch

Frontenac

Capt Samuel Holland

Bouquet Parfait

Madgallica - So pretty! I love the dark color of your Quadra! That is the shade of red that I really love in a rose. Is it fragrant? A once bloomer?

Frontenac is very floriferous! Is very pretty in the landscape.

Dee, that is how I ended up with 3 roses, a clematis and a honeysuckle all together in a holding area on a 4ft fence. And I can’t imagine having to dig those out and I still don’t have anywhere to move them to either.

Thanks for the compliments guys. That little fence, all 8 feet of it, is the one that gives me spasms of doubt lol. Is the lichen on it romantic like a British garden or a Martha Stewart photo shoot? Or is it messy and dirty and needs to be cleaned? Heck if I can decide lol.

Nemira, I usually tend toward softer yellows, but I've always admired Julia Child in other gardens, and I have one small bed where I relegate my reds and oranges (I'm more of a pink and purple kind of girl) so I thought I'd put Julia in this bed with some of the hotter yellows (like rudbeckias, lol, which I adore!). I think I posted earlier (or maybe last fall) that the color of Julia surprised me a bit when she bloomed, as it was so saturated, but there's just something about it that I love, and I'm hoping for good things from her.

MG, gorgeous roses! That Frontenac is stunning! I see that you have some hostas and ferns in with the roses. Are these more sun-tolerant hostas or shade-tolerant roses lol?

:)

Dee

PM2, Quadra has very good repeat. I thought I had a picture from last August, but as usual, I can't find it. It has a mild raspberry scent. Fragrance is not one of the strengths of the Explorer line. OTOH, it does not believe in either blackspot or winterkill.

Dee, the roses are in maybe half a day of sun. I have a hard time figuring it out since I'm dealing with a line of white pines on the east side, and three oak trees on the west. The ferns are volunteers. I wouldn't have put them there. I think what you are referring to as a hosta is brunnera - another volunteer that I would not have put there. The only place I can apparently grow hosta is right near the street corner. The deer leave it alone there because they are aware it is the natural habitat of their current greatest predator, the F-150.

MG, thanks for that great info. I really do want to add a dark red and I'm finding more places I might put one. That is a very pretty rose and not every red appeals to me but that one does. I wonder what it would do with a full day of sun.

MG thank you. I'm starting to add a few roses back to my garden so it's good to know there are some that do well in non-full-sun conditions.

I finally uploaded a few photos!

Rose Autumn Sunset

A stray lily - I don't know how it got into this bed, but it's rather isolated and the red lily leaf beetles haven't found it yet so I keep it there! A bit past it's prime, but aren't we all lol?

Pink rose, either Amelia or Felicia

Rose Zephirine Drouin with Rooguchi clematis

Rooguchi

For the second time in almost 20 years, my mockorange let me know it was in bloom because of the magnificent perfume that hit my nose when I went to the garden. So it gets another reprieve lol.

For the life of me I couldn't seem to get a good photo of this penstemon, whether it was close-up or a group shot. But here it is. I never planted this in my yard. It just showed up somehow and has spread around the yard at will, but not horribly so. Ignore the weeds . I do.

Hopefully I'll get more uploaded before July!

:)

Dee

After being gone for th first half of the month and missing a lot of my spring flowers, followed by a bit of a bloom hiatus, I now have roses and clematis blooming.

Can't believe this is my first June post! We spent a week with family, and I seemed to spend all of early June trying to finish things to be ready to leave. Now June is almost over.

PM, 'Blue Pearl' Sedum is a winner! Sedums are not my faves, but that ones is gorgeous! I'm so glad rose season is here. I love living vicarously through your pictures! Still hoping to get one of my own once I figure out where to put it. 'Beverly', 'New Dawn', and 'Aloha' are lovely!

Dee--CONGRATULATIONS! Twins--what a blessing! That is one happy Rooguchi. It may be zealous, but the view through the gate is certainly beautiful.

nemiractfairfieldcountyzn7a, your garden is lovely! I started a couple of mass astilbe planting last year, but it is still maturing. Yours is fantastic. My favorite colors are those very light ones, so you have exactly what I hope mine will become! 'Gold Heart' Dicentra is a FAVORITE! If I can propogate it from cuttings--woo hoo! One of my biggest is starting to revert. I'm going to need a replacement. Thanks for the photo. I didn't know it would work. How many cuttings did you try and how many succeeded? Any tips? Lovely container plants!

My apricot poppies took off while I was gone and i got to see them before they all went to seed.

This bed was a total loss and I rejuvented it last year. I started the lupines from seed last year and they have put on a good show.

I've got some hosta that are HUGE now. I had no idea some of these would get this big. They're not just wide, they're tall. Right now they'll stay put, but if they get bigger I suppose I'll have to move them. I haven't grown hostas long. Do they just need to be divided?

Penstemon Sweet Joann was in many nurseries for a few years, but I have not seen it recently. it has been a good bloomer in my garden and has been carefree except that the voles ate one.

This clematis, Giselle I believe, isn’t quite pink or quite lavendar but depends on the light and age of blossom like some other clematis.

Last evening’s sunset was nicer to the south than to the west. I have asked the farmers to move the round bales out of the field so I am hoping that they will disappear when the field is cut next.

Deanna, I love gold heart too. It's truly a winner in the border -- so bright and glorious. I got the idea of propagating it from an episode of gardeners world. I wouldn't know how to find that now but I found this how to video on you tube which seems like he follows all the same steps. https://youtu.be/OStg_AspU_U

I think I took two cuttings and one of them worked. That's pretty good! Although I also tried to do delphinium at the same time (apparently they both work a similar way) and neither of the two cuttings I took from that made it. Will try again next spring... it really is the best feeling to make new plants for free!

I did use some rooting powder and I kept a plastic bag over the pot and kept it on the windowledge by the kitchen sink so that i could keep a close eye on it. But honestly they either worked or they didn't, it didn't take much extra input from me.

Deann a, I forgot to say in previous post that I swooned over your apricot poppies. Is that an oriental poppy? I have one but it is no where near that productive yet. It just puts out one little flower! Yours is so lovely.

Speaking of poppies, these are from a new border i made last year in the front garden between me and my neighbor. I'm experimenting with a sort of meadow- style planting. I planted plugs to save $$ so a lot of things are still maturing but I do like how it is looking so far!

Penstemon a few weeks ago:

And here are those Astilbe again now in full bloom. (It's been very gray here the last few days, alas...)

Nice to see so many postings for June. June seems to be a great month for everyone in the garden.

Dee, you have more roses than I realized. I really like the pink Amelia rose. The foliage is an interesting color and the bloom is so delicate. Your combination of the dark purple Clematis with ZDrouin rose is an eye catching combination.

Glad to see your Mock Orange bloomed. If you find the time in the fall, you might think about trying to move that into more sun and you’d get a better more consistent bloom. Your Penstemon is spreading….I am finding that without deadheading, Penstemon is coming up everywhere! I think this year, I am going to have to deadhead before I am overrun.

Babs, your back in your garden! Just in time for roses and Clematis, nice. I like those supports you have for some of them. Your purple clematis is such an unusual shape! Pretty pink rose, too, is that a rugosa? LOVE your sunset photo too, of course. I look forward to them. What is the white flowering shrub in the foreground?

Deanna, glad you are enjoying the summer with your family. I didn’t get as good a display with my poppies this year because I moved a couple in the spring. Bad time to move them evidently, so I enjoy your photos. Lupines are great, one of my daughter’s favorites that I don’t grow. I hope yours reseed for you and take care of themselves, their such pretty shades!

Your Hosta bed looks fabulous. The more mature they get the bigger they get in my limited experience. I’ve had a couple of hostas for a long time but I added a bunch more a few years ago and it’s hard to believe that every year they just seem to keep getting bigger. I’ve already divided mine and increased my stock that way and I bought a few more last year, but I think I’m done. I have enough. I don’t want to disturb those that are getting huge. I like them big like that, so I will move other plants if I need to and leave them alone.

Nemira, still love your Astilbes! And that is a really interesting poppy border you’ve started and it looks good for a first year. Another person here who loves meadows!

I took a lot of photos of roses this year, as they were stealing the show and had their best year yet.

Aloha....

The 'Holding Corner' that all bloom together. 'Penelope' was at the end and 'New Dawn' was just opening her blooms. 'Aloha' is showing her last blooms and 'Blue Angel' Clematis is still going strong. They started blooming May 31st and more and more petals on the ground every day, so they will be quitting soon. Wish I could add the fragrance to the photos. The 'New Dawn' has that old rose smell that I love the best.

Perovskia/Gaura/Nepeta, with Hydrangea and Hibiscus still not ready to bloom and Aster and Lily on the Right.

Salvia, Penstemon, Beverly rose with Kolkwitzia shrub blooming in the background.

Such beautiful photos everyone! Gorgeous roses, beautiful clematis, wonderful poppies - I can't seem to get poppies to grow here. I keep starting them from seed and they germinate pretty well but just don't thrive. I know they don't like to be transplanted but I rarely direct sow anything. I had a dozen or so one year, they reseeded a bit and then fizzled. And once, as a beginning gardener years ago, I bought some - Turkenlouis, I think it was - put them in a pot because I wasn't sure where to plant them (a problem I'm still afflicted with after 20+ years lol) then worried because I didn't think they'd last in the pot, even though they were doing spectacularly. So I planted them out and they died lol.

Not much for me to add except my digitalis grandiflora. I've been ruthless with the agastache last year, and the columbines and feverfew so far this year, and next on the list is this foxglove, after it blooms. I really do love the soft yellow color and the ease of these (and the fact that they are perennial) but they are taking over the garden a bit too much. So I'll be taking a good number out after they are done blooming. The bees will be sorry but I will leave some for them!

Speaking of feverfew, I didn't even really let it finish blooming in one area. Had some shrubs and dahlias to put in, so I cut it all and stuck it in a vase (with some foxgloves lol) and pulled out the plants to make room. I do love the blooms though, and especially this little button variety called Virgo

I have a big swath of reseeded larkspur that I've left, and since it is much newer than the other reseeders, I may not have the heart to rip it out. I so love it's rich dark purple blooms. Maybe it will get a reprieve till next season!

My jackmanii clematis is in bloom right now. Love the purple of these blooms, even if they are too late for the Zephrine Drouin they are planted with

:)

Dee

Dee, I like your foxglove. I started different varieties from seed a long time ago and I still get a few here and there that have reseeded but not enough of them. I don’t remember seeing a foxglove like yours. It’s very nice, I like the soft yellow too.

I love feverfew but it doesn’t grow well for me. Another plant that seems to prefer lighter soil than I have. I’ve seen some gorgeous photos of feverfew in front of Baptisia and they were blooming together beautifully. I like your feverfew with the big yellow center!

I have jackmani too but it’s in too much shade and I think I have 3 blooms on it this year. I used to see people growing this one on mailboxes and front yard lampposts and they would be covered with bloom! Growing in full sun of course.

nemiract...7a, thanks for the video! I'll try to do some cuttings this year. I love it when I don't have to spend so much money at the nursery, and on top of that I'm not accumulating more plastic pots when I grow my own stuff!

My poppies are oriental. They were here when I arrived at the house, but I actually think a bird might have planted them. The apricot color is fairly standard, i thought. They do get bigger each year, with more blooms, which is really nice. Their base leaves/root area is really getting large! I'm glad they're happy here. The poppies in your border look great!

You were smart to get all the same astilbe. I have an area of white astilbe, but they are different varieties. Not only their heights all different, but their blooms times are off, as well as their shading of white. Sometimes that works, but in this case it's really not working. Will have to figure out what to do with that area, but I'll wait until things mature more. Maybe I can divide some the best of those whites and make it all the same plant.

PM, I am quite amazed at the size of these hosta. I'm running out of places to put divisions! I've got a neighbor who has wanted some, and I'm about to tie her down and drag her over here. Last year I laid aside some divisions for her on top of pachysandra. They rooted slightly in the pachysandra and sailed through winter no problem. Still there. I need people who need hostas! Or, I need to move some other things in this garden area around to make room for these big gals.

PM, your corner of roses is just fantastic. It must be quite a sight to look our your window at that. So beautiful!

Dee, I love feverfew, too. One of my favorite little reseeders. So nice your larkspur reseeded. I've grown it from seed a couple of times, never had it reseed, but my apricot foxglove sent out seedlings everywhere last year! Some of them have rebloomed, and with the seedlings I should have foxglove next year, too.

PM2 that yellow foxglove is a perennial one, and honestly I can't even remember where I got it, I've had it for so long! It's smaller than some of the biennial ones, but extremely reliable and carefree, has a long bloom period, the bees love it, and so do I. It spreads easily by seed so I have lots of it and now I just pull it out if it's in the way. Like my columbines lol.

I used to grow lots of feverfew when I sold bouquets - it's a wonderful filler. I love the larkspur too but I find the reseeded stuff is much more hardy and vigorous than any I start from seed in a given season. I wish I could just get it to go *exactly* where I want it! I will often let it go to seed and then shake the seed over a certain spot, but it's still not as controlled as planting a seedling. I did move a bunch of reseeders this year when they were little and they seemed to do okay.

:)

Dee

Deanna - I’ve been surprised that Hostas come in so many sizes. I have some that never grow larger than 12 inches around. Some of the big ones - ‘Sagae’ and ‘Krossa Regal’ haven’t stopped increasing in size yet, five years after planting. I have a ‘June’ that has been in the ground since 2008 and it’s very large now but not as large as the larger varieties and I only divided it once 2 years ago. I just took out a pie shaped wedge and left the rest and it’s filled into a perfect circle again already. I love the large sizes and if they are sited well, you can just keep them there and never have to divide them. That is my limited experience.

I wish my Rose corner was in sight of a window, but it is near the gate by the garage that can’t be seen from the house at all. The back of my house faces trees, shade and part shade. The front windows look out on the full sun bed with the other roses in it. Oh well, I’m out there every day any way and purposely walk past the garage rose corner, multiple times a day in June. I’m seeing that the bloom lasts the whole month! And is still a little fragrant which is all from the New Dawn right now. I’ve just started deadheading it which I’ve never done before to see if I will get rebloom on New Dawn, which I’ve only now learned it does do.

Dee, Your foxglove is not a biennial? I didn't know there was such a thing. You have the same plants come back and bloom every season?

With reseeding, I am getting a ton of Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’ I let them sprout at the beginning of the season and just pull them out where I don’t want them. I always have to weed the whole bed they are in at some point in the season and once I have everything where I want it, I mulch.

I’m loving the babies of my Penstemon. Even though it is a named variety, I get both, solid green plants that are taller that must revert back to a parent plant and plants that are almost replicas of the dark foliage. Some plants are so vigorous and shapely, some a little shorter and compact. My problem is I love the seed heads and I usually leave them on all season and I haven’t wanted to limit the reseeding until this year. I’m looking at how many I have and I think I’ve reached the point where I have to start deadheading before they reseed.

I'm having a lull in the garden right now. Roses are finishing their first flush, Penstemon is showing seedheads, Dianthus is just starting to bloom and with deadheading that will last awhile. But I see Monarda just opening and Lilies getting ready to. After that I'm waiting for Hibiscus and Hydrangea. Cosmos, Dill and Cleome are filling in and not really blooming yet either. And hopefully I will get another flush of bloom on the roses out front.

I literally just came back in from a quick stroll in the garden and while out there I quickly deadheaded all the penstemon! So funny that I have this and never planted it!

Yes, the foxgloves are perennial - digitalis grandiflora. Funny, I just read that link I added and it said they are not long-lived. I do have some pretty old plants in the garden, in addition to the newer reseeded ones.

The woman whose garden I maintained just moved last month - so sad to see her leave! - and I had planted a little Mouse Ears hosta by her front door. It was kind of lost there since most people didn't use her front door lol, and she told me to dig it up and take it home. Now I have to find a spot for this little beauty. It's hard to give something so small a place of prominence lol, but it can be so easily overlooked!

My hydrangeas are coming into bloom, my daisies, some daylilies, and the foxgloves, with a few roses still going. My annuals that are starting are cosmos, Queen Anne's Lace, larkspur, feverfew, and bupleurum, the last of which are reseeded from a few years back. Oh and a few stray reseeded snapdragons. My lavender which I grew from seed a hundred years ago is in bloom as well. No pics of any of lol.

Love your rose corner, PM2! Gosh I wish I could be brave enough to commit to a New Dawn lol!

:)

Dee

Dee, that’s too bad that your client moved, it has to be great to be able to bring in some income doing something you love and are good at. Nice you have a momento from her garden. I have a Mouse Ears that I put right at the corner of a gate post so you can notice it every time you go through the gate.

I haven’t done annuals in a couple of seasons and I miss them. I remember you were selling flowers for awhile, so you must have really got in the habit of sowing seeds.

When you say brave for a New Dawn…? Because of the thorns? The size of the canes? I did have a huge long cane come up last season that I had to cut back by half this spring, because it was growing into the lilacs. I have read that it can be a monster. Maybe growing it with 2 other roses, a honeysuckle and a Clematis has tamed mine a little. [g] I do wear elbow high thick gloves when I prune it at all.

PM2, it's because of the size. I've heard also that it can get huge, and I have a friend who has what I think is a New Dawn and it's very very large. Which means I would need not only space but a solid structure to grow it on, which means money lol. Honestly I'm not sure why I seem so afraid of large plants lol. I do have almost an acre, although I don't garden on all of it. But as you probably know I don't have a lot of sun, so space for sun-lovers is limited, so there's that too.

So I stick to the smaller roses. I was given a Teasing Georgia as a gift and loved it till I read how big it can get. Luckily my rose apparently hasn't read that, lol, because it's still on the smaller side. But it was in a bad spot and I'm in the process of moving it, (into more sun for one thing) so I count myself as brave for doing that haha!

:)

Dee

I know it's July already but I just wanted to squeeze in a few pictures from the last couple of weeks!

Sweet peas, cupani, grown from seed-- first time growing, came out well. The smell is really lovely.

Stachys hummelo

The honey bees loved these poppies— often three to each flower!

Verbascum white wedding grown from seed

I can't remember the name of the alchemilla but the echinacea is cleopatra. Both fade to lovely pale colors over time.

Thalictrum

Veronica white wands with roses and verbascum

Calla Lilly (odessa?)

I know it's July already but I just wanted to squeeze in a few pictures from the last couple of weeks!

Sweet peas, cupani, grown from seed-- first time growing, came out well. The smell is really lovely.

Stachys hummelo

The honey bees loved these poppies— often three to each flower!

Verbascum white wedding grown from seed

I can't remember the name of the alchemilla but the echinacea is cleopatra. Both fade to lovely pale colors over time.

Thalictrum

Veronica white wands with roses and verbascum

Calla Lilly (odessa?)

Nemira, your garden is so lovely!

I grew Cupani one year and it was very nice, or at least what bloomed was lol. I don't seem to have great luck with sweet peas. They germinate okay, and then just do so-so. It could be a siting issue. I haven't grown them in some years and then, the wild woman that I am, I decided impulsively to try some this season. Admittedly I did start them late this year, but they are growing well in a pot this year on the patio, so I hope to get a few blooms from them.

:)

Dee

Thankyou Dee! In the four years that I've been working on this garden this is the first year I really think it looks like a proper garden. Before that I labored and labored but things either weren't in the right place or didn't bloom or got bigger than I thought they would or didn't get as big as I thought they would... It's been a gratifying experience to see it start to come together :)

Yes I heard that sweet peas like sun but don't like the heat and need to be started early. I wondered if I even started them late as some people say they should be started in the fall in zone 7? Well, even if they sputter out after this they still put on a lovely show for a couple of weeks!

By the way, I was very much relating to your self seeded plant discussion. I feel like I go through so much agony trying to decide which self seeded babies to kill and if so how many. With feverfew I'm pretty ruthless because it just goes CRAZY in my garden, gets everywhere. Forgetmenots too. But I agonize over foxgloves because they really are one of my favorite flowers. And agastache because the bees just love it so much. And I never know how much rose campion to keep-- another one that goes completely crazy if left to its own devices... but if i don't do anything about them then other plants end up getting smothered!

Nemira one thing that makes it difficult for me regarding the reseeders, is that so often the reseeded seedlings are much hardier and vigorous than the newly sown ones, for me at least. So they do so much better than the new seedlings, which makes it hard to get rid of them lol.

I did try moving some of the larkspur reseeders this year, but then there's the timing issue. You want to get out early and get beds cleaned up and ready, but the reseeded seedlings are still so small so do you move them where they are not in your way and hope for the best in terms of survival? Or leave them where you know they'll grow great but be in your way? Or leave them and move them later? (at which point you don't have TIME to move them so they end up staying in the middle of a clump of daylilies or monarda or daisies or coming up through a hosta lol). You always think you'll have time to "get to it later" and then you don't, or it's too hot to work outside and you don't care anymore lol.

In particular I've got three clumps of Queen Anne's lace that are spectacular this year - almost five feet tall and strong and branching with lots of buds. And all of those three clumps are in the worst spot lol. But they are staying because if I didn't have the heart to pull them as seedlings, they're certainly not going anywhere now lol!

:)

Dee

The only way I manage self seeding, is to allow all the seedlings to stay early on, until I see what they are and if they are where I can use them, then I weed out everything else, before I top off my mulch for the season. If I wanted reseeders in a different location away from the plant, I would collect seed and sow them where I wanted them in the Fall before winter.