SUMMER blooms!

I don't have anything to post at the moment, but since our old thread was getting so long, I figured I'd start a new one.

The delphiniums are in buds and should look pretty this year. I'll post photos when they open up. :D

Karen, thank you for the new thread..

Here is my delphiniums. Oh btw Ed is back on first shift, so very happy about that since the worst of our storms today waited till he got home....
Thanks for asking.....................

Cece ,Im here ...our power was knocked out Friday nite the 10th,tree downed,no alarm..got up 2 hours late..its a 300 mile drive for us..didnt realize others were coming later..I missed that somewhere till that morning...ARRGGG...OH I had 7 flats ready and garden Art stacks and a Potting chair all ready to go....boohoo..=(

Your gardens are just beautiful,cant wait to see the new one finished...Ed and Ralph would get along well,but Ed has 1 over Ralph ,Ed starts and finishes things a WHOLE LOT FASTER than Ralph..LOL...Nice potting bench...i see they have perfectionism in common..Great trait,as long as they dont procrastinate...Like mine does....LOL..good thing im used to it....

umm nice delphs...love that color..still messing with my camera ..cant figure out what is wrong..Maybe I should have an accident with it..I have replacement warranty...LOL

Oh Tamara what is that BLUE????? And where can I get some? Its so vivid..............I love it.

Hope everyone survived last night. Would you believe at one moment, we had this big yellow blob heading for us on radar and the next moment, it parted/fell apart along I65 as it tracked north? Some wind, a few sprinkles - that was it.
I am so jealous of those delphs. Not enough sun here in my yard to grow them decently. The only bed I could put them in also gets all of those west winds so I'm afraid they'd be toppled. I am in the midst of Astilbe heaven though. The 'Peach Blossom' variety are very fragrant, even more than modern roses.

Condy, what a gorgeous shade garden!

I think I have to get a blue delphinium. Last summer I started a new garden bed by the street where the grass always turns brown from summer heat and sun. Stuck a purple delphinium in there last fall, purchased on clearance, and it is looking great this summer. Long ago I tried delphiniums in part shade (all I had at the time, before the neighbor's spruce tree toppled in a storm). I had heard they were finicky, but the success of my one delph this year makes me want more.

Thanks for the new thread, KaylyRed.

Beautiful Delphiniums, everyone. I have only one variety that I started last Spring. They are just starting to bloom, though they lean a little, probably because it's not full sun where they're planted.

Cindy, your shade gardens are spectacular! I'm in mostly shade, too, but have no where near that much planted.

This is Delphinium Sky Blue/White Bee.

Aaaah, I love delphs! Everyone's are so beautiful. I had a few buds open on mine this morning, but I'll wait until they're in fuller bloom before I show them off.

Cindy, I love your shade garden! It looks so gorgeous and peaceful. I used to whine about having so much shade in my yard, but now that I've embraced it I love it. In fact, I think I love it more than I did my sunny garden.

For what it's worth, my delphiniums only get a few hours of direct sunlight each day and the rest is bright shade. They don't flower as tightly as those grown in full sun, and I have to stake them because they get just a bit leggier (with thinner stalks), but it's worth it to me because I love them. So, if you have a spot that gets maybe 4 hours of sunlight and then bright shade I bet you could pull off delphs. I'm always pushing things for shade tolerance. If you lower your expectations where blooms are concerned...you can grow quite a lot. And you'll still get decent blooms. I grow echinacea and rudbeckia in the same spot with the delphs and they do just fine.

Cece, I'm glad the storms waited until your DH was home! It never got bad here. Looking at the radar, it was like Moses parting the Red Sea--everything went west and east. :P

We had torrential rainfall about 3:10. Hubby was waiting to turn in the drive but I could barely see across the street it was raining so hard. And the thunder! Scared the heck out of Ariana. I was in the sun room closing windows I forgot was open (read soaked carpet here) Clap of thunder she high-tailed it to the living room. When I got in here she was all curled up in a tight ball and completely covered with sofa pillows. I would have laughed if it hadn't been the soft sobbing I heard coming from under the big pillow. Poor little one. Ed walked in the kitchen door and she literally flew at him. I don't think her feet touched the floor once.

But it is sunny out now , breezy a bit, and comfortable temp. At the moment.

Aw, poor baby girl. :(

One of my greyhounds, Ella, is terrified of thunder. The minute she hears a rumble she's shaking and trying to hide anywhere she can--often under my desk. We have to give her a Benadryl to calm her down, although it only seems to take the edge off a little for her. Maybe Ella and Ariana should hang out--she can be the scaredy-kid and Ella will be the scaredy-dog.

Aw, shucks - thanks for the compliments. That's my "you're on your own" garden or my lower garden. Lots of divisions, throwing plants in there to sink or swim and some wild stuff as well. Here's part of the "back" garden.
Very breezy here this morning. I did go out to pick up tree branches, sticks and leaves but looks like I'll be out there again later.

Our storms were horrendous last night. They didn't start until early evening & the wind was unbelievable! We had downed branches all over the yard. & there were tornado warnings a little south of us. . .announcements were actually telling people to "take cover". Cable & Internet were out all night, but fortunately our power stayed on. it seems like the slightest thing usually knocks out our power.

It's so sad when kids & pets get really scared during thunderstorms. They don't understand why it's so loud & sometimes nothing you do can make them feel secure.

I try all sorts of things in the shade that shouldn't work. Some are so-so, but many are fantastic. It's fun to experiment & rewarding when it works out well. Because I have very few areas of full sun, I have lots of full sun plants happily blooming away in the shade.

Sorry to misspell your name, Cindy. Proofreading is a good idea before hitting 'Send'. :D

Power in my neighborhood has been out for 16 hours and counting. I am thankful that we spent the money to put in a hard-wired natural gas generator after big storms knocked out power for 4 days in August 2007. We can't do laundry, and the cable is still out, but everything in the fridge is OK and most important, the sump pump is working.

Golden - no problem re: name. Sorry to hear you're one of those without power. Did you also get lots of rain?
nuts - early in my gardening, I fell for the "takes partial shade" description before I knew the different degrees of shade. Weigelas do well if there's not a lot of root competition. Roses only get a few hours of afternoon sun here but they do bloom nicely in June. I don't get later blooms though.

Golden - glad to hear you have that back-up generator & thank goodness your sump pump is working!

We've had two bad experiences in the past with power outages. The first was a four day outage after an ice storm about 15 years ago. We were living in an apartment with all electricity & it was March. What a fiasco that was!

The last one was in this house maybe six years ago or so. It lasted most of the night in extremely heavy rain. My husband was working late & I spent all evening in the basement, in the dark, bailing out the sump. . . using flashlights, candles & oil lamps for light. He took over the bailing when he got home & the very next day installed a Battery Back-up Sump Pump. It has been wonderful, not to mention the peace of mind it brings.

Cindy - Even though I'm aware of the different degrees of shade, I sometimes like to push the envelope a little bit. Believe it or not, I grew tomatoes for years on a large south facing covered balcony by lining them up right against the railing. They thrived! They shouldn't have based on the amount of sun. . .no more than 4 to 4 1/2 hours.

I do love your beautiful shade garden!

nuts - See? That's what I'm talkin' about! I try just about anything in shade, too, and mostly they surprise me by how well they do. Nature is adaptable. When I post photos of my delphs in full bloom you'd never know that they get just a smidge of full sunlight.

Golden - Sorry about the hassles with the power outages. Although we dodged the storms here, things sure did get wild elsewhere. And everyone's commenting on the wind. There were some reported 70 mph gusts. And there was a confirmed EF-1 tornado touch down in Fond du Lac County.

The storms here went north an south of us ,lots of thunder and lightning,down pours around us not on us...Have had our share 3 downed trees so far this year..

delphhinium grandaflorum blue Mirror,mine get sun from 9-10am then all day,I stake them ,the bed is on the westside gets all the wind,i just bought another,has 2 colors in the pot,i will post a photo later of it

Looking at my delphs I may be staking mine.

Crazy wind with the rain yesterday. My granddaughter was with me most of the day and Papa Ariana and myself went to Walmart. When got home she went out back and came in and said Nana you know my favorite st swing? The one I ALWAYS sing on? There's a twig on it. Told her then move the twig, I was putting purchases away. She said its too heavy. A twig? What?
Went to look and a big ole branch from the silver maple had fell on her play set. Didn't damage it at all, it wasn't that big but quite a bit bigger than a twig........Goofy kids always make me laugh.

just a twig gramma..LOL..yes the wind is still blowing 3 days now,I had to stake a more than a few things,caged up the tomato plants..

Its June 24th for god's sake WHEN will it get WARM and be SUMMER for Crimey Jane!!!!!!!!!

Course right this second I'd settle for some sunshine. Just saying...............

We got missed by the storm, just barely. The sky was green. We have had endless showers for the past 3-4 days. Thank goodness today had been dry and windy. My epimedium is not doing well, it's never been so wet.

Delphiniums are doing good, but only because they were planted this season :) we have only been in the house a year and a half and had to renovate the garden/landscape

Just got back from a week of vacation in Western PA. Broke some rain records on Friday in the area I was in. But on the other hand, most of the rest of the week was nice, in between the occasional shower. Will post pictures tomorrow, right now I have to get off this 8 hour drive, too much caffeine 'high' and get some sleep so I can be wide awake & bushy tailed at work bright & early tomorrow morning. ~Jan

I just bought that color Delph,soo pretty..Been having trouble getting good photos ??? I managed to get a few

This message was edited Jul 3, 2011 7:25 AM

A look down the walk

im not sure ,but I think its rustic colors rudbeckia

1 more

Nice Tamara. I love that sidewalk and all the blues in that last picture.

Butterfly weed

Shasta Daisy 'Banana Cream' They open yellow and turn a creamy white.

Lemon balm, bee balm, delph

Crazy Daisy Shasta

This is the Weeping Redbud. Isn't it cute? Its Lavender Twist and the flowers were more lavender than pink.

cece,it is cute an little.love that butterflyweed,and your beebalm.I just got a bunch of beebalm this year ,should be blooming soon.

It will only grow maybe 4 or 5 more feet at maturity.

My Beebalm is blooming, and is attracting hummingbirds & honeybees. Love it! WIll try to post a photo later
~Jan

This message was edited Jul 4, 2011 4:52 PM

The Bee Balm, Jacob Kline

My clematis that I thought died last year finally bloomed. Not as tall as I want it to get yet, but at least it's now blooming

Barbara Harrington

Charles Johnston - It is behind a larger cottage DL, so it will be transplanted later this summer. The color has stayed true all day, so I am happy about that

Radiant Greetings - I just received it in early June, and it was intially planted into a pot, and recently transferred to my new Dip garden. I am surprised it even sent up any scapes. The first couple of blossoms were kind of ratty looking, but this one opened wonderfully. It is also about half of the height it should obtain in the future. So it is a pleasant surprise

This message was edited Jul 4, 2011 8:27 PM

Cece, didin't you say you got that redbud at Steins? I would love to have one, but am a year or two away from adding one to the yard.

As already mentioned, I spent a week at our family cottage in western PA. A portion of the property was a daylily farm way back in the 60's & prior. There are other photos on the DL forum, under cottage daylilies, so I will only post my favorite one now. It is amazing that being left to fend on their own for so many decades that there are some beautiful heirloom, probably dips) DL growing in the woods that has sprung up over them. Very large blooms on this yellow, and tall scapes, held very high above the foilage. Not bothered by the nasty storms that came through while I was up there

And this is a rare saprophytic wild flower that was growing at our cottage. Only about 4-6 inches high, it grows in the damp leaves in a woodsy area. Apparently it lets off a strong odor, which attracts an insect which then crawls inside and fertilizes it. Very cool to see, and I have only seen it a couple of times~Jan

Edited to add: it's called an Indian Pipe

This message was edited Jul 4, 2011 5:11 PM