What's up in the garden?

The first pic is Brunnerra in flower.
The last pot is Hemerocallis "Sulphur Queen". You start from bulbs in spring.

The petunia is Merlin Blue Morn.
Red Mimulus Maxima.
And the Himalayan "blue" poppy is sort of purple this year.

Caroline, are you affected by the flooding? Living as I do in a valley with a stream, I'm aware of how quickly water rises and how destructive it can be. I earnestly hope you're above water!

I am not affected as my home is on higher ground.
Lots of devestation for many folks in low lying communities.

I'm glad to learn that you and your garden are safe, Caroline, after looking at the flood pics on the Internet and TV. I can only imagine the heartbreak for those people whose homes and businesses have been inundated, and the mess that they'll have to clean up once the water recedes.

The season turns, regardless. It's summer, and the roses are blooming. Here's Rosa rugosa 'Henry Hudson'.

Poinget, what about Verbascum phoenicium as a replacement for the foxglove? It's pinky-purple, tall, pointy, and deer-proof. The only drawback is that verbascum flowers close in the afternoons, so if you don't look at the garden in the morning you miss them. Another tall, pointy plant that comes to mind is Eremurus (Fox-tail lily). Some perennial Salvias are quite pointy, too, as well as being deer-proof. Salvia transsylvanica is a tall one, while Salvia haematoides is shorter.

It's 32C, and the air is so humid I can't breathe. No venturing into the garden today! I've been looking through my plant pics and I have found some more deer-resistant and pointy plants for Poinget:

1. Agastache 'Black Adder'. Enjoys sun. Bees love it. Flowers July-October.
2. Digitalis lanata. Enjoys sun. Short-lived perennial, self-seeding. Flowers June-July.
3. Digitalis parviflora. Enjoys sun. Biennial, self-seeding. Flowers July-August.
4. Liatris spicata. Flowers July-August.
5. Penstemon digitalis. The tall stems need a little support. Flowers June-July.

All beautiful, just sad they don't have a long blooming time.

Happy birthday June

I don't feel sad for the perennials! Some may only bloom for a month or two, but that's part of the ever-changing tapestry of a garden. One perennial finishes, another begins. I like a garden that's never the same two days running.

CLScott: Brunnera! Nice. I saw my first Brunnera at a nursery a couple of weeks ago. I thought it was a Hosta then, too, before I noticed it was fuzzy. And that Sulphur Queen (I looked it up) will be a stunner when it opens up. Thanks for identifying your flowers.

June: Great suggestions, thank you! I think, due to space available and height desired, verbascum is the way to go. Though, that Eremurus is something else. I'm thinking of how I can include it. There will be another small full-sun bed eventually, but I don't know if I have the energy to fix it up this year. I'm still working on a fuchsia bed, and then have a raised peony bed to prepare before the bulbs come in September.

There was this unidentified rose (badly abused by deer and shade) planted in the soon-to-be fuchsia bed that was years and years old. I just found a piece of the tag that went with it. Rather silly to be excited about it, but I loved having a clue to its identity and the fact that it was there at least 20 years!

Oh, so many possibilities. I'll look into them, June. I had my message in the buffer for a while but I never sent it, hence my delayed response.

Horseradish flowering:http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1304769/#

Persian Yellow rose flowering:http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1304769/#


Morden Sunrisehttp://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1304769/#


NOID Peonyhttp://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1304769/#

I never thought of horseradish as an ornamental, just something to avoid eating, but it looks quite pretty! Lovely roses and peony, too, Caroline.

The following pics are:
1. The original Verbascum phoenicum variety that I planted, with violet flowers.
2. Verbascum seedlings flowering a year or two later. The peach-colored ones I think result from the original plants hybridizing with yellow-flowered Verbascum thapsis, which grows wild around here.
3. David Austin rose 'Tamora'. It's struggling. Every year it suffers some crisis - such as being browsed by deer, cut back by a hard freeze, hit by drought, or defoliated by caterpillars - so it's only about a foot tall, but it still manages to flower.
5. An unidentified wild rose. Why don't the deer eat this one, instead of 'Tamora'?
6. Rosa rugosa 'Scabrosa'. A horrible-sounding name for a rose that's not at all scabby.

More foxgloves are flowering now: yellow Digitalis grandiflora and some tawny-pink ones with pale yellow lips, possibly hybrids of D. grandiflora and D. parviflora. Thank you, bees!

Beautiful June,

This morning just before it started to spit, I walked out and was overwhelmed by the beauty before me. We work so hard on the gardens that it's days like this we say 'it's sooo worth it!'

yesterday I took a few photo's

Nice things happening in your garden!

not a lot of different plants in bloom, same old/same old just more of them
thrilled with seeing roses as I cannot grow roses, was going to pull out the wild rose near back deck staircase but now it's all in bloom I think I shall let it continue to grow there

what brings color while waiting for other species to bloom is Sweet Williams, lordy they have such variety of colors

Sweet William is a good plant,-- though a biennial reseeder.
It needs to be sown two years in a row,---
so that there are flowers every year.

I never reseed and my gardens are full

What joyous colours in the garden. Makes me happy to see. Lovely pictures everyone. Betty, what is that first pic with the handsome yellow flowers? That looks like a bed-filler.


I planted a bunch of Iberis sempervirens in April. I thought they were at their end of their flowering cycle a couple of weeks ago, but it looks like they are coming back. They do have yellow leaves at the bottom. I read it could be too little sun or too much water or rot, but there's no slime. I'm leery to overwater because I don't think that area has the best drainage.

someone told me they were wild foxglove
they are about 2-3' high

I believe that Betty's yellow spike flower is Lysimachia punctata. Many Lysimachia species spread by underground roots. Clay soil inhibits them, but plant with caution!

Excellent. I just read up on it. It seems this environment would only encourage spreading. I won't risk it. Gorgeous, though.

It's been about 7 years it's been planted in same area and really no additional growth. Thrilled it's not invasive in my region..

Thanks for the identification

The garden is very wet from all the rain that fell yesterday. My one and only double peony, the luscious 'Raspberry Sundae', is nose down in the dirt - so no pics of that! Plenty of other flowers are holding their heads up, however. Today's pics are:
1. Geranium 'Brookside'. Very hardy and reliable, and mound-shaped. Its parentage includes G. pratense and G. clarkei. It will self-seed, but the offspring are variable, with some more lilac than blue, and some with smaller flowers.
2. Potentilla 'Fireflame'. A bright orange-red, the flowers are small but very noticeable.
3. Kniphofia 'Fire Dance'. I was skeptical about its hardiness when I planted it in August 2011. I saw no flowers last year and assumed it had died. I was quite surprised a couple of days ago when these flowers appeared from what I had thought was a clump of chives.
4. & 5. Cephalaria gigantica, in all its 2m glory, and a close-up of its tiny flower. The nurseryman I bought it from warned me to dead-head it, as it can be an aggressive self-seeder. So far, no problem.

Beautiful..

Storm passed through early yesterday morning, sure flattened many of my gardens, guess still better off than places like Calgary!!

each walk through you find a few newbies

yellow and pink flowers are a few that are down, need sunshine I guess to stand back up and smile

Happy Canada Day, everyone!

Great pics, Betty.

Here's Knautia macedonica in front of Calamintha nepetoides. I looked for a patriotic red and white pic, but maroon and white was the best I could do. Does anybody have a real national flag-coloured floral combo?

True red is really hard to find don't you think?

Happy Canada Day as well.

I did not get one together this year, but sometimes red and white petunias work.

It takes a brave person to have a totally red planting. Here's one that's in France. The garden's path leads first through a dark tunnel of vines, emerging into a brilliantly white enclosure of 'Iceberg' roses, and then the path goes into a red enclosure (rose, all the same variety, with red gravel mulch), and it ends at a pentacle-shaped pool set into a lawn. Can anyone guess the theme of the garden?

No guesses? OK, the theme of the garden is Alchemy. Alchemical research and study was done in three stages - the first was Black, the second White, and the third Red - and the goal at the end of it all was the Philosopher's Stone, which they hoped would turn lead into gold.

That was interesting..and did they achieve what they wanted to?

Alchemy and magic didn't work, and were replaced by science and reason. Unless you're a New Ager or a Wiccan :)

More red flowers - here's Weigela florida 'Red Prince' in my own garden (I apologize for the weeds in the shrub border), and a closeup of the flowers. My camera has turned the colour to dark pink, it's really red to the eye.

Are your weigelia's just in bloom? Mine are all but over

I love Weigelas! Beautiful. I noticed Betty's weigela in her garden pics, too. I hope you don't mind if I intrude with a few of mine; I feel I can contribute. The first is Sonic Bloom. I left it outside in a pot and it got munched down to two inches of even growth. It was unhappy for a while. Plus, some of the leaves burned. However, over the last two weeks, it has filled out again and has new flower buds.

The second is Wine and Roses I think. It's done blooming, but looking very healthy.

The third is Weigela coraeensis. I thought it was done blooming, but I put it in the ground and it seems satisfied with its new home. The blooms came back. (Apparently, I only take blurry pics with my telephone. Sorry!)

Also, I finished planting my fuchsia bed believing the blooms would be eaten, but they have been spared. Woo! Check out the pic - those are deer tracks. They walked right through :)

I love variety in the garden, but I'd also be pretty happy with a bunch of weigelas, peonies, fuchsia, and japanese maples filling my yard.



This message was edited Jul 3, 2013 10:08 PM

And a pic of a Garry Oak for fun.

Welcome Poinget, not intruding in the least!

They sure do give big bang for $$$ spent, sure wish they lasted a bit longer.
wow on the Gary Oak, regal looking tree.

Not sure I've Sonic Boom, do have Wine and Roses

Oh no, not the dreaded deer..hope they don't decide to eat up your pretties.

You have quite the collection of Weigelas, Poinget! 'Sonic Bloom' (love that name!) and W. coraeensis are new to me. Besides 'Red Prince' I am growing 'Purpurea Nana', which is a dwarf with purplish-green leaves and pink flowers, and is currently hidden by tall weeds. I also planted three rooted cuttings of 'Nana, yellow form', which has yellowy-green leaves with a darker green blotch in the centre, but the deer ate them to the ground and only one is showing signs of regrowth.

I sure wish I could grow fuchsias as shrubs, but they get winter-killed in my Zone. I use them as summer container and hanging-basket plants, then over-winter them in a greenhouse - not always successfully.

Sonic Bloom is a repeat bloomer. It's hardy to zone 4 (-30 F). It reaches 4-5 ft tall and wide, and it flowers in spring and late summer to hard frost. (I have the tag) The leaves are bright green and the flowers are red. I think I had 'Red Prince' at my other house, which I loved, and I wanted one just like it, so I got Sonic Bloom because it was similar. At the time, the red flowering types were hard to find in nurseries. Pink and wine are very popular now.

And coraeensis is really neat, but not as hardy (z6). Todd Boland on plantfiles said it is the parent for many hybrids. Its flowers change colour as they mature, so you end up with white, pink, and wine-red flowers in one cluster. Out of 9 pics, these two came out clear (or one did and the other not as blurry) - don't laugh. What is wrong with me?

Never can tell what the deer will eat. They were prepared to eat Sonic Bloom to the ground, but haven't touched coraeensis. The Nanas sound beautiful (and apparently, yummy!). I can't find pics of the yellow form.

As far as fuchsias, I haven't had success overwintering them, but I intend to try again with my patriotic Marinka. I'm more confident with plants these days. I had a black thumb until recently!

(If you noticed in a previous pic, there was a flag in my weigela pot as well. The kids have stuck those flags amidst all of my patio plants. lol)

bought several lilacs that are everblooming, wasn't aware that weigelias had some that were continual blooming..will have to ask in my neck of the woods if they have the sonic.