The Fallen

With some heavy rain and a touch of laziness from the owner for not staking again this year, the hydrangea has once again succumbed to its own success. The large blooms of what I believe is 'Incrediball' have fallen down and cannot get up. I now support the peony before it also goes down, and keep thinking that I will do the same for the hydrangea when it starts to peek out of the ground. But since I cannot find any support system large enough, I need to make my own, and that involves some involved work. Maybe next year.

These rudbeckia mentioned in Bloggers Bloom Day love the location against the masonry house. Nice and warm in the winter, and beautiful non-clay soil thanks to years of fallen leaves where ivy once roamed. They are taller and more robust than in any other of my gardens. Taller means easier to bend over.

Another reseeder is the nicotiana: white in the back, and green in the front yards. The white species grow taller and always flop over, and I always let them. The green nicotiana don't do this to the same extent maybe because they do not grow as tall. Maybe because they get full sun and the whites don't, or because they are just a different shorter variety.

Native Loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) is now blooming and down it goes. The plants tend to support each other in the center of the cluster, while those along the perimeter take a bow like in this photo. The dark leaves turn green when the yellow blooms appear in summer.

Not yet down is the yellow-flowered plant I picked up at a plant swap. I think it is a type of helianthus or coreopsis. It bloomed in late summer when about 3-feet high (90 cm) and proceeded to bend down. This year it is about 4-feet (120 cm) tall at the moment, with some buds appearing. And so far it is standing tall.

When the weak fall, it is difficult to get them back up permanently, so I usually let them lay.

June 2019 Bloom Day

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day
What's blooming in the garden on the 15th of the month

If getting back into the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day again, May-June-July is the time to do it for me.

Spring has been good so far - off to a cool start, but over the past few months, we have had good weather and good rain. Things are growing - including the weeds.

Starting with the rudbeckia that needs a little birth control this year. I think every seed ever dropped came up - even the ones in the lawn and sidewalk cracks.

And the rudbeckia that appeared came with some interesting variety. For example, this green-eyed is a hybrid from some 'Irish Eyes' I grew a few years back.

This came all by itself. The bees must have been busy in some neighbor's garden one day last year.

Still another rudbeckia variation in markings.

The Asian lilies, name unknown, are taking off.

Echinacea are just beginning to peek out.

And my cultivar echinacea 'Sundown', part of the Big Sky series.

A snapdragon mix was started from seed two years ago. Now, they annually reseed themselves in a myriad of colors. I was stunned by this one. Have you ever seen such a color combination?

For other garden bloggers' bloom day photos, spring over to the blog May Dreams Gardens.

Holy Coleus

Does anyone need coleus? Every year, I survey the containers I have on the deck to determine what annuals I need to purchase. Some of the plants from prior years may survive the winter, eliminating a need to purchase an annual of two for this year. Sweet potato vines tend to do this.

This year, I was surprised to find among the maple seedlings from a neighbor's tree, 78 (I counted them all) coleus growing in a pot that I (obviously) had coleus occupying last summer. They were all images of their mama, with maroon centers and green leaf edges. Of the handful of coleus I have grown, this one was the least favorite - not unattractive - just not on top of my favorites list.

One of the other containers had several petunia seedlings pop up, which I am allowing to continue. I heard these are difficult for gardeners to start from seed, (go figure) so they have earned the right to continue after surviving the winter outdoors.

After pinching off the unattractive flowers of the coleus, I probably just threw them into the pot. Some of the flower spikes may have had mature seeds that sprung to life this spring. The petunias may have had some seed pods formed that I missed in the deadheading, but there was only one petunia I can remember needing to deadhead. The others were cultivars that self-deadheaded, (if that is a word.)

I am saving four or five of the largest coleus seedlings to plant in the garden. Since I take cuttings of some plants (including coleus), in the fall to overwinter, I do not need any of these for containers. An overwintered version has already been transplanted into a different container. However, there is a 'Black Pearl' ornamental pepper plant in this container that sprung from the previous plant's seed, and two other dark red coleus plants growing among the horde, too.

I left the petunias to their own too, and will later report on them after seeing what type of flower comes from a store-bought cultivar self-seeder (if that is a word, too.)