June Bloom Day

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

I want to highlight some blooms that are not the usual ones I post every June.

Lychnis coronaria, Rose campion is such a work horse. It blooms in heat, reseeds well, survives winters, and the color combo of silver and magenta is striking.

Coconut lime echinacea is a hybrid that is lower in height, and not as attractive to pollinators as the native. Here, some little guy poses on a petal.

Speaking of lime ... this is lime green nicotiana. As thick as ever at this time of year, and a proflific reseeder. I keep it separated from the white in another garden to keep it from intermixing, and to maintain the green color. This year the fragrance at night is incredible.

I was lazy and did not cut off the seed pods one year. A whole lot of different hostas sprouted the following year. I kept about a half dozen including this one.

This lavendar was free at the Garden Bloggers Fling when it came to Washington DC. Lavender 'Phenomenal' is exceptional in that none of it died back in winter, and the amount of blooms is awesome.

\Once I figured out what this low-growing iris was (picked up at a plant swap), it was moved from the sunny garden to damp part shade. My native crested iris (Iris cristata) is now flourishing and I am rewarded with flowers.



An impatient visitor waiting for pollen to open.

Daylilies I crossed using the orange ditch lily with 'Night of Passion'. Very proud and pleased with the results, but the colors get washed out to a dull pale rust in bright hot sunlight.

Find more ther garden bloggers' blooms on May Dream Gardens.

June 2015 Bloom Day

Lots of things are popping out of the gardens - 'Never Looked So Good' should be the theme applied to many garden inhabitants this month. Onion and green beans comprise the bounty to date, and go well together in a three bean salad. Fresh basil and oregano work wonders on a grilled pizza. More hot weather is on the way, though.

The datura is off to a great start and has never looked so large this early. This is the second time I have grown this moonflower, and hope it does better than the first which was in a more shady spot.

'Night of Passion' is what I think this daylily is called, after viewing 100,000 photos online.

The hydrangea has never looked so good. Although I wrote about my Annabelle hydreangea, a fellow master gardener believes this one is not Annabelle because the blooms are too enormous and perfect. 'Incrediball' is probably the correct name. Ignore my sorry attempt at staking.

Even the hostas are getting in on the bloom fun.

Another bloomer that has never looked so good this year. After years of care, 'Miss Lingard' phlox is now an established perennial that needs no attention. How did I end up with so many whites? They do look cool in this hot summer weather.

Lychnis coronaria has so many names I am reluctant to call it anything but its formal name. When they are planted together, they look like a fun bunch. But pulling out their thousands of seedlings (as bad as cleome) is not fun.

Tradescantia was moved last fall to a shadier location, and it loves its new digs. Never blooming into the hot weather except for this year, it is yet another one that has never looked so good.

Finally, the first photo of phase 1 of my hell strip beautification attempt. It is surprising how many neighbors see this, but don't notice the larger cottage garden in the front yard. Thanks to Scott at Rhone Street Gardens blog for the inspiration to do this.

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

Garden Calendar:   • Blooming: rudbeckia, phlox, poppy, geranium, datura, tradescantia, echinacea, phlox, lychnis, hydrangea, hosta,   • Harvested: green beans (bush) 1 onion