Maintenance

My garden work for the last month has been maintenance. Pulling weeds, deadheading, pruning, cutting grass. The weather has been good, not terribly hot, and wet enough to keep things growing.

Some of my new plants have been no-shows. In particular, my Naked Ladies, also called magic lilies. (Lycoris sp.) I see them blooming around the neighborhood now, but no sign of mine. They are such great plants, because they have bright pink flowers on top of long, leafless stems.

The light purple plant with the bumblebee is an Obedient Plant (Physotegia virginiana). I planted two last year, and they are spreading nicely. They can be invasive, so I'll have to keep an eye on them.

The elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta) is huge in this location. I have another one else where in the yard, that is very small. I now know where to plant them.

This last purple plant was a gift in early summer. It is a Bluebeard (Caryopteris x clandonensis). It seems to like this location, on the south side of the house. That area still needs lots of work. This is planted among coneflowers, black-eyed susans and four o'clocks.

The great blue heron has been back this weekend. All the fish are now in hiding (or gone?).

Red Hot!

Both the temperature and the kniphofia "Red Hot Poker". What a fabulous plant. These were given to me last spring, but, as expected, they did not bloom last year. This year they are putting on quite a show. What a dramatic addition to the garden.

The other plant is another garden phlox which I planted last year as well. So pretty.

This weekend is our first blazing hot spell of the summer. We should see 100 today. Fortunately we have had lots of rain, so everything should survive this short lived intense heat.

In full bloom

I couldn't resist all the photos in this post.

I try to do as much organic gardening as possible. I use very few chemicals. The exception is for poison ivy. Round-up here we come! The nasty stuff in this photo has already been sprayed twice, and it is still green! But, I will keep at it.

I thought a photo of some of our fish would be fun. I really thought the pond was empty of them. We were given some nice size fish in March. We may have still had some, or those five have been very prolific. The great blue heron is aware of the arrivals. He visited today.

The pink and white flowers are Peppermint phlox. I planted it last fall. What a delightful plant. I have also posted a white crinum lily, a purple stokes aster and liatrus, which are the tall, spiky purple flowers.

Exciting new plants

Last year my next door neighbors had this Elephant Ear, Colocasia 'Coffee Cup' in their yard. I was very impressed with it. Much to my surprise (and theirs, I think) not only did it winter over, but it came back with offshoots this year. So, he gave me one. As it grows, the leaves will curl up, forming a cup. They fill with water when it rains, and birds will drink out of the. So, here is mine.

I planted the beebalm last year, but it did not bloom. I was expecting bright red flowers, so I was very surprised to see fuchsia blooms. It is very pretty, and mixes well with the rose campion.

This is the second year this amaryllis has bloomed. It has not grown near as tall this year. Also blooming are the pond flags (iris), pinks, peonies, veronica (speedwell), climbing roses.

Blooming today

Here are some pictures of what is blooming today. I have been surprised by the three different shades of spiderwort. They are much more robust than in previous years. Also the first of the rose campion (it is the small magenta flower with the soft gray/green leaves) is a bit early.

Mulch and new things

I've been putting in lots of annuals, and gift plants. I put a smilax beside the front porch. I should be able to train it up the side and over the top of the porch. I have also put in ginger lilies, more helleborus, hollyhocks, iris, kniphofia, purple oxalis, and zinnias. I put caladiums in the planters near the pond, but also in the ground behind the pond.


My iris are really beautiful, but I have found that I have some dark purple ones that are rather short, and can't be seen where they are. I will need to move them.

The roses here are an older climbing Bourbon rose Zephirine Drouhin. They did not bloom last year, but are putting on quite a fragrant show this year.

The small plant we got at a plant/yard sale. The lady called it a Mexican violet. I can't find that name anywhere, for anything resembling this plant. I'll watch it grow and try to figure out what it is. I just hope I have it planted in a good spot.

A nice surprise

I love iris. Bearded iris are my favorite, but I like them all. Perhaps this is because it was the only flower my mother grew, and I always enjoyed picking them when I was little.

I have gotten iris from many different places. Some from the house I grew up in, which have now moved 3 times with me. Some from friends and some from plant sales. Often I don't really know what they will look like when I plant them. Yesterday my husband bought a huge bunch of purple Dutch iris at a yard sale.

My great surprise is pictured here. I planted some iris last summer, too late for them to bloom. I didn't know what they would look like. This is the first to bloom, and it is a stunner! I've never seen one with such a mixture of purple and white. It has a lovely scent as well.