Summer Scenes in the Garden

Summer is here, and the deep greening of the garden has begun. A few perennials and annuals celebrate our heat and humidity and provide splashes of color, but these hot months are all about foliage in its myriad forms and variegations. 

First, some color: This tropical hibiscus is so beautiful that I plan to bring it inside later to overwinter. For now it sits on our patio, and I have a good view of it from our kitchen and dining room.

Here are a few more June blooms:The large top photo is from my new pollinator garden, with purple Veronica and perennial Helenium. Do you see the bee? Small photos left to right: Hummingbird plant, Dicliptera suberecta, is also known as Uruguayan firecracker plant; One of the very best yellow reblooming daylilies is Hemerocallis 'Going Bananas'; Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snowflake' has double blooms, unlike the common oak leaf hydrangea, which has single blooms; 'Anthony Waterer' Spirea has May - June blooms but will produce more flowers if spent blooms are removed.

When the day is nearly done - but not quite - the sun sends shafts of light through the woodland garden. It is my favorite time of the day. Sparks flash under and over and through the foliage; and like a soul lifted out of darkness, the garden is transformed.

Here are closer views of some of the woodland plants:Clockwise from top left: Breynia disticha is called Snow on the Mountain bush and also Snowbush. It is not hardy in my area. It is in a pot, and I will bring it inside for winter; Hosta 'Rhino Hide'; Cercis canadensis 'Whitewater' is a weeping variegated redbud tree; Zantedeschia albomaculata, or White Spotted Leaf Calla Lily; Fatsia 'Spider's Web'; Bird's nest fern (Asplenium nidus) is another plant in my garden that is not hardy. It is in a pot so I can bring it in for winter.

Clockwise from top left: Peacock moss (Selaginella uncinata) and Athyrium filix-femina, commonly called lady fern, grow next to a mossy rock; A close-up of the Peacock moss; Native Trillium and Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora);Hostas are beginning to bloom - I don't remember the name of this one!

Finally, here is a Daddy Longlegs, stretched out, taking it easy on a hosta leaf. This non-venomous insect has 6 legs and is not a true spider:

Happy Gardening!

Gardener Gone Wild: My New Pollinator Garden

Thread Waisted Wasp on Variegated Joe Pye Weed.I have been eyeing the large untamed space beyond the arbor garden for years, thinking I may eventually get around to landscaping the area. In a moment of madness and inspired by an unusual cool summer day, I began the project about a month ago. Undaunted by the resumption of high temps and humidity, I purchased a few plants to inspire me. Variegated Joe Pye Weed, Eupatorium fortune 'Pink Frost', was one of the first plants I bought for the new pollinator garden.

Then I began working like a wild woman. I sprayed glyphosate over the thick layer of vines and other weeds that covered the soil. When most of them were dead, I spread pine straw to define planting beds and winding paths. One entrance to the pollinator garden is through the arbor garden seen here in the background. That's another 'Pink Frost' Joe Pye Weed on the left.By night, I studied garden books, magazines and websites for guidance. By day, I dug and and planted. I was pleasantly surprised by the nice loamy soil that hid under the weeds. I remembered that over half a century ago, this was a working farm. Perhaps cattle roamed the area, or maybe vegetables grew here.

OK. I worked that out of me. I am not finished yet; I still have to mulch the paths and put in more plantings, especially those that bloom in spring and early summer. But I have accomplished enough that you can get an idea of what it will look like - if you have an imagination! I am calling this my pollinator garden, because many of the plants are friendly to butterflies and bees.Little Sulfur butterfly on a perennial lantana.

This bumble bee has pollen baskets tightly packed with pollen it has gathered from Giant Ironweed, Veronia gigantea.

I am limited somewhat, because trees that surround the area prevent plants from receiving full sun. Most plants I am using will do well in sun to partial shade. Sometimes plants that need full sun farther north will grow and bloom here with some shade because of our intense summer heat.

The place is in the "little dot" stage now. I am drawn to plants that have the word "weed" or "wild" attached to their common names: Joe Pye Weed, Iron Weed, Wild Ageratum. I hope they are tough and that they will fill out and spread like their names suggest! 

Here are some more images taken in my new pollinator garden. The paths will be better defined when I add mulch, which will also help suppress weeds.

Some flowers in the pollinator garden that are currently blooming, clockwise from top left: Iron Weed; Solidago 'Sweety', a dwarf goldenrod; Salvia 'Black and Blue'; Sedum 'Autumn Joy.'

Other plants, not previously mentioned in this post, in the pollinator garden:

Campanula

Carex

Catmint

Cranesbill (perennial geranium)

Daylily

Echinacea

Euphorbia

Pink Muhly Grass

Platycodon

Purple Oxalis

Yarrow

Creeping Fig, as a ground cover along one side of the pollinator garden

Lorepetalum 'Emerald Snow', a semi-dwarf with white blooms, planted on back edge for structure

Spirea 'Candy Corn', noted for its colorful foliage as well as spring blooms, also on back edge for structure

That's it for now, but much more to come! I am excited that some things are already blooming, but the real test will be how things look in year three. Always hopeful!    Deb