A Tour of the May Garden

June begins in a couple of hours. It will be the beginning of hurricane season and the start of summer. (I know summer doesn't officially arrive for twenty more days, but by then we will be hunkering inside our air conditioned spaces and dreaming of fall.) Today I watched the gnats swirl above the front lawn, flying up and down and around in circles. One can barely see them, but there's thousands of them and it's easy to inadvertently walk through the middle of their dance. It's not too bad unless they fly into facial orifices, and that is annoying.

Here is a quick tour of the May garden, beginning in front of the house, where Japanese maples are featured:

Hydrangeas are blooming along the hydrangea walk:

The common daylily grows in abundance near the patio. These enduring flowers are sometimes called ditch lilies. They have been growing on our property for over half a century.

The garden is permeated with the fragrance of gardenias. I have two large shrubs on opposite sides of the property, one in the woodland garden and one down from the patio. It seems that wherever I am, I can get a whiff of them.

Zantedeshia is blooming in the sunnier part of the woodland garden. I did not think it was hardy in my area, but it keeps returning, larger and with more blooms each year:

Here are more assorted May flowers:

I am still in love with my red banana plant, featured in my last post. Here is another look at its outstanding foliage:

Other plants with tropical foliage:Top: Caladium. The insect is a lightning bug. Clockwise from middle left: Stromanthe tricolor; Canna 'Tropicana'; Dracaena Massangeana, also called Corn plant; Coleus.

Dogwood  'Cherokee Sunset' and hostas 'Wedgwood Blue' and 'Sum and Substance' are also great foliage plants:

Finally, a tour of my gardens is not complete without a peek into the woodlands. The large vine is a wild muscadine:

I hope you have enjoyed the tour. Happy gardening!

Peacock Orchid

Peacock orchid is an unusual flower with strappy green leaves and white flowers with deep maroon centers. The flowers have a light, clean fragrance that reminds me of mild soap. Deer are not attracted to them, and I suspect it's the fragrance they don't like. It is not an orchid at all, though it does look like one. The name Gladiolus callianthus tells us it is actually a member of the gladiolus family. I'm not a big glad fan, but these are wonderful!One group of peacock orchids is planted along my hydrangea walk.A closer look at the orchid-like flower

I planted these bulbs for the first time this year and am waiting to see how successful they will be, but so far I am pleased. They need a long, hot growing season. I planted mine in April, and they just started blooming this week. They should bloom till mid fall, here in my zone 7b climate. The leaves are about thirty inches tall, and I have not needed to stake them. They have stood tall, even after torrential rains.

Peacock orchids need loose, well drained soil. They also like sun to partial shade and may do better with protection from the hottest afternoon sun. These plants do need consistent moisture, and I was diligent to keep them watered through our June drought. Fortunately, we have had plenty of rain in July, and the peacock orchids have grown well.Each bulb produces six to eight frangrant blooms.

Peacock orchids will grow in the ground and naturalize in zones 7-10. In zones with shorter growing seasons, start these indoors on a sunny windowsill, then transplant them outside when the weather warms up. Peacock orchids also do well in pots. In cooler climates gardeners should treat them as annuals or else dig the corms in fall. I plan to leave mine in the ground, covered with a good layer of mulch. I am eager to see if they will come back next year and grow again in my garden. A lot of plants do well the first year, but it's the second and third years that tell the true story!