Garden Blogger's Bloom Day June 2013

June is the easiest month for taking Garden Blogger Bloom Day pictures! So much is in bloom - just walk and shoot!
Here's what's blooming in my garden today:

I grew Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) from seed last summer. They formed good sized clumps and this summer they are in full bloom.

Feverfew (Tanacetum parnitheum) have seeded themselves ALL over the place this spring.

Even though I added lots of manure, my Siberian Iris were stunning but minimal in numbers.

I neglected to prune back this shrub rose in April and it's grown as big as a tree! Very pretty single pale pink blooms all over it.

I thought I had lost this little Darling. Thank goodness it's back! It's a Himalayan Cinquefoil (Potentilla argyrophylla var. atrosanguinea), a wonderful small clump with silvery leaves and a bright scarlet-red flower.

Here is my Explorer Rose - John Cabot - shining bright red in the midst of Red Twig Dogwood

The Rugosa Rose is blooming in deep pink glory

The Gas Plant (Dictamnus alba) and Yellow loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) look lovely as we head down the path through the arbour.

My David Austin Rose 'Mary' reaches for the sun but still blooms amazingly well in fairly deep shade.

3 Weigela bushes are blooming deep pink. I was trying to catch a bee poking its nose into the bloom but it was too quick for me to photograph.

Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) has a delicious vanilla scent

And due to cool temperatures and plenty of rain, the peonies are still going strong (Look Helene - I DID tie them up. I felt sorry for them and decided to take better care of one of my favourite flowers).

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day is a Meme created by May Dreams Garden

Gardeners post images of what's blooming in their garden on the 15th day of every month. All are welcome to participate.

Also, please check out my recipe blog Astrid's Home - the latest post is Pork and Apricot Salad.

Top Perennials Part 2 (of many)

Garden Tours are beneficial for many reasons but my favourites are that you get to (legally) snoop in a stranger's garden and you usually pick up the names of some wonderful new plants to try!

This was how I discovered Dictamnus albus. My friend and I saw it for the very first time on a Toronto garden tour. We asked the volunteer if she knew what it was and she said it was a Gas Plant. Weird name, we thought.

Here's what Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/dictamnus-albus.html says about it:

"...Not often seen in gardens, the Gas Plant is slow to establish, but very long lived. Plants form a bushy, upright clump of lemon-scented, glossy green leaves. Spikes of spidery-looking white flowers appear in early summer, rather showy in effect, and worthwhile for cutting. On still days a match held below the spike will ignite a burst of methane gas. Attractive to butterflies. Clumps resent being disturbed, once established."

It's true that it takes a while for them to grow tall and strong but once there, they never disappear. I have had mine for over 20 years. It's a lovely plant and I look forward to seeing it come up every June near my arbour.

Brunnera 'Jack Frost' was a plant I coveted when it first became popular. All the nurseries charged an exorbitant fee for a small 4" pot of 'Jack Frost' when garden columnists and garden magazines described it as THE plant to buy that year! So I waited and waited and finally purchased it last year, whereas many of my gardening friends have had it forever. It is a beauty with its variegated leaves and Forget-Me-Not type blue flowers.

Again I quote from Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/brunnera-macrophylla-jack-frost.html

"...A superb introduction, forming a clump of heart-shaped silver leaves, delicately veined with mint green. Sprays of bright blue Forget-me-not flowers appear in mid to late spring. This is a choice collector's plant, but an easy-to-grow perennial that performs well in all but the driest of shady conditions. Excellent for the woodland garden. ‘Jack Frost’ handles more direct sun that most other variegated types of Brunnera, though in hot-summer regions some afternoon shade is recommended to prevent leaf scorch. Selected as the 2012 Perennial Plant of the Year by the Perennial Plant Association."

Another favourite that comes up beautifully year after year is Platycodon grandiflorus the Balloon Flower. They show up late so I have to be careful not to plant an annual on top of them! But I know now exactly where they are.

Last year they bloomed and bloomed for over 6 weeks. I guess they like their partially shady location. Before they bloom, they look like balloons about to pop. And when they open, they are such an intense shade of purple/blue!

Heritage Perennials http://www.perennials.com/plants/platycodon-grandiflorus-fuji-blue.html says:

"...Balloon Flowers are summer-blooming cousins to the more familiar Bellflowers. Plants form a mound of green foliage, bearing inflated buds that open into star-shaped violet-blue blossoms. This medium-height selection is great for the border, or in mixed containers. Especially good for cutting. Because they come up very late in the spring, consider planting tulips or daffodils beside the clump to mark the location. Division is seldom necessary, and not always very successful because of the carrot-like root."

My one and only small complaint about Balloon flowers is that they need to be staked. But that's a very small complaint.

If you add these three plants to your garden this summer, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Beautiful Blooms June 1 2012

I know it's not Garden Blogger's Bloom Day but there are so many GORGEOUS plants in bloom right now in my garden that I thought I would show you some of the lovelies…
Above is my bright red poppy which I adore, even if it only lasts for a few days every spring.

Here are my peonies looking pretty good but the heat was making them explode and today's much needed but very heavy rain will knock them down and they won't get up :(
Here are their better moments:

Great time of year for the Rugosa roses:

David Austin 'Mary Rose' continues to astound me as it blooms in almost full shade!

Under an umbrella of leaves, (and you really have to lie on the ground and search!) is the dainty little May Apple flower

Here is a small pink climbing rose...

….with its neighbour a white cluster climbing rose!! (I have no idea what this is)

The interesting Gas Plant (Dictamnus alba) blooms at this time of year

A cute little self-seeder: "Love in a Mist" Nigella damescena

My Climbing Hydrangea is quite exquisite

Yellow Loosestrife (Lysimachia punctata) adds a golden touch to 2 corners

Climbing rose 'Blaze' has a rich deep red colour and a velvet look/feel to it 

And even though it's a bit "weedy" in nature, I like the look of Centaurea montana

Can't wait to see what will bloom tomorrow :)