Lush and growing wild

  We have transitioned from late spring to early summer in the weeks since my last post.  These delphinium are just about finished for the season.  I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful they were.  The clematis growing on the trellis is growing nicely, though no blooms as of yet.  It is the first one I have ever grown, so I don't know if it needs anything from me.  Usually, I just let things happen out there.  As you can see, the peony never bloomed though I did lift it up a bit.  I will lift it again in the fall in hopes to get some blooms out of it.  I am letting the Columbine go to seed for both the birds and the hope that I will have even more plants next year.  I moved the poppies to the open space near the peony, but I moved them too late in their season and they simply flopped onto the ground.  I would have been better served if I left them where they were with the blooms hidden behind the clematis and moved them in the fall.  There are day lilies along the lower edge there and they need to be thinned this fall.  I am not sure what I am going to do with them.  I have some very tall peach colored ones off to the side of my front yard and they are no longer blooming as well as they once did.  They are getting relocated this fall as well.

Delphinium, Clematis, Columbine, Arnica, Peony



Iris greens, Monk's hood, Japanese Maple, Lily

Hosta, Hydrangea, unknown flowering plants

The irises in this bed did beautifully this spring.  I was so pleased.  The monk's hood is growing tall and green behind them.  In fact, all the plants in this foundation garden bed where the dogwood tree was are looking so lush and vibrant.  The weeds are growing quite well in there too.  They hydrangea is growing wide with limited blooms so far.  We will see what happens as the summer season progresses.  I have put a bird bath in the back as you can see it peeking over the top there.  I planted a lovely fern at its base.  I hope it grows full and fills in the gap that is between the japanese maple and the hydrangea.  It is rather shady back there so close to the house.

Lupine, Pineapple Sage, Bee Balm, Purple Love Grass, Cyclamen, Dahlia (black), African Daisy, Contorted Fig



Contorted Fig, Dahlias

The front garden is looking really lovely.  Someone was helping themselves to my flowers, but that seems to have stopped fortunately.  I can't wait for the bee balm and the cornflower to bloom, but I will have to wait I bit I think.



Just a side view that includes the wisteria

Crocosmia



 Some kind of sedum ground cover with yellow flowers that I intend to move these to another location in the fall. I love their color, but not where they are currently. I will put some iris in their place I think.



red lilies (the secrets from the spring)



 My small trees are doing fairly well. Or maybe I should say they are doing as well as I'd hoped. This cranberry in the ground is doing the best. The soil stays moist, especially because the hose has a hole in it and sprays into this bed whenever I turn it on to water something else. Fortuitous? I suppose so.


Stewartia (George) 

 I knew that the Stewartia was slow growing, so I am not surprised at its growth. Could I have wished for more? But of course.