What is in full bloom now? JUNE 16 - JUNE 30 2010

Beautiful photos Gwen.
Love that rose with the foxglove RJ. Nice to have leaves huh?
I took pictures of the open Kalmia this morn. Will get them on today.

Pony, I am not sure you have Frans Hall, either. It seems a little wider and a little earlier. Keep posting pictures so we can see how it evolves.

That dianthus is wonderful and look at all the buds!

Bea that is one spectacular clem.

And Gwen, I have Japanese snowbell envy.

Heck, I haven't even gone to look at my Japanese snowbell tree (really just a large shrub at this point. ---running outside to see---
Yep, it is just beginning to bloom!

This is the first day in many I have been out in my garden, and there is sooooo much needing to be done I am fairly daunted by it all. Did just pick (and eat) a bunch of ripe strawberries, yeah! Finally, after all the damp and moldiness of the Spring.

I could just as easily give y'all a list of all the weeds that are currently blooming or about to, that's how bad it is just now.

OMG Julie- that Playboy rose is incredible! I'm in love! *swoon*

The dianthus smells very peppery to me. Kind of an odd scent, but I like it.

Sharon, will do- there are several buds on it now, so I'll be able to post more images soon.

Pony, you just forced me to post a pic of my Playboy, too. It is just coming into its own now. Definitely one of the very favoritest of our roses.

An Oriental poppy that is new to me this year and came in a mixed collection so NOID. Could the rain possibly hold off and not beat the poppies down this year? (I hope)

Whoops, I had better get back to work and pull those weeds. I think that particular one grows a foot a day!

But first I have to show off my first waterlily bloom for the year.

Beahive sent these to me last year. I almost lost them but put cloches over them and they survived. I just love this flower.

What was left of my Bog Rosemary is doing well in the pot.

Close-up of the pink Kalmia

And the whole bush.

And the red one. It is not blooming as well as the pink.
This is a real nice small evergreen shrub. Akin to Rhodies but much finer in appearence and blooms later. Slow growing.

Willow, that pink kalmia shot is fabulous. I fell in love with them when I rented a house when I first came to Seattle and it took me a long time to find out what they are. I have tried some in the past, unsuccessfully, and now have a couple that I think are finally going to make it. One even has a single bloom on it this year.

I need a Playboy rose. And a Kalmia. Wow.

I have to show you that insane foxglove again- it's over the edge of the roof now! o.0

And I love love love these snapdragons!

Gwen, I have jap. snowbell envy too. How pretty!

Holly, I am so with you on the overwhelmed by the state of the garden front! There is so much to do that needs done desperately that I just spin in circles trying to figure out where to start. I thought I was ahead of the game when the end of winter was so warm, but now I am further behind than ever. It helped my frame of mind immensly yesterday to get at least one or two areas looking good... now I know that there is hope....

Willow, I love the poker primrose, and your kalmia is definitely a WOW! I don't have one yet, but I am thinking that I definitely need to scope out a spot for one.

Pony, OMG and I thought my foxgloves went crazy! That is pretty darn impressive. I love the color combo of the snapdragons as well... very cheerful!

The earliest of my japanese iris are popping like crazy now. I planted several before I was really good at keeping track of names, so they are all unknowns, but some are pretty fabulous, and I am going to have a nice show this year because THESE ARE SOMETHING THAT THE SLUGS LEAVE ALONE!!! Hooray!

This one is definitely one of my favorites, and the flower is huge!

My pink peony is an eye popper right now....

And the last one from yesterday...

I have had a few daylily blooms here and there so far this year, but only Saratoga Springtime (who is extra early) and a yellow species have put on any kind of a show at all so far. For this reason, my eyes about popped out of my head when I saw my Swirling Spider yesterday!

Holy Toledo! Those DLs are stunning! Amazing how things just go to town when we finally get some sunshine. :)

I love your japanese iris too- another thing I want to get eventually. Boy, if I got everything on my "want" list, we'd have to buy another house with a much bigger lot... hehe. ;)

And then when you get a bigger lot like I have, you have to set your sights on other things like a bigger watering system.... oh yeah... and a staff! I think that it is a never ending dilema...
I am probably going to be dividing at least my white jap iris this fall... if you want a start I would be more than happy to share.

LOL yeah, I don't think I could handle a big lot. I'm too lazy. ;)

If you do wind up dividing and have a little extra, I'd love to have a start. Thank you. :)

I don't have good luck with my iris blooming past the first year. The leaves grow but no blooms. Did I plant them too shallow?

The peony is very pretty, esp in front of the roses.

Exactly what is bog rosemary? Can you use it in cooking?

No it doesn't smell like rosemary. There must be a story there but I no longer try to remember it. Bog Andromeda (sp) is another name for it

Here's another one of the DL that may or may not be Franz Halls. This bloom seems redder than the last one.

Tuscawilla Tigress is looking good.

Pony, After second shot, it is DEFINITELY not Frans Halls. Wayyyy too much color. I will have to look up Bright Carnival and see what mine looks like. It is also a bi-color and fairly early and has the vivid color that your second pic does. It sure is a stunner though! Is that the TT start I gave you? I just love that daylily.... mine is nowhere near close to bloom yet....

The TT is indeed the little baby you gave me. It's had two big beautiful blooms already, with more on the way. :)

Whatever this mystery DL is, I have two nice clumps of it- so I'd be more than happy to share some with you in the fall. :)

Another one of my very favorite roses, Bewitched.

Pony, Bright Carnival is definitely another daylily to look at as a consideration as you NOID after that second pic. I have never had mine look as light in color as your first photo, but it has been really cold an wet, so anything could happen. Bloom time seems about right too as the pic that I am posting was taken 7-5-09. I am glad that TT is doing well for you. Even though I have hundreds of wonderful daylilies, that one will always be in my top ten. Just wait until it is a huge clump... it is stunning! Thanks for the offer of sharing your NOID, but I am putting myself on restrictions this year when it comes to daylilies. I am going to have over 90 new babies bloom in my seedling bed down in the garden this summer, and if I want to bring any of my favorites up to my yard at all, it already means making a new bed and finding some way to get water to it... You will be happier if you let them clump up anyway. The effect of a large clump in bloom is incredible. ;)

This is my Bright Carnival from last year...

I have a lovely pink dianthus that has finally come into it's own this year. It smells soooo good!

Irish Eyes allium, which I got as a disapointing substitute from Brecks last year (had ordered Starburst, which is my very favorite allium) is actually quite pretty in a garden setting. I was skeptical when I planted it, but it adds a nice color/texture so I guess it will stay.

Peach leaved blueflower (Campanula persicifolia).

This is the big garden that I actually got cleaned up this weekend. Some things are looking a little pathetic because they should have been fenced/tied up well over a month ago, but it will recover, and my scrappy little annuals that are invisible in the picture will eventually fill in the front border. Even at it's worst, this garden thrills me with it's color this time of year.

Angelica seedheads - always appropriate around July 4th.

Do you guys have luck with your foxgloves reseeding, or do you start fresh every couple years? I have a couple that act like perennials, but I lose most after their bloom year and don't seem to get any reseeding. Maybe I pull them out as weeds.

Bonehead, I just absolutely love those bluebells! Don't they add a wonderful splash to the garden? I am thrilled when mine propigate because I want to put them everywhere! Something else beautiful that the slugs leave alone!

This is my last picture from the weekend. I was drooling over Willow's kalmia, and had posted that I really needed to add one. When we were having coffee on Sunday, Mom said that she didn't understand why I had posted that... she had gotten two on sale at McLendons last fall and had given me one. Of course "I will always remember" what I get and where I plant it, right? So that rang a little bell in my too full garden brain, and I went to one of my gardens that I have not yet had a chance to weed at all this year (and as a result, just kind of look the other way when I am walking my yard because it's shabby state really depresses me) and look what was hiding in the mess of grass, weeds and slugs....

It was a very pleasant surprise, and I was doing the happy dance for sure! Guess I can scratch that off of my want list!

Evening primrose (Oenothera tetragonia 'Fireworks'). This is such a vibrant plant, with lots of different colors (maroon emerging foliage, red buds, bright yellow blooms that kind of fade to pinky, then bronzy fall foliage). A favorite for me.

Bonehead, That angelica is great! My foxglove are all wild volunteers, and they seed like crazy everywhere. I love them, so spent the first couple of years that I gardened here moving every seedling that I found in the wrong place. Needless to say, that took WAY too much time, so now I just pull them when they are where they don't belong. Some of mine grow almost as perennials, but I never run out of seedlings. They seed best in sun and dry. If you want, I would be more than happy to take a picture of a little seedling mass of them so you can ID them for sure...

Julie, yes I do love the bluebells, and they seem to throw themselves here and there as well, which I generally allow. I've also started moving some down to my front field roadside to see if they will compete with the grasses.

Here's a bit of a mystery plant - I think it's a masterwort of some sort which I may or may not have nabbed from my sister. I'll have to check with her - unless someone can quickly ID this for me? It's happy on the north side of my barn, so is a shade plant of some sort.