FIRST FLOWERS OF SUMMER!!! Yay it's finally here!!!

I didn't realize abelias had a nice scent. I wish mine would bloom!

Catmint, I absolutely love your Denver Daisy offspring. What a gorgeous flower!

LOL Holly, the white is so much prettier than the rusty chain link fence that was there earlier. :)

It makes such a nice backdrop for your garden.

Yes, I hope my abelia 'Kaleidoscope' smells this good when it blooms! :-)

thanks, SSG! I googled around and it is very similar to the cultivar 'Prairie Sun'. I'm not sure what that means but I'm sure I'll have either seeds--or the plant itself!--at the swap in the fall, if you're interested!

Thanks, Holly!

Catmint, yes, please! :D

You're right, it looks just like 'Prairie Sun.' I'll be saving the seeds from my Denver Daisy as well. Now I'm very curious to see what kind of flower I'm going to get next year.

You got it, SSG! Yes, and I'm curious what seeds from this 'Prairie Sun' look- alike will look like next year! :-) All I can think is that the 'Denver Daisy' I got last year had 'Prairie Sun' in its parentage? From the googling I was just doing, apparently 'Denver Daisy' is actually a Rudbeckia hybrid!

I love that Denver Daisy hybrid Cat, looks beautiful....I've got to get me some of that B&B Salvia for myself, it's gorgeous.

Ditch lilies are the best Holly. I love seeing them on the side of the road, what a nice surprise when I see them.

sigh.. about Hemerocallis fulva aka ditch lily
http://www.paflora.org/pdf/INV-Fact%20Sheets/Hemerocallis%20fulva.pdf

Sally--I've been noticing the ditch lilies growing on roadsides. I was enjoying the sight of them, fondly imagining someone had planted them there. Now I wonder... sigh...

I've been noticing oodles of stands of ditch lilies as well; they sure are pretty to look at as I drive past... as long as they're in someone ELSE'S yard. =)

Catmint, I absolutely ADORE that Denver Daisy offspring, such soft, rich, creamy colours! And thank you for sharing your pic of the Liatris; makes me realize that the "I don't know what it is" sprouting in one of my containers out back is a Liatris. I'd totally forgotten that I'd sown seeds in that pot!

Holly, your living wreath is sooo cool! The BossMan's wife was collecting succulents at work recently to make one.. not sure yet how it's coming along, but I look forward to seeing it when it's filled out.

thanks, Speedie--I'll definitely save some seeds from the Denver Daisy offspring to share! :-) That's cool that you were able to grow the liatris from seed! I don't always have good luck with growing from seed. Takes a special touch, I guess! :-) Did you see SSG's vinca and pansies that she grew from seed?

Oh poppycock! People get way to uptight about 'invasives'. Listen, if the plant is pretty and you like it, who cares if it's invasive? Personally, I love the look of the orange daylilies. They sure beat out a lot of other boring 'weeds' along the roadside. IMO, we should have more of them around. When I was a kid, I had orange daylilies in my garden for years without them taking over the garden and they were gorgeous.

I have a succulent living wreath too. Have to get a pic of it.

Yes would love to see the photo of the succulent living wreath Holly! :-)

A few new blooms today.

1. Hardy Fuchsia - Fuchsia magellanica, a shrub.

2. Crocosmia 'Lucifer'

3. Allegheny Fleece Vine - Adlumia fungosa, a native biennial. A relative of Dicentra (Bleeding Heart). Grew this from seed and had never seen the actual plant, only photos. Did not realize that the flowers were only 1/2 inch long.

4. Marsh Mallow - Althhaea officinalis. Original source of marsh mellow. Smores anyone? Top of flower spike is about 7 feet.

That Marsh Mallow is pretty cool. So they used to make marshmallows from them?

The rest looks great too! I'd love to have a hardy fuchsia but we're too cold :(

For you ditch lily lovers I have a hand me down tthat must be a close relative. If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck...

Nice photos, Greenthumb! I love that crocosmia and after seeing yours am eagerly waiting for mine to blossom! The Marsh Mallow plant is really cool-- 7 feet of fluff for the s'mores--LOL!

Terp, would love to see a photo of your ditch lily relative! :-) (LOL--that could be read as 'your relative who is a ditch lily')

Hmpf! Why didn't it post. I will have it available for the fall swap..

Greenthumb, you have the coolest plants! That Allegheny Fleece Vine is really pretty... heck, they all are!

Terp, Cousin Lily is gorgeous! All relatives should turn out looking that good.

Jeff...

I didn't know there was this number of variations of Ditch lily
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/search.php?q=hemerocallis+fulva&Search=Search+PlantFiles

Love that ditch lily, Terp! I'd love some for the swap!!

LOL Speedie!

Paul--

That looks a lot like my fancy-schmancy Ditch Lily--I have a couple--growing in
2 different places but look-alikes.

Then there is the massive tall/big one yet to bloom...This clump looks like it
does nor belong in my small beds...

Last year--the stalks were 4' tall...the other one is is what I call--"Lily by the Stump"..
A denizen of my YUK bed--squished between the telephone-pole sized edging
of my YUK bed--and a stump.

Other than the size--they both look similar. Just that the Stump Lily is battling it's poor
environment (tight squeeze) and the Monster lily is in a bed with decent soil & space.

1--Stump Lily
2--Monster Lily...

Monster Lily WILL, definitely be divided this fall....It is ONE clump--so I do not
know how many divisions there will be. Hold your horses on requests....please!




Basically--this is what it looks like.

It is very nice Gita! I have seen pictures of yours before. I need to really thin mine out so I can probably handle whoever would like one.

Got the 'first flowers' of year on Maypop tonight. ssg, your pot of suckers looks real good. By the way, there are many sprouts coming up in the grass five-10 feet away from the mother plant...

Thanks for the warning, Sally! I will definitely plant it in a container.

Greenthumb, I didn't realize Fuchsia magellanica tolerated our heat and humidity. How long have had yours? Seq, I think they're zone 6 hardy!

I like your fancypants ditch lily. I have always loved the native ones also. I didn't realize that there were several varieties of ditch lilies.

I put a couple big groups of them near the road. I am hiding the mess the water company made digging a shut off valve with hardy perennials and native plants. They will have to survive snow plows, passers by - human, canine and bovine - typsy drivers, tricycles (Winston is popular with the tricycle set) and possible future water company digging. It is nice to have some plants that don't need pampering. The lilies can fight it out with the daisies, black eyed susans and echinacea. In time, they will leave no room for the weeds - I hope.

I didn't know that there was a hardy fuchsia. It is very pretty.

Garden Quilts, Sounds like a good plan for your road edge.
I can't remember who gave me the lovely Abutilon at the swap. It has leafed out and is blooming. I just re-potted it last night.
My Voodoo Lily is putting out a leaf. Some of you might remember that last winter it bloomed and fell when I was carrying it out and the bloom broke. I was so pleased to see it active again.

Holly, so glad to hear about your voodoo lily! I remember when that happened last year--glad it is back. :-)

Don't know why that pic is sideways. I was so excited when I saw it was putting out new growth.

GQ, I agree with Holly, that's a great idea for your roadside - I'm sure your choices will win out over the weeds in time.

Holly, I remember that mishap with your Voodoo lily, so glad it's coming back to life so nicely!! (and I got a very nice crack of my neck when I tilted to see the pic, LOL!! Very satisfying!!) :)
I noticed the cut-off milk jug in your wheelbarrow, which I'm guessing you use for scooping soil when replanting stuff - that is BRILLIANT!!! I wish I'd thought of that before, my hands get SO icky delving into the soil when I replant stuff; this will be a great help! And I LOVE that huge drift-wood in the background, it's gorgeous!!

Speedie, one of the things I picked up in the Behnke's closing sale was a nice big scoop for just a few dollars, and it has been wonderful in scooping soil out of bags! I'm like you--have always ended up using my hands LOL!

Ooh, the voodoo lily recovered! Yay!

Beautiful lilies, Gita!

Holly, looking forward to seeing photos of the voodoo lily in bloom! :-)

Photos from this morning:

1) Cosmos sulphureus--1st bloom!
2) My first sunflower bloom ever--yay! I did not grow or purchase any last year, so it's fun to finally have one!
3) Balloon flower, back from the dead, opening up nicely
4) New Guinea imp--enjoying the color!
5) Beautyberry is blooming--looking forward to the fruit! It's planted near the birdfeeder. :-)

Haha Speedie, some things I just get passionate about. Just so happens most of those are plant related :)

I'm not much of a zone pusher and even though that fuchsia is supposed to live in Z6, I don't think I have a place for it in my garden. If I did have a place for it, then I might try it. It sounds like it needs the goldilocks situation of light shade and protection, which I don't have at the moment. Perhaps in a few years when my trees get bigger.

Totally agree on the goldilocks thing for fuchsia, Seq--my DD loves fuchsia and so right now we have 2 of them. I keep them indoors on my northern exposure windowsill, and boy are they fussy! A stray ray of sun hits one and it's like, 'ahhh, I'm dying.' I forget to put food in with the water one week and it's like, 'ahhh, I'm dying.' And well you get the picture...

ROFL!! You're too funny Cat :)

Nice flower pics too. My beauty berry is budding but no blooms yet. It's grown real nice from the ground this year. Definitely a plant that can take abuse.

Cat, did you get that beauty berry from the end of season sale at Ace last year? I think I have the same one - 'Issai'?

This message was edited Jul 3, 2014 11:32 AM

Catmint, I'm not sure that it will bloom again this year. It bloomed in Feb and looked entirely different than it does now. I really need to read up on them but I think they bloom first then the leaves come out. It will be very interesting to see what it does.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/p.php?pid=9771159
Sequioa, Mine is blooming meant to get a pic of it last evening.
Speedie, I have several of those scoops, they come in handy for a lot of things. My fav is one made from the squarish Sunny D bottles. Ric has a couple in the Barn for when he needs to scoop up nails or anything that he has dropped all over the floor. Great for kids rooms, scoop up marbles, legos and small things. If you cut the bottom off at an angle you can use the handle easily and it makes a great funnel when you take the cap off. I also have one made from a bleach bottle and a smaller one made from a smaller bottle that some pool chemical came in.

Yes that's exactly where I got it Aspen! I'll have to check the cultivar name once I'm home this evening-seems likely it's the same