FIRST FLOWERS OF SUMMER!! Early July Edition :)

SSG, I think the Crocosmia 'Lucifer' bulbs came up towards the end of the ADR bulb sale this spring--Critter said she had bought a bag and did anyone want some, so of course I said yes! :-)

I'll get a photo of the Crocosmia tomorrow!

I just now 'caught up' with this thread from back on June 10. It has taken me quite a long time to ooh and aah over all the purty pics. I am wondering what my garden looks like. You all have some wonderful looking blooms!!!! Please keep them coming.

Hiya Jan!! =) You have some of God's most BEAUTIFUL gardens to enjoy on your trip, so I'm sure you're not missing a thing! ♥

I've got 1 Crocosmia "Lucifer" up currently, but am sad 'cause I installed like EIGHT bulbs, and she is the only one to have come up. She's only a little over a foot tall, and nowhere near wanting to bloom. I'm thinking maybe it's awful soil that's holding her back - do they need well-draining soil to thrive? Does clay-y and rocky soil do bad things to them? She's even got one browning "leaf" already, too! :(

Here is my crocosmia from this morning from two different angles. The one with the patio in the background shows the shape of the blooms more clearly.

Speedie, I'm sorry to hear about your crocosmia. :-( Mine are planted in rich soil (thanks, previous owner!) and get full sun. I think that particular bed tends to be on the average to moist side. Whatever the combo has been, they have done really well there. I had 7 bulbs (6 Lucifer plus the Fire King from Typ), but have 10 shoots coming up!! :-o

Jan, I bet your oakleaf hydrangea blooms have turned pink by now. You have to post pictures when you get back. :)

Catmint, it looks like the blooms are about to open any day!

Speedie, maybe yours are resting and taking a year off like greenthumb's did! I hear they like more water if they're in full sun.

Jan, last June I was away for almost 4 weeks and my young garden was left to its own devices. When I got back, everything looked *huge*! It had all grown so much while I was away. :-) Of course, there were all the weeds, too...

CatMint - Here are a couple of Crocosmia 'Luicfer' Photos you requested.

Crosocmia 'Lucifer'
Lucifer with Monarda 'Jacob Klein' and Rusty Foxglove, a nice combo.

Since there is room to load more,
Rose of Sharon
Balloon Flower Astra Semi-Double Lavender

My Crocosmia Lucifer has yet to break ground......I had 3 bulbs..
Planted them in 2 different places.....One in the back of my kitchen bed--
The others--I think--in my raised bed. I am not sure...

Went to MD Flower and Plant and bought a bunch more plants--All are--buy 1-get 1 free.

I need fill-ins. Now that the Daff foliage is gone--there are holes...
And many of my large planters have also lost some of the "fillers"--probably Petunias.

And--once more--my Petunias are dying off in my kitchen bed. Same as last year.
There must be a fungus in the soil over there...BUMMER!..

Gita

Re Crocosmia Lucifer, I'm seen mixed messages as to whether deer bother them -- someone on DG said deer like the flowers, but not the foliage. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57411/ So I stayed away because we have deer where we have sun. But I have also read that deer don't touch them. See, for example, http://www.visitvortex.com/magazine/summer2012-deer-resistant

Have any of you had experience with deer?

Sadly it is not native -- I read: "It is native to the grasslands of the Cape Floristic Region, South Africa."

I keep wanting to go all-native, and then I get pulled this way and that....

Happy, we have not had a problem with deer eating our Crocosmias, but they are mixed in with Digitalis, Monarda, Aconitum and a few other plants the deer don't eat.

I know the struggle to go more native, so many interesting plants out there, and not everyone at home is as focused on moving in that direction. Part of my going in that direction is that the plants native to this part of the country tend to take care of themselves once established, and the older I get, the better that works out. We grow a lot of Digitalis and Aconitum since the deer don't eat them and we like the flowers. There are actually a couple of Aconitum species native to Eastern North America and I plan to acquire seeds and grow some of these. Unfortunately, so many of the really interesting natives are unknown to most people and the seeds/plants are unavailable.

The crocosmia is beautiful, Greenthumb--thanks for posting! I'm looking forward to mine finally blooming.

My daff foliage is still in place, masquerading from the distance as some kind of ornamental grass--LOL! I'm planting perennials along the back edge of the daff bed now, but still am not sure what to plant in the bed itself.

Happy, I know what you mean about wanting to go all native, but then getting distracted by all the pretty exotics. ;-) However, the work I've been doing lately on larval host data (midatlantic area) for my garden database is having some influence. E.g., just for comparison, 2 ornamental grasses in my yard, Pennisetum orientale 'Karley Rose', and Panicum virgatum 'Shenandoah':

Panic Grass Shenandoah:
Larval Host Butterflies: Least Skipper, Arogos Skipper, Delaware Skipper, Leonard's Skipper, Indian Skipper, Hobomok Skipper, Broadwinged Skipper, Tawny-edged Skipper, Northern Broken-Dash Skipper, Northern Pearly-Eye;
Larval Host Moths: Virginia Ctenucha, Owlets, Lesser Cornstalk Borer

Pennisetum Karley Rose:
Larval Host Moths: Fall Armyworm

Well, makes me stop and think...

A few new blooms today:

1) The zinnia at last opens--seems like I've been drumming my fingers forever on this one. Grew it from seed. Next summer I think I'll skip it-- the cosmos has been much more prolific and the pollinators love it.
2) First hibiscus blossom of the season! 'Plum Crazy' opened this morning.
3) My Golden Jubilee (thanks, Donner!) is showing its first ever blooms!
4) Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum)
5) My caladium garden filling out; if only each bulb came stamped with a name, would make planting them artistically in the spring so much easier! ;-)

Caladiums--

The red ones are "Buck Rogers". The white ones are "Aaron"--
IF you got these at the group Buy last year.

Don't know what the others are....G.

I got 'White Christmas', 'Florida Red Ruffle', 'FM Joyner', and 'Mixed Fancy Leaf'--from the group caladium buy this spring.

My experience with Lupinus is similar to Muddy's. The three that I could still find I potted up to try to salvage. This the third or fourth time I've had Lupines fail to establish for me, guess they don't like our soil or something. In the past I've started seeds but the transplants never "took", and thought I might have better luck with purchased plants. As much as I would love to have them, I think I will pursue them no more :-(

Is Lupinus perennis more temperamental than other species? I wintersowed Russell's hybrid with really good results. They always look awful this time of the year, though.

I don't have any trouble with the two Lupines I got from a nursery last spring. I really think they need morning sun and dappled shade. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Cat, why would you want a 'Lesser Cornstalk Borer' in your garden? Aren't borers bad? Also, I love that mountain mint! Your zinnia looks good too, don't give up on them! Zinnias are my new favorite annual. They are such good performers. I like Cosmos too but I won't buy them again as the last time I had them they all got a debilitating powdery mildew and died. Not to mention, IMO, their performance isn't as good as zinnias, at least in my garden.

Here is my latest dahlia bloom. I was away in Connecticut the last two days and was hoping it would hold off until I got home. I got home yesterday and snapped this pic. I don't know the name.

Seq, I think our summers are significantly warmer than yours, even though you're not really that far away. We get 35-40 of ≥90* days, which isn't good for the lupines! A few years ago we had 67 days of ≥90* weather. That was an awful summer.

Catmint, are you seeing any powdery mildew on your cosmos? I wonder if there are resistant varieties. I'm not finding any from a quick google search.

Interesting thought SSG. I didn't think there'd be much difference but I guess there is. I just looked it up and you guys average triple the 90+ degree days we do.

The name of Cornstalk borers implies you don't want them in your cornfield. Some caterps are specific and won't 'borer' things unlike the specific named plant. Is the reference to adults coming to flowers? Then maybe in your yard it will attract birds, by giving them more to hunt.

No powdery mildew, SSG! Here's a photo of my clump of cosmos--it came up so quickly after sowing, and I've had blooms for weeks now--they keep coming up. The zinnia has only just bloomed after all this time. They were sown on the same day.

thanks, Muddy and Greenthumb--glad I'm not the only one in this area who's had trouble with lupine. That's a good point about the number of 90+ weather days we have each summer, SSG! According to MoBot re: lupine: "Plants grow well in the cool summers of the West coast, Pacific Northwest, northern U. S., southern Canada and New England. Plants dislike the heat and humidity in USDA Zones 7-9 in the deep South where they may be best grown as annuals"--haha or not grow at all!!

Seq, I think the better question is, 'Do you want a garden devoid of life or one that's full of life?' For me, I love a garden that's full of life, and an empty one feels almost dead to me--like something vital is missing--no matter how green the plants or pretty the blooms. Moth species outnumber butterfly species by a fantastic rate. I've read that worldwide there are about 12-15,000 species of butterflies and 150-250,000 species of moths; here in North America, there are about 750 species of butterflies to 11,000 species of moths. That's a huge ratio! So basically, anyone who wants butterflies has to be willing to endure the moths as well. Besides, moths are *great* bird food! :-) And of course, just because a particular plant could *potentially* attract a species doesn't mean it will. So, this year I'm taking the stance that, for the most part, a plant that's been insect-bitten is a plant that's being enjoyed by someone besides me. :-)

I've taken 'must eradicate' stances twice so far this year. Once was with the ailing rosebush which was so full of leafminers and blooming so poorly that I decided to cut it back down to the roots--and lo and behold found a split, diseased base trunk. However, amazingly enough the roots have put out new growth! The other time was just this weekend when I found early stages of webworm in two places in the front yard (I had a little trouble with this last summer as well). I cut the affected plants back and sprayed the area with Neem, and also stomped on the little hopping nymphs for a while till I couldn't see them anymore. okay, I did my best--and will keep an eye on things out there. And wouldn't you know it, out from one of the plants hopped a young praying mantis, which had been feasting on the webworm--nature's own pest control. And to be honest, with all the beneficials-attracting herbs/plants I have around, I think most of my plants look pretty healthy, despite the occasional insect-feast marks. ;-)

I've also done minimal lawn mowing this year--just a few times in the spring growing season. At this point, the growing has stopped and the grass has flattened out, especially in areas where I walk frequently. It's nice--I just noticed this weekend that when I go outside I can hear the crickets chirping sweetly in the yard anytime of day. This was not true last year with biweekly mowing all season. And the skippers love it!

So, it's not that I *want* cornflower borers in my yard, of course, but I do want the skippers, and it seems when it comes to pollinator gardening, we often take the good with the bad, or find nonchemical ways to manage.

1) Cosmos
2) Closeup of my rosebush growing back around the stump that was diseased
3) The rosebush now--much healthier looking
4) My lawn, not mowed in weeks now but not at all tall & overgrown the way I imagined it would be

Cat, when you say full of life, are you just talking about nice flowering plants or attracting insects? If it's insects your referring to, I enjoy watching the bees, moths, butterflies, and hummers but I can do without the rest. I can appreciate rolly polly bugs and assassin bugs (my new fav) but the rest are just 'tolerated'. I also loathe cicadas.

edited to add, I like butterflies and such but not at the expense of them eating my stuff. Knowing what I know now, I might not kill a caterpillar feasting and just remove him instead. My thoughts are that there are enough weeds in the fields for them to feast on so they shouldn't need to stop at my garden to do that. Also, we get plenty of bird action in our yard so I'm not worried about that.

This message was edited Jul 9, 2014 10:17 AM

LOL, Catmint, we got you beat!

DH has mowed the lawn TWICE this year! And the bees are loving all the clover! :D

I have to ask, why don't you guys mow your grass more often? Is there a benefit to leaving it go?

I religiously mow every week. For me an unmowed lawn is as annoying as an untrimmed beard on my face :)

edited to add: I understand Cat, to each their own :)

This message was edited Jul 9, 2014 10:36 AM

Seq, I physically can't due to a congenital medical thingy, and DH hates yard work. Thankfully, the zoysia grass grows very slowly and the "lawn" out front doesn't grow well due to shade/tree roots. So when he does mow, he's just mowing down the weeds that are outgrowing the grass. But the garden looks SO much better after a fresh cut!

For me, in addition to the fact that it's not a chore I relish--LOL--it's because so many pollinators nest there --a lot of bees nest in the ground and skippers in the grass. Every time I mow the lawn I'm killing a lot of young bees, skipper larvae, and other bugs which are beneficial--e.g., the crickets which I can now hear chirping in my yard. At first when I thought of mowing less often, I imagined that the grass would grow to be up to my hips and it would be hard to navigate in the yard. But that hasn't happened at all--the grass is dormant now, plus it gets flattened out in the rains. My lawn is very easy to walk on right now, plus I like seeing the bees nestling in the clover, and the skippers hopping around from blade to blade--and the crickets chirping.

Interesting. The township where I live has an ordinance on the grass that it can't be over a certain amount of inches high. Last summer my neighbor's mower broke and she didn't mow the grass for 6+ weeks. It was probably 8+ inches high.

What is a 'skipper'?

A skipper is a type of butterfly! :-)

That's the glory of having grass that's flattened out--can't tell how long the grass is! :-)

I don't think the grass out front is taller than 2 inches, and it's been over a month since the last mowing. The soil out there is very poor, so even the weeds are pretty stunted.

The backyard is another matter! Weeds grow rampant in the sunny backyard. I dislike dandelion so they get pulled, but clover gets left alone to do its thing. And clover stays compact, which means less mowing! LOL

My sansevieria is about to bloom!

Sally, I got this white variegated sans from you. Has yours bloomed for you?

Here are a few from my walk around this morning.
Succulent container
Voodoo Lily, This thing is just so much fun to watch.
Ric's new "Pink" Butterfly Bush, doesn't quite look Pink to either of us.

Lilies are just popping open everywhere. Let's start with the Daylilies.

I love the two purples next to each other. Beautiful plants.

A few of the Trumpet Lilies

Holly, great blooms. I especially like the two purple day lilies that Paul commented on too. This is my first year for day lilies, just have a couple - they are giving me a few blooms this first year out.

This lily was open when I came home from work today. I'm pretty sure it is 'Candy Club'. Holly, it kind of looks like your lily pic #3 - mine is from the ADR buy so maybe we have the same?


This message was edited Jul 9, 2014 5:02 PM