Almost missed these as they are short and everthing else around it is so tall.
Sorry can't think of the name at the moment.
Summer... share your pic's
So many Iris are blooming now with the warm weather.
This one is very colorful
Bea, I love the irises with the lupines--what a pretty combination!
I've got just one delph blooming right now. Not the best photo, since it was windy today and everything was moving.
I can never keep up with these threads, so many lovely photos. I love that white picket fence on the old thread. The wildlife where I live would not be stopped by one of those though! It does lend that "storybook cottage" feel to a garden.
This is a native penstemon that blooms along the roadsides here in New Mexico. I just love it and gathered some seed so I can experiment to see if it may come up in my yard. This one was by the roadside though.
Iam going to plant some of those, Ive started lupine,stock,delphinium,hollyhock,malva,we will see.heres a pic of my struggling,poppy,I need to move it,bluespruce is shading it too much.
This message was edited May 31, 2009 8:06 AM
You guys are KILLING me here with all these photos...LOL I can't WAIT until we get our picket fence up next month. It will transform my entire place... AND...then the country garden will evolve to the final phase! My partner travels 2 weeks out of every month...so he's flying out today. We got the power company to come out and tell us where the power lines were, so we wouldn't get any rude surprises...and yesterday we drove around ALLLLLL the old neighborhoods and back alleys looking at picket fences to make sure we were going with the right style.
BeaH
Your blue flower looks JUST like my coral colored Kaffir Lily in it's shape! MUST HAVE BLUE TOO...LOL This is my Kaffir stand from last year. I am IN LOVE with this plant. A good friend of mine gave a small start to me about 4 years ago, and it just took off! I'm soooo pleased with it. It blooms later in the summer.
This message was edited May 31, 2009 5:41 AM
Another unsung hero in my garden is "Crocosmia"... I could not grow it in Idaho, but it's happy here in WA state. It's really a show stopper if you get a big stand of it growing. I have a small area going (not near enough for me)..but this fall I'll be looking for more on close out and poking it in around the new fence.
Not the best photo...it was one foggy drippy coastal day... but.. Crocosmia has soooooo much visual interest even when it's NOT blooming!
Very nice crocosima - the leaves are up on mine and I'm hoping it will actually bloom.
BeaHive..
Could this be your blue flower that you posted the photo of?
Amsonia Blue Ice
http://www.gardencrossings.com/plant/Amsonia__Blue%20Ice
Lovely photos all. I was happy to see that crocosmia as I just watched an episode of "Gardener Guy" with Paul James and he talked about how he loved that plant. Now I need to find a spot to add it.
I know these are just common ditch lilies, but I got them our of my Grandma's yard and she has been gone for 15 years now. When they bloom, the shots I take of my yard are always my favs.
My oak leaf hydrangeas are starting to bloom - I love the look of them in dappled shade.
Leawoodgardner,very nice bed,what are the rocks in your border,they are neat.
They are Belgian pavers (rose colored granite) that were stacked in a corner of the garden when I bought the house nine years ago. I tried to buy more, but cannot find them at the local rock dealers. I like the look, and they keep my berm from spreading.
Love the hydrangeas, Leawood. That's a very pretty bed in general. :)
I keep telling myself every year that I'm going to get 'Limelight,' which is one of my favorite hydrangeas. (I've had mixed results with the mophead hydrangeas, so I thought I'd try h. paniculata instead.) And every year I fail to find it at a local nursery. Seems every nursery has tons of 'Endless Summer' and 'Nikko Blue' but not a single 'Limelight.' No love for the panicle hydrangeas!
Gorgeous pictures, everyone! I am filled with such jealousy and oh, how I covet! My cottage garden is just a dirt plot this morning, but I begin planting this afternoon.
These oak leaf hydrangeas are "Snow Queen", I have several "Limelight" in another bed, but they have not yet started to bloom (I think it was late July when they bloomed last year). I have tried "Endless Summer" (did NOT like my garden - they all died the first season) and have a "Big Daddy" that looks wimpy. The oak leaf seem to be hardier and can tolerate the neglect I dish out.
My "some type of blue" salvia is finally blooming
Straw flower in one of my containers
Very pretty, Irwells!
This is my shady garden beneath the maple tree. Campanula persicifolia is just starting to bloom in the center along with violas and some heucheras.
Veronica 'Giles Van Hees'
My blooming garden dog, Ella.
She has this unnerving habit of hurdling my flower beds while running at full tilt (and the last time she was clocked by radar gun she was running 39 mph!) She hasn't snapped off a plant yet. *fingers crossed*
Ella is such a sweetie.
I just so enjoy seeing everyones gardens. This is the best tour around.
For those who are having problems with their hydrangeas, have you tried putting up some fencing and then completely covering them with leaves. That will see them through the harsh winters for the ones that need some added protection.
KaylyRed
you should make a trip over here our garden center have tons of Limelight. I won a lime light last year during one of our garden club meetings. This one speaker we have each year from a local garden center brings in plants that he is going to talk on then he raffles them off at the end of the night and the Limelight was my first, and his raffle worked as within the week I went out and purchase two new hydrangeas.
When mine start to bloom I'll be posting their pictures.
Janet
I love 'details' - I planted alyssum along the rock border to my garden. You don't really notice it until you walk along the path and see it peeking out of the growth of other plants.
Leawood...
Funny you should bring up Alyssum. We were just talking about it on another board, and I referred to Alyssum (and Johnny-Jump-ups) as the unsung heroes of the garden. They are reliable.... reseed well, but not to the point of making you regret you ever planted them...and the Alyssum smells WONDERFUL! I so appreciate the pioneering spirit of certain flowers that dare "bloom where they are planted"...even if it's a crack in the sidewalk!
Kayly..
Neat dog! Is she a greyhound rescue? I have a Boxer/Bull mastiff rescue and she is not quite so KIND to the flower beds if she's chasing something. More like a bull in a china shop! I have trails pounded into my lawn as bad as if I was running cattle back there...LOL Gotta luv 'em!
Highmtn, yes Ella is a retired racing greyhound. We rescued her and her half-brother, Quin. We absolutely love our hounds. I do hear ya about the trails, though! Our kids have what we call a "race track" that runs from behind the garage, through the garden area (fortunately there are pavers around two triangle-shaped beds, and they mostly stay on the pavers or jump over the beds), and up to the fence line beside the house. It's a big S shape that they tear along every day when they go out for some exercise.
I did have to put a low fence around my shade garden, because both of the dogs loved to wander around in it stepping on the hostas and ferns and astilbes and...well, you get the picture. But the little wire garden fence seems to keep them out. That, and enough times hearing me yell, "GET OUTTA MY GARDEN, YOU DOOFUS!" hehe
since last year when I put in my new flower beds, my collies just don't understand that I didn't do that just for them to run through or wander around in.... They hear that get out of my flower beds a lot as well..... When I see them getting ready to step in I'm telling them to back away. They are starting to get the hint that I don't want them in the beds. LOL
I love the grey hounds. A friend back home ran a rescue for them.
Janet
Again... awesome flowers! Love them all!
Kayly..
My Boxer cross is getting very old...and I am seriously thinking Greyhound rescue when she goes to doggy heaven. I think I would take two tho'.
I think the life of a Greyhound is sooooo sad. Tell me about yours a little plz. I know it's off topic so you can go to D-mail if you will. I know they are sight hounds...and can be hard on little things that move fast, but what are their personalities like? Can I take them to a dog park without them eating a little Doxie or poodle? Are they socialized at all as track dogs?
I was only around one years ago, and it was a very polite dog (also a rescue).
My Sunrise rose on a trellis, with Penny in the background in serious need of a visit to the groomers.
Great shot Sue. I think the puppy looks cute all furry. ; )
I agree with the allysum. I have them all over my courtyard and they bloom here for about 11 months of the year so that always impresses me that they look great in the heat of summer or cold winter.
This is a more picky plant, an oxalis.
This is the most feminine and delicate foxgloxe that I have ever seen. Wish I knew the name.
The sweetpeas are starting. Yeah!
The poke primrose too!
verbascum
This is the first bloom from a new climbing rose I planted last fall called the Impressionist. It did not get very far off the ground so far...but the bloom is great. More pics to follow later.
This should officially be named Best Thread Ever.
I am filled with such envy. :)
Beahive, that foxglove is gorgeous! If you find the name, I'd love to know it. I don't do much pink in my garden, but THAT would be an excellent addition!
leawood..It is way behind in the back of the bed now so I can't get back there to see if the tag is still there. I hope to try to catch some seeds from this one as I would like more of these. If succesful..I will send some seeds to you. But I hope to at least learn the name. It is so pretty!
Lupines
BeaHive, at first I thought it was Digitalis purpurea 'Camelot Lavender', but the spots in the throat are too pale. Could it be Digitalis purpurea 'Apricot Blush' or 'Apricot'?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/106341/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/697/