August in the Garden ~ GBBD for August 15, 2011

Well, here we are, a day late but definitely not short of blooms for the August edition of the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. The summer has flown by, but even at the height of the dog days of summer, every bed is awash with late summer color, and unexpected "re-bloomers" continue to delight us.

Our rose gardens have been a source of rich color all summer long - except for this past weekend when the New England Rose Society met here for the summer meeting. But a day after we hoped for a wonderful showing, buds opened in every bed in a kaleidoscope of color.

Top Row L-R: Memorial Day, Sir John Betjeman, Rosa rugosa “Rubra”, Cupcake; Middle Row L-R: New Dawn, New Dawn, Passionate Kisses, Double Pink Knock Out; Bottom Row L-R: Blushing Knock Out, Sea Foam, Pretty Lady

Top Row L-R: Teasing Georgia, Julia Child, What a Peach;  Middle Row L-R: Rio Samba, Tropicana, Rio Samba (showing color evolution); Bottom Row L-R: Unknown, Bella Roma, What a Peach, Hotel California

Clockwise from top left: John F. Kennedy, Drop Dead Red, Munstead Wood, Unidentified blush, Double Red Knock Out

The marginal plants and lilies in the water garden have also provided sporadic bursts of color, although we've had to spend a fair amount of time reining in the water mint.

Last summer we acquired the cattail reeds from a local river while we were canoeing, and we were delighted that they survived the winter and developed into graceful plants this summer. The marsh marigolds are still blooming as is the houttuynia. The lavender mint blossoms and pink obedient blooms make a lovely combination along the edge of the pond.

Although they started blooming six weeks ago, the daylilies (hemerocallis) are still a dramatic presence.

And along with the daylilies, the clematis have also been solid performers throughout the summer. I love the contrast between the deep purple and the light green of the lemon balm. "Betty Corning" has outdone herself this summer, however. The bell shaped blossoms have covered the vine since early June.

 

The butterfly garden seemed to sprout overnight  After heavy pruning in spring, the shrubs seemed to languish and then almost overnight, they burst forth with six foot canes topped with lavender, magenta, deep purple, and white flower spikes. Hummingbird clear-wing moths and monarch butterflies have been visiting daily.

The butterfly garden is next to hte gazebo, behind the rose beds. The purple spikes of "Dark Knight" make a striking statement.

We have a rainbow of butterfly shrubs circling behind the dark purple shrubs.

 In the perennial beds, coneflowers, tall phlox,  rudbeckia, Japanese anemones, and sage are taking center stage. The cransebill are still blooming, but starting to wind down.

Balloon flowers and the last of the Montauk daisies

The tall phlox are gorgeous this year

 

The second round of foxglove spikes timed themselves perfectly with the coneflowers.

The coneflowers have provided cut flowers for the house for weeks. In the back is ligularia, which shouldn't thrive in this sunny bed, but it does. Barely visible in the back are daylilies.

 

In the herb garden, the tarragon, oregano and hyssop make a bold border. We've been harvesting mint, oregano, parsley, thyme, and sage for weeks. Cooking with fresh herbs has become our new favorite thing to do..

 

 

In New England, the stars of the August garden are the mallows and hibiscus. Malva sylvestris “Zebrinba” and the more common pale pink mallows self sow freely and can become a bit of a nuisance, but in the spring, I transplant dozens into the perennial beds alongside the lupines and peonies for some color later in the summer.

Rose of  Sharon shrubs Hibiscus syriacus are one of our favorite flowering shrubs.  We have both single and double varieties,  

 

The hardy hibiscus, Hibiscus moscheutos, bring the feel of the tropics to our New England gardens just as paradoxically, the days are becoming shorter and the nights are becoming cooler.

 

The shade gardens have really come into their own over the summer, with brilliant foliage and unexpected pops of color.

In the tree grove a carpet of wood violets contrasts with hostas. This has been a favorite place to spend time during the recent heat wave. Stepping under the canopy of the trees, there was a dramatic difference in temperature.

The hosta blooms are fading but the striking foliage lends its own textural interest to the shade beds.

Hyssop in the background does well in this shady area and contrasts nicely with ajuga (left foreground) and the bright chartreuse hosta.

 

 We plant few annuals, but torenia and impatiens are two that we routinely plant in the shadiest areas. They contrast beautifully with hostas and add color where none is extpected.

A few additional late summer blooms have added color here and there. Hydrangeas and windflowers, obedient plants, chrysanthemums, and some annuals that we've tucked into pots will carry the beds into September:

The windlowers just started blooming within the past week and will bloom for another month or more. The delicate pink petals open a medium pink and then fade to a pale pink blush. The white counterpart to this prolific bloomer blooms in the spring.

The blooms of the hydrangea tree in the deck open with a pink tint that fades to white, opposite that of the pee gee (shown below), which opens white and develops a lovely pinkish hue over time.

 

Reading Nancy Ondra's books has taught me to appreciate and embrace seed pods. These, of my favorite columbine, are ready to be harvested for seeds. In the background are ruby colored chrysanthemum, a staple of the late summer and fall garden.

This summer we have enjoyed a much more enthusiastic blooming season, in part because the weather gave us extremely hot weather alternating with adequate rain. Although the humidity has caused powdery mildew to flourish, the garden as a whole continues to thrive

Thanks so much for joining us again for this month's stroll through the garden beds.  Be sure to check out the other amazing gardens that participate in May Dreams' Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Spectacular Summer Color - The July 15,2011 GBBD

Welcome to the July edition of the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day postings, where gardeners record and report what is blooming in their gardens every month on the 15th of the month.

The lupines, lilacs, peonies, and rhododendrons may be a fragrant memory but the 31 beds that comprise our gardens are alive with color.

The heat wave seems to have abated, at least temporarily. The temperature is a sunny 75 with a pleasant breeze. Welcome to my garden for a Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day July tour. I have so many things to show you! Let me grab my basket and snips and lets go cut a bouquet, shall we?

In addition to a blueberry garden which we call Blueberry Hill, we have a rose island as well as sun and full and partial shade gardens in the front of the house.

The blueberries are ripening, the shade perennials have come into their own, and the hostas are blooming. Throughout our gardens, clematis, roses, daylilies, lavender, and coneflowers are blooming with abandon.

Several years ago we spotted a tall green urn that we absolutely loved. We had it drilled and fitted with a pipe that extends up from the center of the bottom, level with the top.

It attaches to a pump at the base and sits on a grating over a reservoir of water covered by pebbles. Water cascades over the lip of the urn and runs down into the pebbles giving the illusion that the urn is spilling water over its sides from an unseen source.

Three or four years later, we saw similar urns at the flower show in Boston and decided the spies must have been checking out our yard! The urn sits in a shady area and we positioned a bench close by in another shady alcove.

Here are some of the hostas and other shade perennials that fill the beds in the front.

In the photograph on the left, you can see a honeysuckle blossom - our vine is still blooming!

 

 

 

I've decided that this is the Year of the Daylily. I don't recall ever seeing as many bloom stalks on the lilies as we have this year. Some newer ones that we planted at the end of last year have pleasantly surprised us with luscious blooms and ruffed petals. Not all of them are in bloom - many are keeping us waiting for them to burst open - but here is a sampling the ones that stood straight and proud for the camera this week.

Sage and lavender blooms against a backdrop of daylilies.

 

 

We generally have clematis blooming for much of the summer. Here are some of the ones that are currently in bloom.

 

 

This gorgeous clematis has been blooming for over a month already .

This usually sun-loving variety is thriving in deep shade on a trellis behind the bench in our "Zen" garden. The blossoms are much smaller than those of it's sister which is blooming in bright sun, but just as sweet.

The deck overlooking the back gardens has become one of our favorite places to spend time. We have built a true kitchen garden - a blend of annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, trees, and shrubs, all in pots or raised beds. 

With a curtain-draped canopy, what had been a drab and unappealing wasted space has turned into a true oasis and a wonderful space for entertaining, 

Left: Lilacs grow on the deck in pots filled with annuals  Right: Tomatoes and basil with lettuce and marigolds

The upper level is lined with 2 foot wide raised beds filled with cosmos, zinnias, pansies, hollyhocks, and herbs. Large pots of lilacs are set right into the raised beds.

Left: A tree hydrangea with buds that will soon be open  Right: Pots of trees and shrubs are topped with annuals for additional color

Vegetables and dahlias share space with basil. The peas are ready to harvest.

We ordered a Meyer Lemon. We think they sent a lime. Either way, the blooms are gorgeous and fragrant. (Left)  Pansies and snap dragons grow around the base of a potted hydrangea tree. (Right)

A riot of zinnias and pansies provide color while we wait for the hollyhocks in the background to grow tall and flower. (Top);    Lemon tree and lilac shrub. (Bottom)

In the back yard, we have a formal garden, herb garden, grape arbor, woodland and butterfly gardens, a flowering shrub and tree grove, and smaller cottage beds scattered among the larger beds. 

Our water garden is lush this summer. Except for the yellow iris, which actually bloomed early, much of the blooming plants are as much as 3-4 weeks behind schedule.

This is actually a blessing. As the glorious spring blooms have passed and we are settling squarely into mid-summer, the water garden is taking center stage.

Iris louisiana "Black Gamecock"

Purple water iris

The heart shaped leaves and white flowers pf Houttuynia cordata which makes a great companion for both the marsh marigold and iris in the pots in our garden.

Marsh marigold, Caltha palustris started blooming a week ago - also a late bloomer this year.

We saw our first water lily blossoms last week.

Nymphaea "Barbara Dobbins"

 

The cattail reeds are blooming this year for the first time as well.

The water mint has grown so enthusiastically, like its counterpart in the herb garden, it threatened to overtake everything else in the pond.

We've had to cut it back aggressively but it is a wonderful water cover that competes with algae and provides shelter for the fish.

The herb garden has been a bountiful source of fresh herbs and a fragrant and colorful haven for the bees who visit here regularly.

Climbing roses and clematis cover the fence behind the herbs.

Texas tarragon, hyssop, parsley, basil and oregano provide color, fragrance and flavor.

The right end of the herb garden is waist high with spearmint, peppermint, and lemon balm. Keeping all three under control is a challenge. The mailbox holds garden tools and gloves for quick jobs.

A bouquet garnis of oregano, several thymes and several sages.

The petite white lemon balm blossoms against the dark purple of Clematis jackmanii

In the formal garden, perennial and rose beds are hedged with Munstead lavender, a hardy, fragrant, and tasty shrub lavender that is especially well-suited to our micro-climate.

Deep purple buds open to dark lavender blossoms.

Lavender hedges are stunning. Best of all, after we prune later this month, they will send up fresh flower spikes and bloom again before fall.

The perennial beds are our big surprise this summer. Gophers and rabbits had decimated the yarrow and coneflowers and we worked for two years to bring them back. Our efforts have been rewarded with the most amazing color and prolific blooms.

Next to clustered purple bellflower Campanula glomerata, the lavender creates a vision in purple.

The left perennial bed, separated from rose beds on either side by a lavender lined cobbled walk.

A rainbow of coneflowers

Astilbe in the left perennial bed

The gorgeous astilbe spikes in the left perennial bed bloom bright white, maroon, and pale mauve.

Spirea bumalda "Anthony Waterer" has taken over a corner of the right perennial bed.

Never fond of yellow yarrow, the white, rose, maroon, and red varieties are featured prominently in our summer perennial gardens.

Montauk daisies form a backdrop to the daylilies in the right perennial bed.

We won't tell this ligularia that it is blooming and thriving in full sun!

The roses are another pleasant surprise. After a wet spring and a slow start complicated by blackspot, a fair amount of TLC, trichoderma spray, hard pruning, and a top dressing of compost and manure have given us mountains of color in the roses in not just the formal rose beds but everywhere.

One of four rose beds in the formal garden

With nearly 200 roses blooming throughout the garden, deadheading is a daily labor of love. But the results are well worth our effort.

When we left on vacation at the beginning of the month, the grape arbor had been straggly and tiny clusters of grapes were just beginning to form. When we returned a week later, the vines and grapes had exploded under the hot daytime sun and cool nights, a recipe for sweet grapes in the fall.

 

In the tree grove our mystery magnolia is blooming, although a couple of weeks later than it usually does. Purchased as an unmarked tree on clearance at the end of the season several years ago, we were startled the first year it bloomed. We believe it is a Southern Magnolia but unsure of which variety. It has creamy blossoms that give way to large seed pods. This year, the tree is covered with blossoms that are fully open and almost as large as my hand.

Wrapping up this month's garden tour is the butterfly garden, where things are really starting to pop. Between the hydrangea and the butterfly bushes, which seem to have grown up overnight, I can hardly wait for the butterflies. Later in the season our garden will be a stopping point for flocks of monarchs as they migrate south for the winter.

Buddleia "Black Night" began blooming this week.

Buddleia, hydrangea, and drift roses... bright colors that attract both butterflies and hummingbirds.

Thanks so much for joining me this month. Usually at this point in the dog days of summer, the color is beginning to flag and the weeds are beginning to look attractive. This year, the gardens have continued to give us profuse, brilliant blooms and I have been enjoying myself, making bouquets for every nook and cranny.

Be sure to check out the other amazing gardens that participate in May Dreams' Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!