June Blooms In My Garden

My daughter, son-in-law and all my little grand babies are arriving this Friday for a week 4th of July fun, so I thought I'd better write and preschedule some posts before they get here.  Because of that, you get the blessing of actually having my monthly garden updates done on time for a change.  It's also pouring rain outside right now, so I have plenty of extra time to blog.

This year, my peonies were amazing.  I mean, peonies are always amazing, they are a no-brainer, fail-safe plant.  But some years, the weather really does havoc on them.  No matter how well you stake them, a strong storm can completely destroy a peony bush.  This year, Mother Nature was kind to us and left my peonies alone for the most part so we could actually enjoy them a little while longer.  I did get one thunderstorm towards the end of my peony blooming season that did knock them over, but thankfully I got plenty of time to enjoy them before that happened.

Peonies

I have a huge variety of peonies in all different colors, bloom type, and time of blooming.  This white one is a single bloom peony, which I absolutely love.  Just look at the size of those blooms.  Unfortunately, it is growing in the shade so the blooms are getting less and less every year, but it's still blooming.  Originally I did plant it in the sun, but trees got bigger and now it's mostly in full shade.  I'm thinking I should probably move it this fall and I hate to do that because peonies have such a long, extensive root system and are so hard to move.  You can also set the plant back a few years when you move it, and I can't bear the thought of not having any of these gorgeous white blooms next year.

This is the standard pink peony most people have.  I have this beauty all over my yard because it has been moved and divided multiple times.  Hmm, maybe moving a peony bush isn't such a bad idea after all. 😀

Here's another of the same peony in a different location.  I think I made six plants out of one peony bush.

I love this dark, rich, burgundy peony.

And this hot pink peony is my favorite of all...and this one was moved too!  It was on my southern hill but hubby had to rip it out to fix the retaining wall so I moved it to my front yard where it could be a real show piece.  The yellow marigolds in the foreground really go so well with this peony because of its neon colors and yellow centers.

My next peony is also very bright, but not quite as bright as the one above.  It's also getting too much shade and probably needs to be moved to a sunnier spot.  I really love it where it is  because I can see it from my kitchen window. 

Iris

Unlike my peonies, my iris' didn't do as well this year.  I had a few blooms, but nothing like I have had in previous years.  I have no idea why.  I know you need to divide iris every few years to get more blooms, but I don't think that was the issue.

Spireas & Weigela

Everyone keeps telling me the honey bees have disappeared, but I think I found them all in my yard.  I was walking past this bush and heard so much buzzing I had to check it out...it was loaded with honey bees!

I have so many spirea bushes in my yard.  I love the white one above, but the rest are a nuisance to me.  They are beautiful bushes, but they reseed everywhere.  I am constantly pulling out unwanted bushes.

I bought this Weigela bush last year and couldn't be more pleased.  First of all, the deer do not touch it, unlike a Viburnum bush I purchased at the same time.  I have to cover the Viburnum bush with deer netting to keep the deer from devouring it.  Secondly, just look at those blooms!  Gorgeous! And when the bush is not in bloom I still have that beautiful burgundy foliage to contrast against all the green in my yard.  I can't wait to see this bush get bigger.

Spring Bulbs & Perennials

I love Allium bulbs!  They are so beautiful, and deer resistant.  I saw some Alliums blooming on the other side of my fence line and I couldn't believe it.  I always toss my garden waste over my fence and into the woods.  There must have been some Allium bulbs in there.  I find it amazing that they planted themselves and bloomed on their own in the woods with no help from me.

Dames Rocket is a natural perennial you will find growing along the roadside in the spring.  I planted some seed in my garden and it has been sprouting up everywhere since.  It grows in the woods on the other side of my fence too.

My perennial Geraniums are getting crowded out.  I have these in bloom and white, but their blooms are getting less and less because they don't have enough space.  I really need to give them more room.  It's just getting hard because when you've been gardening for over 27 years in the same spot, things really get big and start to take over.  I'm running out of room; and no, I don't want to start a new garden bed.  I have enough already. 😁

Goatsbeard.  After I took this photo I saw a huge weed in the center.  Can you spot it?  Don't worry, I have pulled that baby out since the photo was taken.  It's amazing how camouflaged it was.

Columbine with yellow iris in the background.  Usually deer eat the Columbine before I can enjoy it.  We've actually had very little issues with deer this year compared to previous years. 🤞I'm wondering if a hunter got them last fall.  

Loosestrife, growing in deep shade...isn't that amazing?  So few things grow in deep shade.

Astilbe.  This is another plant I rarely get to enjoy because the deer like it to much.  Thankfully, I got to enjoy it this year.  Perennial Bachelor Buttons are behind the Astilbe.

Yellow Primrose, also being overcrowded by day lilies, Asiatic lilies, and Lamium, but it appears to be doing well in spite of the crowded conditions.

Landscape Photos

Last month I didn't show you any far away shots because my yard was such a mess due to a construction project.  The construction is still going on, but I can show you some parts of the yard.  I never feel landscape photos do my garden posts justice.  There never looks like there is any color, and even though this is a very green time of year, I can assure you there is a lot in bloom right now too, you just can't see it when you pull the camera back.  But the lush green looks gorgeous in the landscape photos too.

You can see some of the construction in the photo below.  Hubby's putting in a new staircase and retaining walls.  We also started a blueberry garden right in the center, but haven't had time to edge it and landscape it with rocks.

And before I leave I have to show you my new sign!  There is a story behind this sign.  When we bought our house 27 years ago, my husband built this little garden at the end of our driveway with the intention of putting a sign here.  Well, for one reason or another, we never got around to getting a sign up.  So this past Christmas I surprised him with a custom made sign from RealSteel.  Hubby made the white wood sign, and then adhered the steel name sign to it.  It has the date we purchased our home on it too, but you can't see it in the photo because the hosta is covering it.  Next spring, I'm gonna dig that hosta out of there so everyone can see the date.

 I hope you enjoyed my June Garden Tour. 

 Have a Happy 4th of July!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

July Blooms and A Peek At My Vegetable Garden

Well, I had every intention of breaking up my gardening posts into three sections a month:  early, mid, and late blooms, but life just got in the way.  The first of week of July, my daughter and son--in-law and grandkids came up for a visit.  We spent the whole week running around and having a great old time.  But unfortunately, the grandkids brought a sickness with them, and as soon as they left, I was sick with a summer cold for two weeks.  I didn't have the energy to write up any garden posts, but I did manage to snap pictures throughout the month of July.

My pink hydrangea bush is still looking good, although a storm came and knocked a lot of the branches down.  

The star of the July garden is lilies!  I have so many tall orange and yellow Asiatic lilies.  I also have a huge variety of day lilies.

A yellow Asiatic lily.

Purple Liatris

The vegetable garden is the enclosed structure in front of the house.  Retaining walls in front are filled with potato beds, and lots of perennial flowers.  The Bee Balm is blooming right now.

I would say "One of my favorite day lilies" but they are all my favorites.  

Yellow and orange Asiatic lilies with Bee Balm in the background

A sunflower planted courtesy of the birds.

I planted a ton of wild orange lilies on my septic mound years ago, but they never bloomed.  This is the very first year they are blooming and it is gorgeous!  I think it's because my neighbor's tree fell down in a storm and now they get more sunlight.  

A light pink hollyhock

Purple Coneflower with a butterfly on top!

This is a red "purple coneflower" or Echinacea.  I picked it up at a local nursery this year and it is doing very well.  It's been blooming continuously since I bought it and the butterflies seem to love it.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed it comes back next year.  Most of the time I find these variants of natural perennials not to be as hardy as the real thing.

A dark pink Hollyhock.

My white Vibernum or "Snowball Bush" is still going strong.  That's the beauty of this plant, once it blooms, those blooms remain on the plant all summer long.  Not many plants do that!

Purple Astilbe

A close-up of the Bee Balm planted in front of the vegetable garden.

A single, pale yellow day lily.

This picture of the septic mound was taken before all the orange day lilies bloomed.  Just look at all those stalks!

Purple Bell Flower

Another "one of my favorites":  a red day lily

The tall phlox is just starting to bloom.  It always bums me out when the tall phlox and rudebekias start to bloom, because they are one of the last perennials to bloom and I know that summer is just about over.

A dark pink or maroon day lily.

A double ruffled petal peach day lily

The marigolds growing in front of the house look lovely as ever this year.  I've been seeing so many bunnies in this garden this year, so I'm grateful I planted marigolds, they don't eat those.

A purple spirea bush.  I love the deep color of this one.

Rose Campion Lynchis

I don't know the name of this tall Asiatic Lily but it's "one of my favorites".  It is a beautiful off-white with a maroon center.

A row of Stella-d-Oro day lilies growing alongside my driveway.

Purple clematis with tall Asiatic lilies in the background

A very deep maroon day lily.

And now, for some vegetable garden news.  Every year, it seems my veggie garden gets off to a rocky start and I begin comparing my "results" to other gardeners wondering why their vegetable gardens seem to be doing so much better than mine.  Yet, inevitably, mine always catches up and grows beyond my wildest expectations.  This year I am once again astounded at God's wonderful bounty.  This is the squash section of the garden.  I grew four different squashes this year:  spaghetti, acorn, butternut, and buttercup.

After seeing another garden on-line last year, I followed their example and "trellised" my tomatoes.  It's one of the best decisions I ever made.  It keeps the tomato branches so neat and tidy.  I simple tie branches to the very strong fence as they grow.  It takes up so much less garden space this way too.

I planted peppers in front of the tomatoes.  I also purchased these long hooks and hung flower baskets from the beams above.  They not only make the vegetable garden pretty but they attract beneficial insects to the garden as well.

Yellow Banana Peppers

This is the lower vegetable garden.  Potatoes are on the right and beans, lettuce, kale, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, herbs, carrots, and cucumber are on the left.

Have you ever seen a prettier vegetable garden?  I never knew vegetables gardens could be this pretty.  It's a joy to come out here everyday to water and harvest my bounty.    I would rather be right here than any other place in my yard...and it's mostly veggies...not flowers!

Jackson loves to come down into the garden with me.  He gets so excited when I wake up in the morning and he runs down the stairs and waits so patiently by the door for me to let him out.  

Last year I planted my broccoli and cauliflower plants in the back row, near the porch screen.  This year I decided to put them in the front row.  They seem to like this placement so much better, however next year I think they will go in the middle row, because now I have to reach behind them to harvest beans every day.  

I still have pickles left over from last year, so I only planted one cucumber vine this year.

Muesil lettuce

Bush Beans.  I really love how the bush beans grow over the ledge of the top garden.  I will plant all the bush beans in the front row next year.  It will not only be easy to harvest them this way, but they will look super pretty too.

Out of all the things we grew last year, the potatoes were our favorite so we decided to grow more and now have three beds of potatoes.  When we planned our first vegetable garden last year, I thought growing potatoes was kinda silly since they are so cheap in the store.  But then I read that once you have a home grown potato you will never want to eat a store bought potato again.....and they were right!  The flavor and light fluffy texture of a home grown potato  vs a store bought potato is night and day!

Every year I try to grow peas.  Last year, I was only mildly successful, this year they did much better although not as prolific as I would have liked.  I think I just need to plant a lot more next year.  They are delicious though!  I picked and steamed my first batch a few days ago, and they were incredible!  Once again, they tasted so much better than frozen or canned peas.

I've also picked three summer squash already.  I made Yellow Squash Muffins with the first two, and I am going to make Yellow Squash Casserole with the the rest.

Well I hope you enjoyed looking at a very long garden post.  Hopefully next month I will be less busy and not sick, and I can post more.  I'd really love to do a video tape of my vegetable garden too, plus I never showed you our finished screen-in porch...so look for those posts to come.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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