Saturday, July 9, 2011

The Early-Summer Garden: Lilies and Bee Balm

Hello! As promised, I am posting photographs as my garden changes through the seasons. I've posted the Early Spring Garden, the Mid-Spring Garden, and the Late Spring Garden. Today I'm showing you pictures of what my garden looks like in Early Summer.

First of all the lilies are in bloom now. I love lilies and they multiple like crazy in my yard; I'm constantly digging them up and dividing them. I already missed taking pictures of some early-blooming lilies, but here is white beauty for you to admire: This is a far away shot of those same white lilies above:



This is a yellow primrose. I love this plant because it grows like a weed, yet is not invasive. It will grow in full sun or in full shade. This is full shade pictured below. And it has beautiful red fall foliage.



This is a wheel barrow full of annuals that my husband made for me. This is my main garden looking west. I just bought and planted that pink hydrangea bush, that's why it's so small. In a couple of years it will probably be 5 feet tall and wide. Things grow big and fast in my yard!







This is a clematis that grows over a trellis in my main garden. You can see the trellis pictured in the back ground in the picture above.








I have the best version of Bee Balm I know. It grows so strong and tall and is mildew resistant. Sorry, but I can't remember the name of it anymore. I use to know every name of every single plant in my yard, but as the years go on, the less names I remember. LOL! That blue spruce pine tree was probably only 12 inches tall when I planted it just a few years ago. Now its about 5 or 6 feet tall. I just love the color!








A far away picture of my yard with my garden shed in the background and yellow and orange lilies in the fore ground.

















This is the first day lily to bloom every year. It's a beautiful pale yellow.









I'm not a fan of rose bushes because they are too high maintenance. I love the flowers; just not the thorns or the work associated with their upkeep. However, I do have about 5 hardy shrub roses on my property. I love them because they require no maintenance whatsoever; I don't even have to cover them in the winter! This is a light pink shrub rose.


















In previous posts, I've showed you many views of my garden from the viewpoint of my front porch; well here is the opposite viewpoint: what it looks like as you walk the path to my front porch. When I first bought the house, I always bought annuals that were red, yellow, purple, or white cause I thought those colors went best with my brick house. But when my daughter Ashley got married last year, she wanted all the annuals to be pink or coral (the colors of her wedding) and I ended up really liking those colors against the colors of my house, so I planted them again this year. I don't have any annuals in my big perennial garden beds in my yard. That would be way too expensive. I only plant annuals in the walk way up to the house and in pots and baskets so that I have color all summer long where visitors see the most. I still spend an average of $1000 in annual flowers a year. It cost that much to fill all that space plus my 4 porches and 14 hanging baskets.























Here is a close up of my yellow lilies.





















And here is a close up of the orange lilies. These are the most prolific lilies in my garden.























A purple Campula.



























The Hollyhock are just beginning to bloom. They will peak in Mid-summer and will continue blooming through late summer.





I hope you enjoyed the Early Summer Tour of My Garden. I will have more pictures in Mid-Summer to show you!


Have a great day! Amy























5 comments:

  1. Oh Amy you must love to garden - I have cut mine down to a minimum now, and that minimum includes some 24 roses that were here when we bought the house..... I only ever prune and never spray!! Thankfully there is not much more in the way of flowers and I keep to the hardy varieties that 'thrive on neglect'. My veggies get a lot more TLC~!!
    Thank you for sharing.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  2. Stunningly beautiful...can only imagine how wonderful it smells too. If you can't find solice in there I'm not sure where else to look.

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  3. Your gardens are positively gorgeous. I don't think I've seen a nicer one on private land, and you sure do give a lot of beautiful parks a run for their money!

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  4. Thnk you for sharing pictures of you beautiful gardens. I so love lilies.

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  5. beautiful photos I love lilies!
    KAT

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