Sunday, July 3, 2022

My June Garden Tour: Iris and Peonies

As I prepared my photos for this post, I could not believe how much my garden has filled in since my Spring Garden Tour post.  Wow! What a difference a month makes!  The month of June was a mix of extreme temperatures and lots of rain.  We had several days of weather in the 90s and then it would swing right back into the 70s.  One moment I would turn on the air conditioner, and the next day I'm reaching for a sweater.  Crazy!  But somehow the plants not only survived, but thrived, and the garden during the month of June was breath-taking.  Let's begin our tour shall we?

My absolute favorite lilac tree "Little Princess" actually bloomed this year (last year it did not bloom due to a late frost) and boy did it bloom!  Every branch on this tree was filled with a cluster of blooms and its intoxicating fragrance filled the yard.



Both of my Viburnum or "Snowball Bushes" bloomed this year too.  Last year my husband dropped a tree on one of the bushes, so we had to cut it back to the ground.  We didn't get any blooms the first year after cutting it, but we got blooms this year! I was so happy it survived.




The peonies were beautiful this year, but more short-lived than ever because of the plummeting rain.  I don't even know if their fragile blooms lasted even three days.  So sad,  I love peonies, but sometimes I wonder if they are even worth it as they just don't last long enough.


This is a deep burgundy peony and behind it is Goatsbeard.  I love Goatsbeard.  This is just one plant.  I really need to get more Goatsbeard for my shade loving garden.



Here are some close ups of the feathery plumes of Goatsbeard.



This single pink peony is my favorite.  I just love it's bright, happy color.  I actually had to move this peony three years ago, and ended up getting two bushes out of one.  It seems to have survived the transplant quite well.  

In front and around the peony bush are some Painted Daisies and a variety of marigolds.




This is my front garden where the bright pink peony lives.  In the summer, annuals will take over and fill this bed.  It runs right along my driveway, so it is the first garden bed guests see.  I like to leave plenty of room for annuals so that it is always full of color.


Sarah Bernhardt Peony


A uniquely beautiful single white peony.


This is my septic garden which was turned into a perennial garden because my hubby didn't want to mow it.


There's a white spirea bush that I transplanted to this garden from another garden bed.  It use to be in front of my house, but it quickly out grew the space so I moved it here.  Don't be afraid to dig up and move large bushes if they outgrow their space.  When we bring them home from the garden center they are so tiny and it's hard to imagine how big they will get, so we often plant them in the wrong spots.


A couple of close ups of the White Spirea bush.



During the month of June, Iris are the stars of the Septic Mound Garden.  In the month of July, Daylilies will steal the show.



A view from the very end of the Septic Mound Garden looking back at my house.



Blue perennial geraniums in front of purple iris.



It was not a great year for Foxglove.  They are biennials, so maybe next year they'll do better.  I had very few plants, and the few I did have were quite small.


I have Jack-In-The-Pulpit growing along my wooded fence line.


Siberian Iris




The ferns loved all the rain we got this year.  But they are coming out this year!  They are taking over my hillside, along with the vine growing below them, so I plan on digging them all up this summer.



The first lily bloomed.  This is a peach colored beauty.


I did originally plant Dames Rocket in my garden, although I know it's a weedy plant that grows naturally in the woods and along roads.  I do like it's pretty purple blooms and that it blooms when not much else is blooming.





Blue Campula


Flowering Ornamental Onion.


My one pitiful blooming Lupine plant.  My neighbor grows Lupine beautifully, but she has a lot more sun than I do.  I planted around five Lupines, and this is the only one that bloomed.


More flowering onion behind the Lupine.  If you're wondering what that big pile of wood chips is, I had Lily of the Valley completely taking over this garden, so I dug it up and put cardboard and wood chips on top.  I'm sure I didn't get it all. That plant is ruthless!


I bought several delphinium plants last year and they bloomed.  I've had delphinium in my garden before but it died out.  This plant needs to be added every year.  Even though it's a perennial, it's very short lived.  I wish I would have planted more last year, as the few I did plant just don't seem to show up in my large yard.


The Iris in the front of my house looked incredible this year.


The orange Columbine with its yellow centers coordinated beautifully with the yellow Iris in the background.






I also had some light purple Iris in this front garden as well.





I do have lots of hanging baskets and containers in my garden, but I don't often show them in my garden posts.  I had to show you this one because I love the way it turned out!  I was walking in my garden and found this half hollowed out log.  I thought "What a perfect annual container it would make!".  So I filled it with potting soil and planted it with some sedum, coleus, one petunia and "Angel's Wings" and wa-la:  A beautiful, unique, natural container arrangement. 


With the extreme weather and supply chain shortages, our vegetable garden got off to a rocky start.  First of all, I couldn't find Cocoa Bean Mulch anywhere!  No one was selling it anymore.  I knew I had to mulch my garden, so we used shredded leaves that my husband had saved from last fall.  I wasn't sure how it would work as a mulch.  I was afraid they'd blow away, but they did not and are working out beautifully.  Our second issue was fertilizer.  We always use organic products like manure, wood shavings, wood ash, leaves, etc., but I always like to sprinkle an organic fertilizer in as well.  But again, I could not find any organic fertilizer in my area so we decided to try Milorganite.  It's 87% organic and is a brand of biosolids fertilizer produced by treated sewage sludge.  I had no idea they could make fertilizer out of our waste, but since I didn't want to use chemical fertilizers, I gave it a try.  So far, it's working pretty good!  In the pictures below are our broccoli/cauliflower plants.  The photo on the left was taken on June 11 and the photo on the right was taken 2 1/2 weeks later.  Wow! That's a lot of growth in such a short time.

June 11                        June 28

Last year I planted a fall crop of spinach and it came back this year!  It was so nice to be able to eat spinach in May!


I planted SO MANY radishes this year because last year some aphids got to mine and ruined them.  This year, there were no aphids and the radishes were perfect.  I tried two different types, and my favorite by far was "Cherry Belle".  That radish seed produced perfect, large, gorgeous red radishes.


I can't conclude my garden tour without including at least one photo of Jackson in the garden.  He's nestled in-between some spinach that has now started to bolt and some peas.  He likes to hide among the plants and "hunt", even though he doesn't catch anything because he's caged in. 😀


I hope you enjoyed my garden tour! 

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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24 comments:

  1. I jumped with excitement when I saw you had posted a new garden blog. Lovely, your garden is just beautiful. You do so much work in it, and the rewards are wonderful. So inspiring.

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    1. Thanks so much Julie, I'm glad you like my garden posts so much.

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  2. Jackson is so cute on his "hunting" adventures, love it!
    You had a beautiful June garden with all the pretty flowers! Mine is too shaded but I am trying to make it work. I definitely need to dig up some plants that have outgrown their original place. And great tip to leave room for some annuals too.
    Have not heard of cocoa bean mulch but next year I will look into it. And sadly sometimes I feel like my whole vegetable garden is too shaded!!!

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    1. Jackson is so cute indeed. Every morning when he hears me walk down the stairs he races for the door because he is so excited to get in the garden. My yard is very shaded too, and growing more shady every year as the trees mature. I would describe it as a "part sun" garden in most spots and "full shade" in other spots. My vegetable garden is the only sunny part of my yard I have left.

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  3. Wow! amazing garden! I love peonies, but all your flowers are beautiful <3 Have a wonderful week <3

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  4. What beautiful gardens! So far July is turning out to be just as crazy weather wise as June in our area. We had a HUGE thunderstorm on the 1st which brought hot muggy weather with it on the 2nd then it was clear and sunny and rather breezy yesterday. But like you said, my plants seem to be loving it too!

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    1. Thank you! Yes, the weather keeps going back and forth, but the plants seem to be loving all the rain.

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  5. Such a beautiful and amazing garden. So very sweet

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  6. Your garden is always so amazing Amy. I didn't realize there were such shortages on fertilizer and mulch.
    XOOX
    Jodie

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    1. Thank you. Yes, the fertilizer shortage is costing the food to go up which is one of many reasons you're paying more at the grocery store. And only the cocoa bean mulch has been discontinued, one can find other sources of mulch. Hopefully it'll be back in supply next year.

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  7. your red barn caught my eye! thanks for helping me identify some new blooms!

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  8. your gardens are beautiful! I really enjoyed the tour. I want to just grab a chair and sit out there for hours. Thanks for sharing.
    meagan-decorative Inspirations

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  9. Absolutely amazing! I enjoyed every bit of it, specially your red barn.

    -Soma

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    1. Thank you! It is a cute potting shed...hubby did a good job making it.

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  10. I loved your garden tour! What large, beautiful and well cared for gardens you have! I'm sure you invest a lot of time and effort towards keeping them this way but I also know how enjoyable it is to see everything growing and blooming.

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    1. Thank you. It's definitely a labor of love.

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  11. Your gardens are so beautiful. I have to admit it made me feel better to see you struggle with delphiniums too, I thought it was only me!

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    1. Thank you. Yes, delphiniums are a short lived perennial. I think if you want them in your garden every year, you need to treat them as annuals and plant new ones every year. They are so beautiful though!

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