November 2010 Bloom Day

November garden bloggers bloom day is here and we are lucky enough to still have flowers blooming in the garden.  Still no frost here, although I did see that the National Weather Forecast has predicted a chance of snow for the weekend.  Yesterday I planted some more bulbs that I found at the grocery store (I wasn't looking for bulbs but they were right there at the entrance calling out to me), Tulipa greigii 'Quebec', and planned to take more pictures of flowers after I was finished but by 2:45 pm it was already starting to get dark, a little earlier than usual because it was so overcast out.  During the summer at that time it's too bright to take pictures, now at that time it's too dark.

 Rose 'Tamora' didn't grow much in height this year, but has produced lots of blooms for it's first year in the garden.

 'Kimberlina' is covered in opening buds.

 The Lavender has a new round of flowers which is surprising.  I planted these as 2 inch plants last year and they are huge now.

 The Abelias are covered in flowers.

 Cosmos still blooming.

 On of the longest blooming perennials in my yard are Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber).

Tiarella - I think this is 'Neon Lights' is just starting to bloom.  In fact all the Tiarellas have new blooms on them.

Also in bloom are some Heucheras, hardy fuchsias, Mexican Orange (Choysia ternata), Geranium 'Rozanne' and 'Wargrave Pink', Daphne 'Summer Ice', Calendula and Pansies.

To see who else has flowers blooming now visit Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts Garden Bloggers Bloom Day the 15th of each month.

Seeing things in another light.

I've read a few posts recently talking about lighting and best times of the day to take pictures and where the sun should be.  It seems that good lighting and the time I take pictures rarely coincide.  Usually when I have time is when the sun is at it's brightest and really washes out the color.  Last evening I decided to try taking some pictures and see how they look in the evening light.  These were all taken after 7 p.m.

 Rose 'Tamora' was in blazing direct sunlight even at 7 p.m. so I stood in front trying to create my own shade.  I think the color looks very close to true.  This rose was new this year and went from being shorter than the lavender in front to suddenly being quite a bit taller.  It has a very nice scent.

 I love this combination of yellows - Yarrow and Coreopsis both look as bright as the sun blooming together.

 Hydrangea 'Preziosa' is taking on a blue tone this year, the last couple of years it aged to a nice dark pink.  I've done nothing different to the soil.  It was in the shade of the Dogwood tree when I took the picture.

 I've decided this was definitely mislabeled and as a couple of people suggested it's probably Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'.  This is one of the few times I don't mind the mislabel, because it actually looks really pretty with the flowers around it.

 At the end of the flower bed it's still getting a lot of sun even in the evening.  Coreopsis and Red Valerian (Centranthus ruber) seem to like all the sun they've gotten lately.

 My Oriental Lilies don't look as good as usual this year.  This is Oriental Lily 'Triumphator'.  Several more lilies will be blooming soon, but I'm really disappointed that the squirrels dug up my very favorites.

 A new Clematis 'Inspiration' that I'm growing on a trellis in the front bed that it was supposed to share with 'Josephine'.  'Josephine' just dried up and withered away.  I've left the roots in the ground for the small chance that it reappears.

Campanula 'Pantaloons' is difficult to photograph no matter what the lighting is.  It is a very soft pink and polka dotted on the inside.  I was happy to notice that the clump is beginning to spread and will probably be able to be divided next Spring.  This year seems to be the year of Campanulas, I've added quite a few this year.

I love the lighting on Hydrangea 'Pia'.  This was the only picture that turned out very well from the backyard.  By late afternoon it's mostly shaded from the house and trees.

We've had such nice weather lately.  After getting off to such a slow start this year we've actually ended up having really nice weather.  It's hard to complain about too much sun while taking pictures, guess I'll just have to keep trying different times of day.

Fertilizer Friday, July 2nd.

This was definitely a good week for me, nothing like having your birthday stretch out for a whole week!  I enjoyed time with my husband and kids, dinner out with two of my sisters, plant shopping with my girls and breakfast out with my parents, kids, sister and nephews.  On my actual birthday I told my girls they had to come with me to as many nurseries as we could fit in, which was about 4.  I think going to Dairy Queen for dessert helped make it worthwhile.

During a day out last weekend my husband told me to pick something out for the garden.  I found this trellis with a bird finial.  I'm drawn to anything with birds on it.  Another thing I'm drawn to is something to grow a Clematis on, so it was an extra great gift.  This is the new bird trellis, it's about 6 feet tall.

One of my sister's gave me a gift card and the first thing I thought of was, "now I can go plant shopping!"  I found a new Clematis integrifolia 'Pamiat Serdtsa' which means "memory of the heart".  It will grow 4 - 6 feet.  I love when plants have special meanings behind their names.  This will always remind me of this birthday.

Here they are together in the bed behind the pond (although you can barely see the Clematis now).  I didn't plant any of the Poppies, Larkspur or Bachelor Buttons this year, all of them reseeded from last year.  The Larkspur that I started by winter sowing are not growing at all.  I think just letting them reseed on their own will be how I let things happen back here from now on.

A side view of the "driveway bed".  These plants take many beatings from basketballs, and aside from the roses all seem to handle it pretty well.  My poor unknown pink rose really got hit with rust and blackspot over the last week.  I cut a lot of the diseased branches off, being sure to not leave and leaves behind in the soil.  The 1/2 wine barrel has just been planted by the Littlest Gardener and I, she named it the "family garden".  We planted Cosmos, Zinnia, Agastache, Coneflowers, Coreopsis, Liatris, trailing Lobelia and million bells in it.  Now I have to decide where to put the other half of the barrel.

Fleabane in the driveway garden had to be staked up as usual.  I love how bright purple the flowers are.

Rose 'Tamora' is still too small to be seen from behind the Lavender in that bed so I have to get down and look for the blooms.

 Astillbe is just starting to bloom.

 This is the bed that I planted the rest of my new flowers.  The short rose struggling in the back is 'Gertrude Jekyll'.  I don't she likes this weather one bit.  In front I added Campanula 'Cherry Bells', Campanula 'Mouse Ears' and Scabiosa 'Beaujoulais Bonnets' - I hadn't seen or heard of this type before, the pictures of it are very pretty.  As I was looking at this bed I realized I have four different types of Campanula in this bed.  I think everything in this bed is awaiting some real hot and sunny days.  (Another day of 63 degrees and rain for today.)

And in case anyone remembers the little lemon on the Meyer lemon tree, you can see it's still hanging on!  It's a little bigger than a golf ball now, but I'm really rooting for it.

To see who else is flaunting their flowers this week visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time.
If I don't get a chance to post on July 4th I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday! 

Side yard and driveway gardens.

Two parts of the garden that I realized I rarely take pictures of are the raised beds in the side yard and what I call our driveway garden. Both of these areas are on the same side of our house which is separated by our backyard fence. I tend to focus most of my energy on the rest of the yard, but this year I'm trying to pay more attention to these places as well.
The side yard is by far the hottest part of our yard. I've put up a thermometer and have found on sunny days it's usually 5 degrees or more warmer there. The kids tend to play a lot here as you can see by the buckets and other toys. After being inspired by one of the displays at the Northwest Flower and Garden show I'm planning to brighten up this area and make it even more kid friendly. We may paint the stepping stones bright colors as well as repaint the raised beds something a little more colorful.

Looking towards the front gate the Littlest Gardener's rainbow garden is in the whiskey barrel. She's chosen quite an assortment of flowers for it. I've let her pick what she wants to plant in here and she does a surprisingly good job of digging little holes to plant in for a 3 year old. The closest raised bed to that is Sweet Pea's garden. She has Sugar Snap Peas, lettuce, carrots, potatoes and chives in there so far.

Growing in one of the beds is some Broccoli. So far the slugs have left this plant alone.

Here are the blue potatoes we're growing after seeing them on Gloria's blog Dakota Garden. We shared the left over potato starts with another little friend of the Littlest Gardener so she could grow some too.

"George" the garden snake. Thankfully these are the only types of snakes you see in our garden.

Just over the little fence at the entry to the side yard is the big purple Rhododendron in full bloom.

Now out on the other side of the fence is the driveway garden. This has been an area that has been fairly neglected. It's full hot sun here and until we moved our faucet (the pipes froze over the winter and we rerouted the plumbing) it was really difficult to water this part of the yard. There are a couple of roses, lavender, Lamb's Ear and daylilies in front of the raised bed. In the raised bed is a very small Magnolia tree with mostly annuals under it right now including Poppies, Larkspur and Cosmos. Towards the front are Coneflowers, Oriental Poppies and hopefully the Dahilas. Behind this bed is Lilac 'Miss Canada', which are the pink flowers you can see, and behind it is a huge Lacecap Hydrangea that was here when we bought the house.

The unknown Pink rose is beginning to bloom.

And 'Tamora' is flowering too. The fragrance of 'Tamora' is very nice, not as strong as 'Gertrude Jekyll' or 'Abraham Darby', but still very good.

Hopefully the weather will improve once school is out and the girls and I will have some fun projects to work on in these two areas in our free time.

Now I'm really getting excited!

Part of the fun in reading other garden blogs is being reminded of what I will have blooming in my own garden soon. June is usually my favorite month in my own garden, many of my very favorites bloom then. Many of those favorites have already begun blooming in other parts of the world. Since the garden still seems to be running ahead by a couple of weeks I've been excited to see some of these flowers just getting ready to bloom.
Roses are probably my most looked forward to blooms right now. I added a few new ones last year and have already managed to find a spot for a new one this year. I think at this point unless I remove more grass I may be out of room for now.

'Abraham Darby' - is loaded with buds, unfortunately it is also loaded with blackspot. I'm trying an organic spray for it, and hoping it will help.

'Gertrude Jekyll' - even open only this much the fragrance is wonderful.

'Tamora' - my newest rose has the most beautiful buds. I think if it didn't open any further than this it would be fine with me.

My unknown pink rose that came with the house. It had been in a rather shady spot in the backyard. Since moving it to the sunny front yard few years ago it has just gone crazy. It's over 5 feet tall already.

Another good smelling flower are these daylilies. They grow near white Lupine and look beautiful together. The Lupine is just starting to bloom too.

The newly added Allium 'Purple Sensation' seems to be much taller in the full sun places that I planted it. I know I'll be adding more this fall.

I think the Alliums look pretty with the Iris. Cameron of Defining Your Home Garden had this combination on her blog last Fall and I thought I'd try it here since I had no idea where to plant the Alliums.

Something I've noticed in the last couple of weeks are just how bad the aphids are this year. They are on everything. I would be out there everyday with the hose trying to spray them off and I've been to busy to use the dish soap and water spray method (which doesn't always seem that effective to me). A few years ago we released ladybugs into the garden and within about a week the aphids were GONE! The Littlest Gardener and I are going ladybug shopping this week so we can get rid of the aphids the natural way.