Well it’s Bloom Day for September and the weather has been spectacular the past week. There are a great many annual flowers in the garden such as zinnias, cosmos, nasturtium, calendula, and daisies. I’ll just represent them all with the this big Dahlia that Beth brought into the house. And then maybe Tithonia (Mexican Sunflower) since it has grown to spectacular heights (at least 12 feet) this year.
Another annual that has grown on our porch this year is Plectranthus. It was overwintered in the greenhouse and then took a while to catch hold in the spring. But it now looks spectacular (and it makes a good cut flower in the house as well).
Another back porch item is the Princess Flower which continues its daily vivid flowers
At the front porch is the very green welcoming garden that Beth built with deep black rectangles.
And a particularly striking addition this year is a Carex with pink flowers that we brought back from Plant Delights this spring.
From the greenhouse comes a very striking hyacinth relative from Madeira.
A few other items struck me as I walked about the yard. There are marvelous peony seeds at this time of year.
The Pyracantha and Hyacinth have intertwined to create a lovely combination.
And a newly planted Arisaema consanguinum looks for all the world like a mother hen for the neighboring Cyclamen.
Then there are the still good-looking repeats from last month.
And I discovered that the Clematis which I tried to remove at least two other times has sprung up again among the roses.
This is a particularly beautiful and vigorous plant that is happy to take over your garden.
And if you go for a walk on the hillside you will see the Colchicum doing their fall explosion of color.
The other thing that happens now are berries and other fruit.
And then I’ll close with one of the workers in the greenhouse that keeps the pests at bay.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2022
Well, I missed last month’s posting to GBBD (first time in ten years) and I feel somewhat guilty so I have a couple of special items for this posting. Back in April I received as a gift one of the largest plants I’ve ever gotten in a box in the mail (from ForestFarm).
It was a Gordlinia grandiflora, a relatively rare hybrid derived from a cross between Franklinia alatamaha and Gordonia lasianthus in 2003. It’s a relatively small tree with absolutely gorgeous camellia-like flowers.
It’s begun flowering now and should continue through September…
Another special item for us this year is the Princess Flower. I started this from a small 4 inch pot from Putnam Hill Nursery last year and it didn’t flower. So I carried it over in the greenhouse and repotted it at the beginning of the season. It has taken off over the last two months and it’s now 5 foot tall and still growing. In the meantime I found another specimen growing in a pot twice as big as mine and just coming into flower. Nonestop flowering is what it yields.
It will need to go into the greenhouse again but wow, what flowering!
Otherwise it’s pretty normal summer flowering for us.
The Allium are flowering in a couple of places
The Crepe Myrtle is finally in flower for the season
the Cestrum has recovered from its winter dieback
And the Crinum is showing its numerous hanging flowers
In the vegetable/cutting garden the Glads have yielded abundantly
and the Tithonia and Sunflowers are ten foot tall at least.
In the greenhouse there are multiple pots of Cyrtanthus in flower
as well as a particularly nice Sinningia
If we weren’t so busy picking fruits and vegetables I might actually finish weeding the greenhouse:)
Oh, I should mention that my excuse for missing last month’s posting was a trip to California where we relived our youth by driving down the California Coast.
It was a wonderful trip…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day June 2022 (very late)
Well, I’m very late for posting this past month’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. My excuse is that I was in Ithaca for the North American Rock Garden Society’s Annual Meeting. It was a wonderful meeting but I was busy from dawn to later hours and it left me no time for posting. And when I got back I had trunk full of wonderful plants to put in (Enkianthus, Epimediums, Spice Bush, etc.) So despite the lateness there were a few points I wanted to share from mid-June. Firstly it was lily-time as illustrated by Nightrider, the near black Asiatic shown above. Both it and other of the new lilies this year came from The Lily Garden which was new and wonderful source to me.
Both of the next two were also Asiatics from The Lily Garden
There was also a trumpet lily that I planted next to the grapes (from Brent and Becky)
There was also a nice Arisaema below the lilies.
I also wanted to share more pictures from the wildflower meadow that we’ve planted in the pasture this year. I mentioned it last month but it has continued to prosper with new flowers showing up every few weeks.
And just to finish this belated post on a sweet note this is what we expect every evening at this time of year
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day April 2022
It’s hard not to give credit to the daffodils for giving this spring a wonderful start on this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day
There are flowers literally everywhere on our property right now. Spring bulbs, flowering trees and wildflowers are making it a joy to walk about the yard. The hellebores, like the daffodils are in full display-mode.
The various Erythroniums are displaying their hanging flowers from pink to yellow to white.
The standard trout lilies have been fully in flower the past two weeks in the raised bed by the deck.
However, the same plants in the woods have never flowered. I transferred them years ago and they have propagated like mad but do not flower. Apparently I’m not alone in this observation.
The main thing blooming in the woods at this point are the bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
Another wild flower is the Star of Bethlehem that is popping up in the lawn right now. I should probably plan to move it to the woods where it can spread freely.
Among the other things flowering right now are the double-flowered Japanese Quince, much bigger than normal quince flowers.
I noticed that the miracle pear tree is covered by flowers this year.
We call it the miracle pear tree because it was completely flattened by a teenager’s car when it was young. I was able to stake it up in place and it miraculously recovered.
A number of the plants flowering now stem from Illahe Nursery in Oregon. Several Freesias, Watsonias, a Babiana, and the Iris shown below have been really strong growing beautiful plants.
The Babiana has an unbelievable number of buds.
Well that’s a sampling from our hill on Ball Road. Enjoy the Spring!
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day November 2021
It is definitely late Fall in Maryland for this GBBD and for awhile I thought there not be much in the way of color hereabouts. But the last few weeks have produced a shower of colorful leaves on many of the trees. Of course for us, it’s mainly about the Maples. The ‘Reznicek’ cultivar is one that I brought back from Michigan a few years ago when the annual meeting for the North American Rock Garden Society was held there. This is the first year I’ve ever noticed the beautiful two-toned effect on the leaves. Even without the coloring it has always been a special diminutive tree with finely laced leaves.
Just the ordinary Japanese Maples have also been having a colorful display lately.
Earlier in the month the Amur Maple was putting on a show of its own.
And right next to this Maple is the Beautyberry which had its own statement to make.
Berries are everywhere in the yard this year but it’s hard not to notice that the Blue Holly is absolutely loaded with berries.
I can only guess that this particular holly is having a good time with the American Holly or the English Holly since our attempts to plant a male Blue Holly have all failed.
But wait! This posting is supposed to be about flowers.
Most of the annuals have been frozen off at this point but there are still a few surprises in the yard. The peas continue to chug along through the first frosts and may even yield a few more edible pieces.
And one of our reliable David Austin roses is ignoring the cold.
But mostly it’s Camellias. It’s really their show for the next several months. Anytime the temperature gets into the forties, the spring camellias will send forth a volunteer.
And then most of the time there are always some of the Fall Camellias in bloom, as we see now.
When you see flowering like this it is hard to accept that winter is coming any day now…
Just like this bluebird who is trying to decide whether to make another nest.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day October 2021
It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day as we move securely into the Fall. The leaves are changing but we see no signs of lower temperatures in Maryland as yet.
The Amarine above is a first time bloomer for me, but comes with a little background. I bought it just this Fall from Quackin’ Grass Nursery and then as it was coming into bloom I discovered that I had another one that I had bought from the same place this Spring. No sooner did I put those two in the ground but I then found that I had bought a smaller bulb of that plant from Rare Plants back in 2017 and it too was now coming into bloom (for the first time). So apparently this plant is consistently appealing to me. It is a hybrid between Amaryllis belladonna and Nerine bowdenii. It’s somewhat questionable whether it will be hardy for me here in zone 7 (Nerines would not normally be hardy here), but I have planted two of them and we shall see.
Since it’s related I should mention that Nerine sarniensis (from the Greenhouse) is also flowering now bearing out my continuing interest in Nerines.
The above picture is from the kitchen and right nearby is a bowl full of vegetables showing the wonderful bounty from this year.
We’ve also had a lot of pears that we are still enjoying for dinners and desserts. And the raspberries are still making their appearance.
The flowers outside still have a lot of the same participants that we’ve had for the past few months.
In addition there are a few new faces on the Fall horizon
In addition I thought it was interesting to note that I completely missed the start of flowering for the fall camellias.
There are lots of buds on these and other Camellias so I need to pay more attention. And similarly I’ll end by paying attention to the many oxalis showing up in the greenhouse now.
Finally all summer long we’ve a beautiful showing of flowers from the potted plectranthus.
I’ll need to find a place in the greenhouse for a part of this plant over the winter.
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day September 2021
We have a steady supply of flowers from the both the perennials and the picking garden for this Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. The dahlia above has been flowering for most of the summer.
The Tithonia in the garden give some idea of the good growing weather that we have had.
I always enjoy seeing the black and blue sage coming back because it was never supposed to be hardy in our area. The bees enjoy it in particular.
Nearby the David Austin ‘Crocus Rose’ is making a comeback.
And right beside it the continually blooming Cestrum
I also enjoy that the Cyclamen comes up at this time of year both in the ground and in the greenhouse
Other flowers can be seen in the wildflower patches
In the Alpine bed I discovered a Pulsatilla that is definitely blooming well out of season
In the greenhouse itself there is not only this striking Sinninglia species
But also a rather puzzling Buddleia which is coming up in nominally Gentianella pot.
Elsewhere the berries in the yard are striking.
Finally to note once again that since we can’t survive on flowers alone, we have been bringing in lots of fruit.
And for the first time Figs
I highly recommend homemade sourdough bread with brie, pear, and fig — yum…
Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day August 2021
It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day for the middle of the summer. Our garden is like many at this time of year. Mostly annuals, crepe myrtles, and the last of the lilies dominate.
There are a few flowers worth noting. The Cestrum ‘Orange Peel’ has returned from it’s winter dormancy and will bloom until late fall.
We have a lot of annuals in the picking garden as well as the glads and dahlias.
The annuals and shrub flowers are great for attracting insects and birds, many of them very photogenic. I was struck by this little bluebird overlooking the garden.
The butterflies and other insects are striking.
August is also prime time for harvesting