Even though I missed the 15th, I’m still going to post the photos I took on the 15th. Stuff happens, you know? The preschooler has a rambunctious bedtime or three and I get backblogged — er, backlogged. Anyway, here’s a quick tour of new things blooming since last month in my NW Ohio Zone 6a/6b beds and borders!
Starting along the front fence… A landscaper once told me this was lambs ear, but it wasn’t in bloom at the time. Turns out it’s actually rose campion. I cut a lot of it back two years ago, but I’m glad I didn’t remove all of it. This biennial offers a nice splash of color under the Rose of Sharon.
This isn’t the best photo of the purple Rose of Sharon, but when I went out with my camera, it was the only flower that was open. Of course, now there are a dozen perfect flowers on it, just begging to be photographed — but this was the view five days ago.
I am so stoked about this one. This rose has never bloomed in all the three summers I’ve lived in this house — but here it is, finally. Weeds haven’t killed it, winters haven’t frozen it, and now I might actually figure out what kind of rose it is!
This yarrow is nice enough, as I’ve said before, but it’s growing in a very crowded spot in amongst some groundcover where it can’t really be appreciated up close. I’m considering moving it where it can be seen up close, rather than from afar, since it’s not going to really spread and take off into a big cloud of brilliant pink.
Not pictured: the daylilies that have been spared from being part of the deer buffet since I put down Deer Scram. I’m stoked about that, too. Too bad none were in bloom on the day I went out with my camera.
Now for the front south fence, which separates my front yard from the neighbor’s front yard — aka the rose border, since that’s mostly what grows there at the moment.
The unknown pink/white rose is still blooming like gangbusters. It blooms from June through October or November.
Dortmund is a climber, but you’d never know it right now. It had some severe dieback a couple winters ago, and after I pruned out all the dead wood, it’s been a sparse little rosebush ever since. It may have had only one pathetic bloom flush last year. This year, it’s trying to stage a comeback; it only has half a dozen blooms at a time, but they’ve been coming consistently, at least. Maybe in a couple more years it’ll be back to being covered with blooms all summer long.
Along the front of the fence, the yucca plant is in bloom. I do enjoy having the broad evergreen leaves in the bed year-round, even though it doesn’t really look like it belongs.
Now for the front of the house, including what will someday be my cottage garden. I saw this weedy-looking yellow flower while I was photographing, and decided to photograph it instead of pulling it, since I kind of liked it at the moment.
Last year, my mophead hydrangeas (Nikko Blue, maybe, judging from a tag I found in one of the flowerbeds) didn’t bloom at all. This year, they’re making up for it. I’m confused, though, because every one of these blooms appears to be coming from a new cane that grew up from the base. I thought mophead hydrangeas bloomed on old wood? Either way, though, I’ll take it. I love these blooms.
Gooseneck loosestrife is exquisite and graceful… and loves to spread. I love it to death, but I feel no compunction about yanking some of it out when it tries to overgrow its bounds.
Along the back fence, I have some grasses growing, and a lacecap hydrangea that’s on its second summer with no blooms — and invasive morning glory vines. They’re pretty enough, but they’re twining all over my grasses and my fence and my hydrangea and they are going to be Public Enemy Number One next year (or maybe this year), since I got the maypop vines in the front yard pretty much under control last year, and this year is devoted to ridding myself of trumpet creeper.
Along the back north fence, separating my back yard from the other neighbors, we have more proof that the Deer Scram has been doing its job: orange daylilies peeking out from the ornamental grasses (and weedy vines).
There’s also some bittersweet nightshade twining itself in there. I do consider it a weed, but I haven’t gotten in there to yank it yet, and it’s in bloom, and it’s kind of pretty, so here it is.
Bee balm! I didn’t know I had bee balm! I might be relocating this to the new cottage garden in progress this fall.
Also, that bee looked like it had fallen asleep in the bee balm. I took a dozen photos, and it didn’t budge. It wasn’t until I blew on it gently to see if it was alive that it moved — and even then, it just readjusted itself and didn’t fly away.
The sedum is still in bloom — not looking as awesome as it did a month or so ago, but not bad.
The hydrangea paniculata is slowly coming into bloom for the summer. The flowers are opening, turning from green to white. They’ll be white and huge and full of bees until October, when they turn a dusty pink before going brown for the winter.
I’m not sure what this is. The landscaper who said my rose campion was lambs ear also told me this was dicentra, but I’m not sure I believe that. This doesn’t look like a bleeding heart to me!
Finally, next to the sunroom (really the three-season room), amongst the lamium that just never quits blooming, the hydrangeas are in full bloom. Back here, they’re pink.
And that’s what’s in bloom this July! I honestly didn’t think I’d find that many plants in bloom, since only the hydrangeas are very impactful — but there we are.
Even though this is late, many thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Bloom Day every month!