The peonies have come and gone here in my Zone 6 garden, but there’s plenty more to enjoy.
While Dr. Huey (née Tamora) is nearing the end of its annual bloom flush (and is no longer particularly photogenic), my other roses are looking fantastic.
First, there’s this unnamed white rose that is a major trooper, blooming and reblooming reliably from June through October:
Then there’s Dortmund, a well-established climber that I kind of wish I could move, but I’m not sure where to.
I’ve been worried about this David Austin Heritage English Rose for the past couple of years, but she’s blooming like mad crazy this year, and may soon get back to her pre-polar-vortex splendor. Once the hardy geranium hits its next bloom flush in front with its deep purple flowers, and the milkweed blooms behind in light purple, this will be quite the nice vignette in my front garden.
In the category of other reliable June bloomers, some of which I’d like to remember to move someplace more appropriate in the future…
First, there’s this clematis that’s growing in the shade behind a tall evergreen shrub. It’s on my list of plants to move someplace more visible.
Same with this random lily, which I’m assuming is Stella D’Oro, growing in amongst the peony foliage (and raspberry runners from my neighbor’s garden).
‘Strawberry Fayre’ foxglove has been reliably reseeding for the past few years now… although I wouldn’t have put one so close to the peony foliage in the front garden. It’s happy, though, so there it remains.
I have about a dozen mophead hydrangeas in various places on my property. Despite many of them being shorn nearly to the ground by an overzealous landscaper this spring, most of them are putting out the beginnings of blooms. This delights yet confuses me, as I always thought that mophead hydrangeas only bloom on old wood.
Moving to the back yard, the border that houses the panicle hydrangea tree and the perennial sunflowers is currently sporting only sedum blooms.
I’m particularly happy to see this little guy in bloom: my only blooming lacecap hydrangea. (I do have another lacecap in the front garden, but it has never once bloomed, and I’m contemplating finding a new spot for it someday.) It got whacked to the ground two springs ago, and hadn’t bloomed the summer before that or the summer after that, so I’m pleased to see it blooming this year. It’s tucked away under a tall burning bush in the corner of the yard, so it’s not particularly impactful, but I do love its delicate purple flowers.
The coming weeks will bring blooms from the firepokers, hostas, more irises (that will be moved after they bloom), blazing star ‘Alba’, and maybe a few others. For now, though, I’m enjoying the roses — oh, and the fresh strawberries! There is homemade strawberry-basil jam in my near future, with garden-fresh ingredients — my first foray into actual canning! But that’s a story for another day.
For now, many thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens, who hosts Bloom Day on the 15th of each month!