“On this June day the buds in my garden are almost as enchanting as the open flowers. Things in bud bring, in the heat of a June noontide, the recollection of the loveliest days of the year – those days of May when all is suggested, nothing yet fulfilled.” Francis King
It is Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day in the June garden. A June that has been cool and wet. I have had many blooms show up early, like the peonies above, because of the hot weather of May. And many others that finally bloomed as the weather cooled in June. Although my warm weather veggies are not happy with the cool, wet weather…who can win this year with the crazy seasons.
As part of this post, I also am joining Beth@PlantPostings for her Garden Lessons Learned meme as spring moves lazily in to summer. I thought I would dive right into those lessons first…..
And what better way then to revisit my Seasonal Celebrations mantra for spring:
Open your mind to all that is possible this season. It is amazing what experiences are awaiting you. Soften your gaze. Relax and look through eyes of wonderment. Oh the things that you will see!
Trust me I have had to have quite an open mind this spring. The experiences and challenges kept me focused on the acceptance that this will not be a typical spring.
1. Just when you think you have it all under control, Nature takes her turn.
I have been going on the assumption that at some point spring would level out and be typical. That maybe the warm March spring weather would continue, and we would have an early spring. I am now convinced I do not know what a typical spring means anymore. I need to be like the frog and just go with it. So March is warm, don’t be lulled into false hope. Mr. Frog wasn’t. The frogs stayed buried even through the warm March and April freezes. They knew we would have more cold weather. That is typical. Just when it will happen is anyone’s guess. We barely saw a frog until May. And May was warm like July with no freezes or frosts.
2. Even though things may not have turned out as planned, there are always other unexpected wonders to enjoy.
As warm March got things going, cold April stunted a few blooms and kept flowers blooming in limbo for weeks on end. I had daffs for about 2 months, and wildflowers that bloom in days were here for weeks. Then there was the hot May weather that took everything into overdrive. Look how out of control the trees got and how much the other flowers filled in quickly compared to last year at this time. Of course there were more blooms too this spring. The clematis and roses are blooming more than I have ever seen before, and will make up for the lack of hydrangeas this year that were killed by the horrid April weather.
3. There is a heaven on earth, and it is found in the garden.
We have been getting out in the garden earlier as the May heat hit, and what we found was heaven. This allium schubertii was blooming early in our garden this year. I encountered it in the early morning light as dew clung to ever petal, stem and leaf in the garden. I am amazed at what I miss by not being in the garden in the morning. The light dancing through the leaves and backlighting flowers creating stunning displays. All of nature is awake singing and foraging. Of course I have more energy when I start early in the garden and I beat the heat, both bonuses.
4. Discovering peaceful times with wildlife, and not so peaceful times.
I do apologize for the quality of the photo, but I have a limited zoom lens. We have seen more birds and species of birds in the yard this year than ever before. Of course the attacking frogs of last year are gone, and there is more peace at the pond for timid birds like the cedar waxwing. As we have increased our native plants and expanded the native habitat, more birds are coming, nesting, feeding and bathing and a few more butterflies. I hope to see more butterflies soon. We always have crazy bird antics here with fights over the bird houses and who gets in the pond first. Then there is the daily fight between the nesting robins and the grackle that has been determined to get the eggs or the baby birds. Recently as I was wandering after work through the garden, I spied a sparrow continually going into a very thorny climbing rose. As I approached, I saw it was a parent feeding a fledgling who was scared and hiding amongst the branches, still trying out its wings a bit unsteady. It was such a tender moment. The critter party starts early here- about 4:30 am before dawn breaks, and the sky is about to lighten.
________________________________________________________________
So let’s get to the blooms that have been happening of late. Since things have bloomed out of sync and sometimes too quickly to possibly be able to show in a post like this, I have put together a few collages of the best of the recent blooms.
I still have some columbines flowering. Here are a few that came and went. The top 3 from left to right are Nora Barlow that is still going strong on 2 seeded plants that surprised me this year.
Siberian irises bloomed early with bearded iris and a few tall Dutch iris. Some bearded are still blooming and I hope to see the Japanese iris soon. My native iris are also blooming in the pond area. Depending on the microclimate, the iris were blooming over the top, especially where they were closer to stone, rock or the house. Some barely bloomed at all and many have not. I attribute it more to the cold April than that they need dividing.
Alliums are still blooming although most purple ones were spent quickly with the May heat. I plan to plant more this fall as I do adore this flower as do the pollinators.
Here are a few containers that have really excelled this year. I decided to stop using any potting soil with fertilizer mixed in and opted for an organic potting soil. The results have been amazing and I am finding my containers are blooming better than ever. I actually haven’t fertilized one yet. I plan to soon.
This one of the two new hanging baskets I purchased on sale at the end of last season. I absolutely love them and these newly planted baskets have been growing for a couple of weeks. This shot is on the porch looking out.
These are my antique planters that flank the front porch step. I adore the petunia I put in these pots. It is actually one plant that was medium sized and has grown even more now. I will be showing more shots of them in coming posts. I just love them. This shot was taken from the end of the porch looking in.
Well there you have it. Lots flowering in the garden as I link in with May Dream Gardens and Seepferds Garten on this GBBD. As June heats up this week, the blooms should be popping up and filling in the garden beds. Here comes summer!
“In June as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day. No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.” ~Aldo Leopold
________________________________________________________________
Please join me for the next Seasonal Celebrations/Garden Lessons Learned. Click the link to learn more. Beth@PlantPostings will be wrapping up this past season with lessons we have learned in our gardens, and I will be setting the stage for next season’s celebrations (summer up N and Winter down S of the equator). What do you love to do in the this upcoming season? What holidays or rituals make it a wonderful season for you? How does your garden grow and what favorite plants will be blooming? I hope you will be joining us. Just create a post and link in with both or one of us between June 1 and the 20th, and on the 20th we will reveal those lessons and celebrations.
____________________________________________________________________________
Next up on the blog: Monday will be a special Garden Book Review of a brand new book by my blogger friend, Gardening Jones. Then it will be time for another Simply The Best post.
I will be linking in with Michelle@Rambling Woods for her Nature Notes meme. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Wednesday.
As always, I’ll be joining Tootsie Time’s Fertilizer Friday.
I hope you will join me for my posts, every other Tuesday, at Beautiful Wildlife Garden.
Please remember, to comment click on the title of the post and the page will reload with the comments section.