“Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself.”
~ Thich Nhat Hanh
Summer is a perfect time to connect with oneself….connect with the land, connect with friends and family. Many people take vacations and trips, others make sure they visit the beach, spend time in their pool or at their camps and lake houses. But for us, we are home all summer in our garden. Very weedy, poison ivy creeping in (oh boy), critters joining us, and veggies growing for us to partake of all season.
It is where I connect with my inner self….working the land, joined to the soil. The veg garden has been productive, and I will update you in a week or two, but for now I want to show you what has connected me to the other June gardens.
As you may remember, we weeded and edged 2 front beds…the Kidney Garden bloomed with sage, hardy gladioli and thyme blooming still. The lavender is also blooming, and the daylily will flower with Echinacea soon.
The Mailbox Garden has had a succession of blooming plants this spring….already flowered were the early creeping phlox, daff and Muscari bulbs and Aquilegia. Now a purple clematis, lavender, hardy geranium, dwarf Nepeta and Dianthus are blooming, with Echinacea, yarrow or Achillea millefolium, Zinnia and Coreopsis right on their heels.
Let’s move to the Wall Garden. On the other side of the peonies is a different part of this long garden that I’ll show you next month, but for now we’ll just look at the front side.
I have not worked in the Wall Garden to remove the many Monarda and Heliopsis volunteers, but oh it has bloomed beautifully. After the irises and alliums were finished, hardy geranium and Tradescantia were blooming purple in the front of the garden. Peonies, Lamium and volunteer California poppies added their blooms to the mix.
And suddenly blooming in late June, was the Oakleaf hydrangea bush. Last year after our very cold winter, it did not flower, but this year it is overrun with huge blooms in the Wall Garden.
Finally blooming throughout the gardens, in later June, were the roses. This yellow rose was flowering after being moved to make room for the veg beds a couple of years ago.
Various red and pink roses showed up as well. Center is the gorgeous double Red Knockout found in the Wall Garden, with the newly moved Rainbow Knockout (top right). Pink Knockout (lower right) bloomed again near the veg garden, after being moved last year. ‘William Baffin’ (lower left and at the top of the post) was huge again in the back left corner in the back of the Bog Garden where it is dry. Top left is the unnamed red groundcover rose in the Sidewalk Garden.
As we move to the back garden, blocking the gate, was the stunning native Goat’s Beard or Aruncus dioicus. It is flanked by another monster plant, hosta ‘Sum and Substance’.
I love watching the formation of the feathery blooms of Goat’s Beard. It catches both the morning light and the setting sun later in the day.
Here are a few more peony pictures from unnamed plants that grow in the back garden. A feast for my eyes.
Weigelas were blooming beautifully this year. Top right is the variegated bush that still struggled a bit in the front gardens. The rest are pictures from an unnamed, but stunning, pink variety that continues to get bigger near the patio.
And this red Weigela is in the front corner of the back fence on the right. I love how profusely this bush grows and flowers each year.
Another flowering bush that took my breath away was the ‘Blue Muffin’ Viburnum dentatum. Last year half of it was infested with insects that defoliated the bush. This year the huge white flowers could be seen in the black of night. Now they are being stripped of the unripe berries developing, as birds descend on it not waiting until the berries turn blue.
And my native elderberry or Sambucus canadensis is really filling out and full of white blooms. The birds and I are anticipating its deep purple fruit.
As the pond heated up, the native flag irises bloomed with the Tradescantias making a sea of purple around, and in the pond.
The native cattails or Typha latifolia were also taking their place in the pond in June.
And the Common Milkweed are taking over half of the Pond Garden that grows on the hill that surrounds the pond. An incredible display…hoping the monarchs notice it one of these days.
Penstemon digitalis ‘Husker’s Red’ has now seeded itself all over the back gardens….popping up and spreading its beauty throughout.. I hope to move some into the White Garden, which is the only spot they are not growing…of course!
Also growing like wild, all over the back gardens, are the Knautia macedonica. They will keep flowering until fall.
And as summer heated up in the last week of June, the yellows and oranges were making a statement….daylilies…
And my cultivated Tansy that behaves itself. It is the only one that has survived near the Arch Garden.
Native Gaillardia were also flowering here and there. These are the seeded volunteers that remain from the originals I planted several years ago. I love the flame colors of their petals. They also flower until fall.
And just in time for the end of the month, the Rudbeckia hirtas, that have seeded themselves, were blooming. I must admit, I am so enamored with this plant. The flowers are all different, and had their start in my meadow several years ago. They have now moved to the outskirts of the pond and patio gardens. I need to divide and dig some and get some back to the meadow.
So that was my June garden. What is growing in your garden as summer begins?
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In A Vase On Monday
I had to cut back the Goat’s Beard, next to the gate, and I thought it would look great in a huge vase I have.
I added some of the Knautias growing wild all over. I love the look, especially when I brought it inside… the light shining through it made it glow.
And of course I had to make up a yellow vase with Heliopsis helianthoides at the bottom, and the larger Rudbeckia hirta at the top.
In between are the native Daisy Fleabane or Erigeron strigosus that grow all over the Pond Garden.
I am joining in with a few memes this week as I prepare these vases: Cathy@Rambling in the Garden for her wonderful meme, In a Vase on Monday, and Today’s Flowers hosted by Denise@An English Girl Rambles 2016
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Next up on the blog:
Monday, I be showcasing the veg garden unless, I get the front gardens weeded first. Then I will give you a look at these gardens finally without the weeds.
I am linking in with Michelle for her Nature Notes meme at her blog, Rambling Woods. It is a great way to see what is happening in nature around the world every Monday.
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