Welcome to bloom day at Idyll Haven! Thank you to
Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting this monthly event. Like many of you, lack of rain and extreme heat is taking it's toll on the garden. Here in the greater Hartford, CT area (zone 6b), we have already experienced fifteen days with temperatures over 90F this summer. Eighteen days is the average for an entire year and based on the extended forecast we will get there on Wednesday. Boo! Hiss!
When it comes to watering I'm a minimalist. Until this past week I had only been watering containers and new plantings by hand. When my established gardens started to collapse I knew it was time to change up the game plan. Now I'm dragging hoses and have sprinklers going on both sides of my house every night. Despite the challenging conditions, I was surprised at how much I had in bloom.
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| Daylily 'Ilonka'. I'm not a huge grower of daylilies. Ilonka was a freebie from Oakes many years ago. In the spring I rescued it from under an overgrown Euonymus and gave it a new home where it seems to be much happier. |
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| Daylily 'Chicago Red' grows in a crappy curb garden where my hose doesn't reach. Imagine if it did. |
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| Pardon Me-I guess I've got more daylilies than I thought. |
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| Moonlit Masquerade daylily with Clematis Huldine and the foliage of Caryopteris 'Summer Sorbet'. |
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| You only need to plant Cleomes once. |
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| Hydrangea paniculata 'Quick Fire' fronted down with Lysimachia clethroides 'Geisha'. |
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| One of my favorites-Hydrangea macrophylla 'Lemon Wave' in flower. |
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| Some Echinaceas of unknown parentage laughing in the face of heat and drought unlike the poor Hydrangea 'Endless Summer' in the background. |
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| Phlox paniculata 'Nora Leigh' |
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| An unknown Coreopsis contrasting quite nicely with Colocasia 'Illustris'. |
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| Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst' living up to it's name. After at least five years in the garden I finally got some flowers. |
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| A prolific flowering pass along white Brugmansia that I've had for years. |
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| Move over all you new Echinacea cultivars. 'White Swan' is still one of the best. |
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| Musa basjoo, my signature plant. Not blooming, I know but I want to track the size as the season progresses. |
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| The ultimate see-through plant, Artemesia lactiflora 'Guizhou' |
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| An Agastache I bought as an annual last year providing a backdrop for one of my handful of Agaves. This one is 'Kissho Kan' |
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| Heliopsis 'Loraine Sunshine' mingles with a spent Allium christophii |
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| Hydrangea quercifolia 'Alice' commanding attention. Oak leaf hydrangeas are proving to be extremely drought tolerant. |
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| A new perennial Hibiscus 'Crown Jewels'. Foliage and flower similiar to 'Kopper King' in a smaller package. |
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| One of my favorite containers by the side door. The cast of characters this year includes Fuchsia Tassel Salmon Pink, Coleus Limon Blush and Dark Star, Plectranthus Troy's Gold, Bright Coral Fanfare Trailing Impatiens and Alternanthera Little Ruby. |
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| Another colorful container |
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| Stokesia laevis 'Peachie's Pick'. Another pick for hot dry gardens. |
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| Hydrangea paniculata 'Dharuma' in a command bloom day performance. |
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| Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice'. Winter is the only season this doesn't bloom. |
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| An absolutely lovely Hydrangea serrata 'Omacha Variegata' from Broken Arrow Nursery, one of Connecticut's best nurseries. |
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| A welcome reseeder-Hypericum androsaemum 'Albury Purple' |
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| Echinacea 'Hot Papaya' is still going strong. |
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| A long view of my side entry walkway looking back towards the driveway |
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| Long view of the patio border |
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| Back fence mixed border anchored by Albizia julibrissin 'Summer Chocolate' |
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| Happy tails from the Twerpinator. |
Wow!!!! Things are looking mighty fine in your gardens Sue! So many great combinations. I've got to look for that E. 'Hot Papaya'. What a great echinacea.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had the conditions for more Echinacea but they flop pretty bad even in my sunniest gardens. You'll be proud of me-I staked Hot Papaya...lol.
DeleteWonderful tour and July survey! Funny about the lilies, I thought I didn't have many either!
ReplyDeleteCongratukations on your Hydrangea quercifolia 'Amethyst'. I wish I could grow a hedge of quercifolias.
Glad to see your Artemesia lactiflora 'Guizhou'. I've had it forever, but never tire of it.
I wish my Agastache would return as well as yours has. Must be the colder zone here. I hope my new 'Albury Purple' returns next year too.
I bet the Twerpinator loves any chipmunks that come by!
You were the one who turned me on to Artemesia Guizhou, Marie. The only negative is once the flowers open it becomes so top heavy that even with staking it flops. I have a few more barely existing in a dry, horrible spot. When I start "renovating" in September I want to find better homes for them.
DeleteSince the Twerpinator arrived, I have no more problems with mice, voles, chipmunks or rabbits. Unfortunately he kills birds too which leaves me very conflicted...
Wow - just beautiful!!! Who is that lovely foliage plant in front of cornus kousa wolf eyes?
ReplyDeleteI had no idea daphne summer ice had such a long bloom period, ought oh time to go shopping!! Time for me to get my musa bajoo in the ground, how much space do you recommend?
In front of Wolf Eyes is a large Eupatorium 'Chocolate', Ann. Thanks for stopping over today. Get that Musa basjoo in the ground soon!
DeleteWhat a bounty of blooms and foliage! Cleomes are on my wishlist, and yours look great next to the elephant ears. That Crown Jewels hibiscus is a stunner with its dark foliage. Lots of great combos.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by Amy! Bloom Day is time consuming but fun. It forces me to get out and really look at the garden. Thank goodness for photo editing software :).
DeleteOOO-la la Sue ! Your garden looks splendid...That 'Lemon Wave' is to die for !
ReplyDeleteLemon Wave is one heck of a foliage plant. I have three of them but only one that blooms.
DeleteYou do have a lot in bloom. It doesn't appear like its dry there. Everything looks great. Hot Papaya fizzled out for me after 2 years in the garden. I don't recall seeing the E. 'Chocolate' either.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good for two seasons on Hot Papaya. Eupatorium 'Chocolate' has been in my garden many years. It can be a pest of a reseeder and not always with the dark foliage color but when they come up where I don't want them, I just yank them out,
DeleteWow...everything looks good in your garden! None of your plants look the least bit stressed. And I'm impressed at all the tropicals you are growing. I especially love that white brugmansia!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dorothy. I'm sort of a foliage nut and enjoy gardening in zonal denial. The brugmansias get stored in the basement for the winter. Sometimes they survive and sometimes they don't. When they don't I replace them in the spring.
DeleteSue, I love the look of the daylilies backed by the various grasses. It's a lovely combination. You've got some amazing variegated and colorful foliage there, too. I know it's Bloom Day, but I was struck by so many of your leaf colors. You're a perfect candidate for Foliage Follow-up at Pam's monthly (http://www.penick.net/digging/): Today's the day!
ReplyDeleteHmmm...yes I caught wind of the foliage follow up this morning. Never a dull moment in the blogging world is there? Maybe next month when I can work on the pictures for both together. Usually I *try* to design garden areas almost exclusively with foliage. When I started participating in bloom day last month I was actually at how much I had flowering!
DeleteDon't I feel like an idiot that it took me so long to visit your blog. I just realized that the comment you left on mine yesterday was a link. Duh!
ReplyDeleteLove your lush garden! I've thought many a time about planting Cleome, I love their spidery look (which is different than loving spiders, which I do not). And look at your Agaves! See I knew I liked you...
So many blogs, so little time!
DeleteYes, I love Agaves and would have many more if I didn't have to shlep them in and out of the house twice a year (you must have to do some of that though, right?) and find places for them under lights.
You mean you're not shlepping that albizia indoors for winter? It's huge! So strange to find you guys out east struggling for rain this summer. Whatever the weather, it all looks fabulous.
ReplyDeleteNo, the Albizia is hardy for me. So far it hasn't bloomed though but last year was it's first full year in the garden. We had a relatively mild winter and it's grown quite a bit so my fingers are crossed.
DeleteWhat heat? I don't know how you could grow more beauty than you have, Sue. Including that brugmansia, whose fragrance I love. I haven't grown it in Connecticut, but I should. So thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteBrugs take kindly to pot life and are easy to overwinter in a dark basement. Just a thought...:).
DeleteWowser, Sue -- great bloomin going on.... you are so right re "so many blogs so little time" -- I've started bookmarking ones I want to see and read and have trouble getting to even a few some days. Things are looking great. I think you'll get blooms on the albizia this year - it's pretty quick to bloom -- I think I had 'em after the first year (if dieback isnt so bad). -- Cindy H.
ReplyDeleteWow, that Musa basjoo is amazing. I do love tropicals. It would be wonderful with all my Tropicannas on the deck.
ReplyDeleteI am also growing 'Hot Papaya'. Mine is in a half whiskey barrel and I just planted it last fall. I am thrilled with it this year! Such a unique color.
I think we are all pretty tired of hauling hoses this year!
Your garden looks fabulous, in spite of the heat...your efforts are obviously paying off :-) You certainly find out which plants are made of tougher stuff, right?!?
ReplyDelete