Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - June '08

Can you believe it's the middle of June already? Time sure flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?

The gardens are alive with beautiful blooms, some fleeting, others lasting for several weeks.
There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done that I want to. I'm sure most of you can relate to that feeling!

My back has been bothering me for almost a month since I pulled a muscle digging something up, and as often happens with me, that caused sciatica. Sitting is often painful, which necessitates limiting my time spent on the computer, so I must apologize for not visiting very much lately. I'll do my best to catch up with you all as soon as possible.

I've had lots to post about, but haven't managed to get that done either.

This past week we had a 3-day heatwave, which was very hard to take after our cool May. Our poor winter-weary systems hadn't had enough time to acclimate to the warmer temperatures, so we suffered!

However, Thursday and Friday were perfect gardening days, and it was a real joy to be outside planting window boxes, watching bees and butterflies, and listening to the birds sing their hearts out!

There are so many blooms it's hard to know where to start. They're not all pictured here, but let's take a tour and see what's happening in the gardens......

The Oriental Poppies have only a handful of blooms left, but I couldn't leave out a few photos of them in all their glory.

Bright 'tissue paper' blooms.

The salmon pink is my favorite.

The irises have been blooming for quite some time. This one is 'Beverly Sills'.

There are several purple clumps scattered throughout the gardens and they graciously staggered their blooms, extending their bloom-time for about a month, but they're mostly finished now.

This pretty mauve Lamium is one of three colors in the gardens. I also have white and purple.

The Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra) have a long blooming season. The white bush begins its bloom-time a little later than the pink, and is still looking lovely, while the pink blossoms are beginning to fade.

Here they are still looking good, with Forget-me-nots and Arabis, near the beginning of the month. All three are just finishing up now.

The simple Chives make a pretty patch of color. They sew themselves liberally in my gardens, and need to be ruthlessly pulled out when they get a bit too carried away.

Centaurea (Perennial Bachelor's Button, or Cornflower) is another one that needs to be kept under control. Cut it back after blooming to limit reseeding and produce a second batch of blooms in late summer.

Columbine is such a delicate flower.

The dainty blooms remind me of little ballerina skirts, especially the pinks....

....and purples.

The Cranesbill (Perennial Geranium) begins to bloom in spring, and continues all the way through summer.

The Abutilon has over wintered well, and is blooming beautifully.

Clematis - 'Carnaby' is looking wonderful!

These little Dutch Iris were a passalong from a friend. I have several clumps and this is the first year they've bloomed. I love the color! These need to be thinned ruthlessly too.

Sweet William blooms sweetly around graduation time in pastel hues as well as this scarlet red.

My first rose! Isn't she lovely?

Evening Primrose (Oenothera) makes a bright show.

Field, or Corn Poppies sew themselves freely each year. There's also a little Centranthus Ruber (Valerian or Jupiter's Beard) just beginning to bloom (see that Alice? I finally have my own Centranthus!).

Here's a lovely red Corn Poppy.

This beautiful Asiatic Lily - Lollipop, was given to me by my equally obsessed gardening friend, Marie. She has blessed me with many lovely plants this spring.

Dame's Rocket (Hesperis) is a wild flower which has sown itself in my pink garden right where the late pink tulips are planted. The tulips managed to bloom nicely, in spite of having their spot taken over. I'll show you a photo next post. The Hesperis certainly is pretty, and the color matches the purple Lamium beautifully, but it'll have to go when the flowers are finished. Its a biennial, so it'll probably leave some seed behind for next year.

Ah, the Peonies are blooming! I don't know any of the names because they're all passalongs from years ago.

I have a bouquet of them sitting behind me on the dining room table, and I've been enjoying their delightful scent as I've worked on this post.

They graced our church service this morning.

The hot pink Peony matches the Weigela (a happy accident), which is a mass of bright pink flowers.

The Lupines have brought me so much pleasure this spring! Their deep purple hue looks fabulous with the yellow 'Lemon Lilies' (early daylily) which have just recently begun to bloom.

These tiny pink flowers are Linaria (Toadflax) which sewed themselves from last year. They look like tiny snapdragons, and are a relative. Behind them is a lovely white Lupine.

And here's a pretty pink Lupine, surrounded by Sweet William.

Verbascum (Mullein) - a pale shade of peach.

'Apple' brought me these wonderful Foxgloves last summer when she and her sister, 'Country Girl' came to visit. As you can see, Apple, they grew huge and are blooming in pink and white. I love them!

I bought this Miss Canada Lilac a few weeks ago and my hubby planted it. Happily it has 3 pretty pink blooms....with one open just in time for Bloom Day!

Potentilla - Its bright blooms go on and on!

Cape Primrose (Streptocarpus).

Can you imagine calling this delicate flower such an ugly name? This is another passalong from Marie. She gave me 2 little cuttings last winter and they've grown very nicely. I'll put it outside for the summer in a bigger pot.

And last, but not least, the Shasta Daisies are blooming cheerily, with Columbines and Johnny Jump Ups in the Daisy garden.

I won't take time to list other blooms because this post is already long. I haven't actually taken time to make a list...but maybe I will, if I think of it at the right moment :)

You can find other Bloom Day posts at Carol's May Dreams Gardens blog.

Happy Bloom Day everyone!