It is the 15th of the month which means it is Bloom Day, hosted my May Dream Gardens. Of course it is Father's Day too, so happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there.
I cheated today. This peony is no longer in bloom. It opened last Sunday and lasted a whopping 4 days in our brutal heat wave, but I had to share it anyway, since it was so pretty. My lighter pink peonies are still blooming, but look horrible. My irises still are gamely putting out a few flowers but are almost done.
The above bush showed up in my yard one year and I just let it grow. Most of my back yard is natural woods and you never know what will end up there. I have no idea what it is. If anyone knows, please tell me.
This is my pride and joy of the season, my kousa dogwood. I planted it 16 years ago as a 6' tree, hoping it would screen our view of the neighbors porch. Now it even screens their second floor window. It is the perfect plant. It has such grace with its layered branches. Its blooms are profuse and last almost all of June. The blooms turn into a pretty red fruit that feeds the birds. The kousa dogwood blooms a lot longer than the florida dogwood (the dogwood that most people think of when they think dogwood), but its best difference is that it is not bothered by the anthracnose which kills the florida dogwoods.
My next favorite bloom of the garden right now is my Dianthus (Alwoodii Alpinus, wow a Latin name I remember, that won't happen again). I love its pretty pink flowers, but the reason I grow it is for the scent. The scent is sweet and clove-like, and strong enough to scent the entire garden.
I have a lot of the typical garden flowers in bloom right now, marigolds, lobelia, impatiens, sweet allysum, Martha Washington germanium, daylily, perennial geranium, daisies, columbine (hmm what have I forgotten?). And weirdly my bleeding heart is still in bloom. There aren't many blooms, but they still look pretty.
In the herb garden my feverfew is blooming along with the parsley, coriander and sage. The chives are still blooming, but they are pretty ragged and need to be cut back.
Lots of my veggies are in bloom. The squash blossoms are so beautiful they ought to be on the outside of the fence. The peas are likewise as stunning. The bottom photo is my raspberries. Other veggie blooms: tomato, pepper, cucumber.
Addendum: I forgot a few blooms that I noticed once in the garden. But how could I forget the Daphne? I planted it because it has my name.
What a perfect peony! I miss the MA dogwoods after living in Cambridge for over a decade. Lovely to see them out in such glory in your yard. I too try to balance creative pursuits with raising kids and end up spending too much time on my computer!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you have cropped your photos. It is very effective. The Kousa Dogwoods have been having a stellar season. One of my favorite flowering trees.
ReplyDeleteLove your garden - thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThe peony is stunning. The dogwood too. What I wouldn't give for flowers on my tomatoes and pepeprs. One lone flower on my tomatillos is all for now.
ReplyDelete--Curmudgeon
That picture of the kousa makes me want to plant one. And I wish I had some blooms in my vegetable garden. It's behind, I think because of the rain.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in for bloom day.
Carol, May Dreams gardens
Lovely blooms. I adore pinks - the scent is so fantastic
ReplyDeleteKaren
"Cheating" with peonies is allowed--I was thinking along the same lines in my latest entry. (I didn't realize it was even GBBD, but I seem to be on the same wavelength, anyway!)
ReplyDelete~ Monica
Thanks so much everyone.
ReplyDeleteLove the peonies and pinks. And those baby slugs, hate 'em. All that bok choi already. Fabulous.
ReplyDeleteN
I don;t know what that white flowered bush is, but I wish it would mysteriously show up in my yard. There's a giant one at the end of the alley and the flowers smell so good I want to sneak over there in the middle of the night and dig up a chunk for my garden. Shhh!
ReplyDelete