I usually do flower posts on the 15th of each month for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, but I couldn't resist the flowers today. It hasn't really been raining much but it has been wet the last few days. The beauty of the garden really unfolds in the rain and the flowers look stunning all dressed up in diamonds. I think on dull dreary days the colors of the garden just shine all the more.
My rhododendron is near my garden gate. I cut it back every five years or so just so I can get in the gate and the year afterward it complains a lot. Right now the bush looks really sad, but it never fails to dress up for spring. Rhodies put out the most stunning mass of blossoms that are beautiful taken as a mass, but the most stunning part is each individual bloom. They are freckled with darker pink spots and their stamens and anthers are beautiful.
Out in the perennial border which surrounds the vegetable garden the most beautiful blooms are my Siberian iris. Last year they didn't bloom at all for me because of a fall drought, but this year they seem destined to make up for that.
The geraniums are much more subtle. They hide their soft periwinkle flowers in the leaves and play peak-a-boo.
Inside the garden not all the color is from flowers. The rainbow chard seems to glow with its own inner light. The golden form is the most stunning. I've seen some pretty photos on other people's blogs with huge stands of chard with many stems. I tend to eat off mine a lot so there are only a few big leaves at anytime. This ones will be harvested again next week.
The Ground Control marigolds have pretty single flowers. I'm growing them for their prowess in controlling nematodes. In the past I've grown Queen Sophia which is a prettier flower, but this one is still lovely in its simplicity.
The tomato flowers are from Alice. No that is not the name of the variety it is the name of the plant. It is part of my tomato trial and it is much easier to talk to your plants if you give them names first. All the other tomatoes in the trial are also blooming, but Alice was first so she gets top billing. For my other tomatoes, only Ssubakus Aliana and Black Moor are blooming.
The French thyme is in full bloom right now. It blooms much earlier than my other thymes. Their little blooms catch and hold the water and it makes them twice as lovely.
No flower photo series would be complete this time of year without the chives. They make such a stunning and exuberant burst of color in the herb garden. The water has their stems weighted down a bit, but they will pop right back up as soon as the rain clears up tomorrow.
There are many other blooms scattered around the vegetable garden and others that are just about to bloom. I can't make up my mind if I'm more excited about my dianthus that is showing a bit of pink or my peonies. Both are well on their way. It should only be a few more days until they burst open.
Just beautiful! So enjoyed your flower photos!
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Wyoming!
I used to live near you kinda... in Melrose. Grew up in MA. Moved to WY 5 1/2 years ago.
Everything looks so nice after a good spring shower! I am a big fan of Siberian iris. Your royal blue one is stunning. I think mine is not going to bloom this year because of the drought like you said. I should have water it more as it was getting established. The wet chives blooms are fantastic!
ReplyDeleteNice photos - I'm with you. I love the way things look after a rain. And isn't that chard good? I just had some on my sandwich. :-)
ReplyDeleteWe can get the best photos of flowers after a shower.
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous sampler, Daphne! Of course, much as I love ornamentals, the Swiss chard gets my vote for most spectacular! I've been enjoying our chives and thyme flowers now, too.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful rain-soaked flowers Daphne. I think that has got to be the prettiest tomato flower picture I have ever seen. Tomato flowers are not something I would normally look twice at but your photo is just beautiful. Alice photographs well and is looking good.
ReplyDeleteWhat nice blooms you have. I have so much in flower now but it seems to not get much attention with all the things on the go currently. Next year I am hoping the only thing I need to do is plant & weed.
ReplyDeletePS, My onions last year were harvested Aug 19th and I believe garlic should finish some time in July. My garlic are just starting to flower so July should be a good guess.
I do love the siberian iris, not the bearded though. I'm so excited that things are starting to bloom in the garden again. Makes me happy to go outside & walk around the yard. The peonies are just starting here, I can't wait!
ReplyDeleteToni, I grew up in Colorado and moved out here. So in a way that was kinda near you. Sort of :>
ReplyDeletewormandflowers, My favorite iris is the Japanses iris, my second is the Siberian. Though I like German irises, they don't grab me like the others.
Kim, I usually eat mine cooked. I just picked some more today. Just one leaf from each of my eight plants. The leaves are so huge that it makes a nice meal.
keewee, rain is probably my second favorite time to photograph flowers. My first is the morning light shining through the blossoms. Sadly my garden is mostly in shade during the morning so I don't get a lot of those.
our friend Ben, I'm with you. You can't beat something that looks so stunning and you can eat. Yum.
Cynthia, sadly she is my slowest grower, so she may not make the cut to next year. But she does have some nice looking flowers. When I did my post on tomato flowers last winter I was very annoyed. I had no good shots of the flowers themselves. So I figured this year I would get some.
Dan, I often cut the flowers from my perennial borders. I rarely get to see them. They are on the other side of the fence. They help dress up the garden, but I wish I saw them in all their glory more often. Thanks for the timing. It looks like after the onions I can only do short things like spinach, tatsoi and komatsuna. Good to know. July is hard though. If it is the middle of July I can put a lot of things there. If it is the end I can only do the really short things. Hmmm. I'm wondering if I should just use it to try to overwinter plants again. It is my warmest bed. It thaws out in the spring before any of the other beds. I want to try to overwinter lettuce (MQS), spinach, mache (though I need to get seed, hopefully someone will have some to trade after theirs goes to seed this spring) and maybe some bunching onions. I really would like to use a small bit of it to grow some Chinese cabbage this fall. Where I have them now will be in dense shade in the fall. It is pretty much all shade now and I'm really shocked they are growing at all.
Chiot's Run, I keep looking at my peonies every day. I love to watch them as they unfold. They are so beautiful in bud all the way through their blossoming time.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, beautiful pictures. In the winter with snow on the ground and subzero weather, you can pull out the digital images and feel a little virtual sunshine. I take soooo many pictures in the summer because I know the winter comes around too soon.
ReplyDeleteCheryl, I do love to look at summer photos in the winter, but I don't tend to look at my own. I like to look at the photos from the Australian blogs. I ought to put them up as wallpaper on my computer. That would be a nice reminder.
ReplyDeleteWOW! What great pics!!!!!!! We don't really have seasons here to have a great difference of plants and flowers from winter to spring. I guess I do kinda miss that...
ReplyDelete