With the unseasonably warm weather I thought it was about time that I headed outside to check on the garden. We have only had a couple of really cold days this season, so a number of plants are confused. I have been very pleasantly surprised with a couple of the cabbages that I bought this fall. This is the first time I have planted these and I thought that they would be long gone by now. The pink ones are fairing better than the darker purple ones, but the fact that they aren’t all shriveled up but nice and full is impressive.

A couple of my succulents (hen and chicks) have also been quite happy. The one above is in my front urn. The one below is still in the nursery pot because I never got around to planting it. I am really liking these little guys as fillers for my pots and planters. They tend to get a little lost when the other plants are in full bloom, but they sit there so nicely, helping to fend off the weeds. And now that most everything has died back, they provide nice texture and color. Both of these are mostly green in the summer, but with the colder weather have added a nice red to the tips.

Speaking of succulents, my Autumn Joy Sedum are sprouting. I thought that they sprouted early last year at the end of February. I guess we will see if we get some serious snow or cold, how they fair.

I am still in love with the Nandina Domestica ‘Gulf Stream’ (Heavenly Bamboo) that I planted in the fall of 2011. This miniature variety does not produce berries, but the colors are so nice and it looks so good this time of year (all year for that matter). I also planted a regular one with berries by our driveway and it is doing equally well.

Finally I thought I would show you some of the hellebores. My main grouping of common hellebores have not started blooming yet, but this other patch of Helleborus foetidus are just starting to. I picked these up at the Scott Arboretum Plant Exchange a couple of years ago but this is the first time that they are going to bloom for me, so I am pretty excited about that. The only issue is that they are kind of tall, so I may need to do some more rearranging in the planting bed later this spring.

Do you have anything interesting blooming in your garden?

P.S. To see previous Blooming This Week posts (and imagine warmer weather) click here.

Purple Aster with Amsonia

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend! We had a nice warm day on Sunday, probably one of the last for the season. Unfortunately it is nearing the end of the gardening season here. There isn’t a lot in bloom at the moment and I have run out of steam in the garden.  The garden is looking a little weathered and there is a lot of weeding to do but I thought I would show you the last couple of bright spots in the yard.  I am still in love with the Amsonia in my yard and am always looking for new spots to put it in. It starts out slow in the spring with some blue flowers but it is a show stopper this time of year in a lovely lime green that will fade to yellow as the leaves change. The asters are also in bloom. I have a short purple (exact variety unknown). I keep thinking that I should plant some tall varieties for the back of the bed.

Common Toad Lilies

The toad lilies are looking great (except for the few that got chomped down by the bunnies). The mounds of these plants are really good about expanding. I divided the ones that I bought a couple of years ago before I put them in the garden and now they are huge again. Next year I will probably divide a few of these to spread them out further.

Common Toad Lily Flower

They look so much like orchids, how can you go wrong?

The Shade Garden with one of our pumpkin friends

And of course the garden wouldn’t be complete without some pumpkins. In our case Maisie picked out some pumpkin decorations which decorate the shade garden that we pass on our way to the garage every day.

Urn filled with perennials: Feather Grass, October Daphne Sedum and Hen and Chicks

It feels like Fall today! We had some major storms come through yesterday and suddenly the air is crisp and the sky is blue. All the rain means that he garden is looking leggy, floppy and overgrown. Fortunately there are a few plants still in bloom.

Autumn Joy Sedum mixed with pulmonaria ‘majeste’ , toad lilies (still to bloom), and hosta

My Autumn Joy Sedum (stonecrop) and another unknown pink variety are in their second week of full blooms. I have to say that I never use to like the stonecrops, I just didn’t find them very exciting. But now, I use them as a “fill” plant in full sun to part shade (they tend to be more floppy in shady spots but still bloom quite well). They are quite bullet proof and easy to propagate.

Stonecrop (sedum) of unknown variety

To propagate all you need to do is pinch off a small section (about 4-6″) and stick it in the ground (or in water first if you like). With damp soil they take quite well. At the same time they don’t self seed all over the yard like some other perennials I know. Speaking of which, my Ironweed in all of its legginess is in full bloom. It has  not been well behaved lately and I have had to pull out quite a few volunteer plants (not the end of the world or anything but still annoying).

Ironweed Flowers

I planted the Ironweed to help provide privacy between us and a certain neighbor (which it does quite well). It grows to at least 8′ here.

Ironweed growing in between our fence and our neighbors

It has even self seeded in between our fences, which is pretty nice because they act as supports, so they don’t tumble over.

Black & Yellow Garden Spider

We have also had TONS of spiders this year.  This one is a HUGE black and yellow garden spider, which fortunately is totally harmless. I really like its zig-zag web pattern. He did give me a little scare and required some googling to confirm that he was harmless. Phew!

Now to see if I can actually carve out some time to weed!

P.S. The pawpaws are browning on my counter. I am also working on perfecting my pawpaw ice cream recipe and hope to share soon. I know there are a couple of people that I owe seeds. These will be coming soon! Let me know if you are interested, I’ve got a pretty big pile going.

Big Leaf Magnolia (Magnolia Ashei) with Amazing Red Seed Pod

I am overdue in updating you on the garden. It has been such a hot, wet and buggy summer, that we haven’t spent much time in the yard. The frequent rain has meant that the garden is a weedy mosquito infested mess! I need to pull out a bunch of bamboo, weed like crazy and cut back a lot of overgrown shrubs and trees. In the meantime, there hasn’t been very much blooming. All of my mid-summer blooms started and finished early, leaving my garden feeling a little sad. Fortunately there are a couple of brights spots.

I am in awe of my big leaf magnolia. It normally gets seed pods, but nothing like this year. The seeds are this amazing hot pinky red! I am not sure if it is the weather or maybe the age of the tree.

Native Honeysuckle

My native honeysuckle has gone on blooming forever (since April)! It is also currently overtaking our back steps (making it a bit difficult to get through with a big bag of groceries), but I have been reluctant to cut it since the hummingbirds have been here almost every day and the bees are so happy. I was worried when it started blooming so early that it would be finished early and not provide a good source of nectar for the hummingbirds. Fortunately I was wrong.

Swamp Sunflowers, Ironweed & Joe Pye Weed: Late Summer/Early Fall Tall Native Perennials

Also several of my large native perennials are in bloom including the wamp sunflower (Helianthus angustifolius), ironweed (Vernonia altissima) and joe pye weed (Eutrochium). These are all tall lanky plants. I haven’t done any staking but the ironweed and swamp sunflowers could definitely use it. They are each at least 7′ tall right now.

Paw Paw Fruit, almost ready for harvest!

The other exciting thing in the garden right now is the Paw Paw Tree. We are getting close to harvest! I actually pulled a soft one off the tree today. I don’t think it is quite ripe yet, but it is getting close. The fruits are actually weighing down the tree right now. I think all of the rain has really increased their size.

What is blooming in your yard right now?

Front Yard: It is feeling very “cottage garden” right now

I am having a bit of a post Fourth of July hangover. It has been HOT here, so I have been bad about photographing the garden. Fortunately there are still some flowers blooming!

The super sunny front garden is in its summer glory. The coneflowers, daisies and hardy hibiscus could care less that it is literally 100 degrees out. There is definitely something to be said for native plantings.

Hardy Hibiscus Disco Ball

Balloon Flower (short variety)

Red Beebalm

My hardy hibiscus is back and beautiful. These grow quite well from seed. If anyone is interested in any seeds, let me know. I have found planting them in the ground rather than in a pot is the most effective way to grow these. They are perennials, although I have noticed that some of the older plants (4-5 years old) don’t do quite as well. Fortunately I have a lot now thanks to reseeding them. The flowers are large (7-8 dia) and although each one only lasts for a day, they are so stunning!

My balloon flowers are mostly in the backyard, but these are another flower that will self seed nearby (no need to do it yourself). I am not sure which variety this is, but I do know that it is one of the shorter species. I have a neighbor who has the taller (24-36″ tall) variety and he always has to stake them. Mine are only about 6-12 tall and work well at the front of a planting bed. My only word of caution is that they come up LATE. I have more than once dug them up accidentally thinking that there isn’t anything growing.

My bee balms are blooming in all their weird wonderful glory. These are a little aggressive with runners, so I try and keep them by themselves since they have been known to take over beds. They tend to grow into our lawn, but Mr. S. just mows them over and enjoys the nice scent. These are supposedly good for making tea (but I haven’t tried it).

Red Lily

Ruffled Peach Lily

My Little Helper

The lilies are still going strong. I don’t know the varieties of either of these, but the ruffled peach one came from a grower in SC from my inlaws.

Maisie was “helping” when I took the pictures and asked if she could be included. How could I say no to my favorite flower of all?

I am still working on my post of Sarah’s front porch and yard. Hopefully tomorrow I will be finished. I am trying to spend some time highlighting the changes in detail. Can’t wait to show it to everyone!

Nikko Blue Hydrangea with tall Butterfly Bush behind

I think we are still about 3 weeks ahead of schedule, here is a link to the garden last year at the end of June. I’m still not quite sure what that means for later in the summer, since by then almost everything will have bloomed by then. I guess we will see!

Red Asiatic Lily (a bulb from Home Depot)

Yellow Reblooming Daylily 'Happy Returns'

Orange Reblooming Daylily variety unknown

When the weather heats up some of the warmer colored flowers appear in my garden(in my case lots of lilies). I really like that the color palette changes though the season. I would love to say that I planned it that way, but I didn’t. I think it is partially mother nature who gives us cooler colored plants in the cooler weather and then lets the brighter blooms appear with the heat. I also have  planted quite a few lilies over the years, mostly because they are readily available, inexpensive and divide well (particularly the daylilies). I now find their foliage kind of boring, but they do provide color at an important time in the garden, that I would have a hard time filling with other plants. I have to say that the “reblooming” feature of some of these lilies is greatly exaggerated. I will get full bloom for next couple of weeks and then it will peter out and I will get very sporadic blooms later in the summer. Has anyone had better luck?

Nikko Blue Hydrangea

Fortunately I do have a few cooler colored plants to counter the hot plants. One of my favorite plants is the hydrangea. Hydrangeas vary in color based on the acidity, but in my yard the soil is all pretty acidic which guarantees blue varieties, with the exception of one lace cap variety that is more purple. My biggest hydrangea is Nikko Blue and I have since added a pair of Endless Summer which now that they are established are also quite blue. I use to have some lilies planted with the Nikko blue, but I think they were overgrown by the hydrangea. I think I might need to move a few of the orange daylilies over to the front, now that it is at its full size (thanks to a trim every fall). This Nikko blue plant is now 11 years old, I am pretty sure this is the first shrub I planted at the house.

The weather looks good for the weekend here, I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I picked up a couple of plants at Home Depot on sale yesterday, that I need to plant in the next few days.

What is blooming in your garden  right now?

*My garden is located in SE Pennsylvania and is in Zone 7a/6b.

Pink Peony

Japanese Iris

We had more rain this week, with only a little bit of sun mixed in. A lot of my plants are looking quite leggy at the moment. I might need to get out there and cut some back so that they will be bushier later in the summer (which I am always afraid to do).

The peonies in my front yard (fun hot south sun) have faded but the light pink ones in the back garden are blooming now. They are all pretty droopy but they still look and smell lovely. I’m afraid the hot weather predicted for the next several days will do them in. I know it is Memorial Weekend, but I don’t think I am ready for a heatwave yet!

Some of my Japanese Irises are also blooming, while most of the bearded irises are finished. I bought these as bulbs years ago and unfortunately I have no idea what variety they are, which is unfortunate because I think that they are such a beautiful flower. So striking in their shape and size.

Pink Cranesbill w/ Saliva

Purple Cranesbill Geraniums

My cranesbill geraniums are also blooming in the sun and the shade beds. I have pink ones in full sun the front yard (paired with purple salvia). In back yard I have blue and purple cranesbill paired with several different shade plants including forget-me-knots and coral bells. These plants roots grow are very shallow and grow sideways forming a sort of groundcover. So I grow mine at the front of the bed where I let them fill out and cover the bottoms of some of the other taller plants.  I also find that they do best in part-sun although put up with both brighter and darker conditions. I have a couple of newer varieties that I picked up at the plant exchange, including ‘confetti’ which has variegated leaves.

Alliums w/ Seed Heads Starting to Form

Allium w/ Caramel Coral Bells

I promise I will stop talking about my alliums very soon, but I thought I would show you what the seed heads look like on the ‘Purple Sensation’ once they start to form. I think they are such an interesting form. My Allium ‘Karataviense’ are starting to fade and I’m not sure what kind of seed head it will make yet.

Spiderwort 'Sweet Kate'

Penstemon 'Husker Red'

My spiderworts ‘Sweet Kate’ that I planted last year are looking great in the shade bed. These will tend to disappear in the middle of summer, but for the moment the foilage and flowers are little stars in the shade bed.

Also in my sunny beds several of my penstemon ‘Husker Red’ are starting to bloom. I also managed to score a few of these at the Scott Plant Exchange this year, which I was pretty excited about since I had originally bought mine at Home Depot and was looking for more but they weren’t carrying any this year. They offer a nice bit of red leaves and stems to a mostly green planting bed. Once they bloom I will cut them back for a second bloom.

Lipstick Begonia w/ Coleus

I will leave you with a picture of my favorite hanging basket. This week I finally managed to put some annuals in my hanging baskets and window boxes. Last year I fell in love with a lipstick begonia. I stopped by Terrain figuring that they would have it and as it turned out they had LOTS of amazing begonias to choose from. I also added some new burlap for the underside of this pot (I bought some online and have a couple of project in mine for the back with it). Above this I have water absorbing pad (that releases water slowly). As this fills in it should be fantastic.

What is blooming in your yard this week?

Purple Bearded Iris

We have had some crazy weather in the last week. Rain, rain, hail followed by hot and humid weather. Today it actually lovely, sunny and warm. Given the conditions my plants have fared pretty well, especially considering the hail. We are reaching the point in the season where not quite as much is blooming, it is too early for the summer bloomers and most of the spring bloomers are done. But the bearded irises and peonies are definitely at their peak (if a little beaten down).

Bearded Iris

Purple Irises with Allium

Pink Peonies

All of my bearded irises have come from the Scott Plant Exchange. I have purple and peach colors. I don’t love them, mostly because the blooms don’t last that long, but they are impressive while they bloom and multiply quite well. I have several other kinds of irises including dutch irises and Japanese irises that I have picked up as bulbs. They also multiply quite well.

My peonies are from Home Depot years ago. Peonies are one of those few perennials that will last for a LONG time. The plant just gets bigger and bigger. Mine have certainly done so, and their color is really impressive.

Big Leaf Magnolia (12" wide flower) Magnolia Ashei

My big leaf magnolia (magnolia ashei) is blooming. Unfortunately the weather hasn’t been so kind to its giant flowers. Most of them burned out in the heat very quickly. There are a few flowers that haven’t bloomed, but of the ones on the tree this is the only one that looks nice. It is pretty stunning though, at about 12″ across.

P.S. I’ve got a sick kiddo so I may not get my post in tomorrow. If I don’t I hope everyone has a lovely weekend and enjoys the nice weather!