June has been rainy and on the cool side this year. I think that has contributed to a paucity of blooms. Or, it could be that the gardens at the new house are just a bit behind the gardens at our former house. Or maybe both. By mid-June, I am accustomed to seeing peonies, poppies, and irises–what I like to call the three grandes dames of June–in full bloom. Instead, only the irises are blooming, and they are just getting started.
Occasional contributor Craig Levy gave me ‘Berlin Tiger.’ Apparently it has a complicated parentage. I confess to feeling a bit disgruntled. At first I thought it was just a case of young-garden-itis. After all, almost everything was planted just last year, and there’s still a lot more bare dirt than I care to see. But looking over other GBBD posts for June (such as the one I linked to above), a lot of plants that usually are blooming by now are merely on the verge of blooming. But here’s a few more: I got the Phlox pilosa from Gail of Clay and Limestone, who calls it Practically Perfect Pink Phlox. The native rose above grows in both the old garden and the new one. It has red stems and almost no thorns (prickles). I suspect it is Rosa palustris.Other blooms
For the record, here’s what else is blooming:
Rhododendrons–a white and a pink by the house, two pink in the Slope Garden
Siberian irises–a lighter blue, the heirloom one, and a taller, deeper purple that I brought over
Coral bells–just getting started, here and there
Red weigela
Garden heliotrope (Valerian)
Deep blue columbine
Crimson corn poppies
Bleeding heart
Geranium ‘Tiny Monster’
Clematis a deep purple and a lighter one
Cynanchum ascyrifolium
That’s a pretty paltry list for June!
Inspired by the words of Elizabeth Lawrence, “We can have flowers nearly every month of the year,” Carol of May Dreams Gardens started Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, garden bloggers from all over the world publish what is currently blooming in their gardens, and leave a link in Mr. Linky and the comments of May Dreams Gardens.
I have only run-of-the-mill iris so it is wonderful to see your exotic blooms. Berlin Tiger is amazing.
I love irises it is because of the fact that like many flowers, iris flowers can carry different meanings. Purple iris represents wisdom, white iris evokes purity, blue iris represents faith, and yellow iris means passion.
I love the Berlin Tiger. So rare and lovely..
So only one dame is smiling at you this June, but she is damn pretty. The various colors of Iris are beautiful and enchanting. I can not wait to plant them at the earliest, as till now I had not succumbed to the charms of this amazingly beautiful flower.
Looking at the iris – I now want to see if I can start some in my garden. I had them at the old house years ago but they did not move well for some reason. I let them go. I really miss them. I am now retired so may see what I get started for next year. I am in Minnesota and the peonies are blooming and the coral bells. Roses are just getting going. We are several weeks behind with lots of rain and cool weather.
I absolutely love iris’s and I need to plant some more! I have some beautiful yellow ones right now that are doing really good, would love to have some of your blue ones too!
We’re getting lush blooms this year from all the rain. The apple and crabapples were amazing a few weeks ago, and now the peonies, irises and roses are loaded. I’m normally not a fan of ninebarks in bloom, liking the red seed heads so much more, but this year even they look great, covered densely with big white pom-poms of bloom. Of all the years not to stake my peonies! The upside is that I’m more willing to cut lots of peony blooms for the house and neighbors, before they hit the dirt. And this year I’m finally the proud owner of a frog (the flower arranging kind). It makes such a huge difference in a vase of peonies!
Irises are the one thing I miss that I had at the old house. I had lovely yellow ones. Perhaps I’ll get lucky and someone will advertise on the local freecycle.com that they have a few to spare!
Hi Kathy,
I love your photos! Anyway, I like the combination of pink Rhododendrons and blue Siberian Irises. It’s the color of my wedding motif. That’s why I have those pretty flowers in my garden. đ
I love that ‘Berlin Tiger’. I have two native roses – R. setigera and R. carolina. R. setigera I like, R. carolina is thisclose to being pulled out of its bed.
Even though things are a bit behind, they will soon catch up. I’m so glad you got the new house Kathy. I know you love it. Hang in there. The garden is young.~~Dee
You are right on both counts, Dee. Things will catch up, and I do love my house. It was reassuring to find out things were behind at other gardens around the country as well. I just got impatient.
I love the vignette with PPPP and am happy it bloomed for you. It will travel a bit and you will have an even larger patch next year. The native rose is a beauty and practically thornless makes it even more attractive. Thank you for the linkage and happy GBBD! xogail
Complicated parentage – that describes several of my son’s friends.
Happy GBBD!
Kathy, Irises rule in my garden this bloom day, too — although mine are all Siberians and they seem to be blooming more lushly than in most years. Even though there is less blooming than is usual in mid-June, think of what we have to look forward to in the next couple of weeks!!