Poppies, peonies, and iris: the three Grandes Dames of June
In a cold climate, the gardening season is shorter and more compressed. By the time the spring flowers get going, boom! it’s summer. Consider this: on May 29th we had our last frost. The next day it hit 80F (27C), which we reckon to be summery, and a mere nine days later it was 92F (33C). So anything you wait until danger of frost is passed to plant gets hit with summer before it knows which way is up. That doesn’t happen every year, but it shows why we often have what other people consider spring flowers blooming with summer flowers.
Around here, there are three flowers synonymous with June: Oriental poppies, peonies, and several kinds of iris. I think of them as the three grandes dames of spring. They are all “look at me” flowers, reliable plants that have been in gardens–and memories–for over a century. I’m going to feature the grandes dames in my photos and just list the rest of what’s blooming. I’m trying out a new feature of WordPress that’s supposed to create a gallery of photos. It’s not working quite as expected, but I’m calling it good enough for today. Hover over each photo to see its title; click on each for a larger image.
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- Gratuitous pretty picture
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- This is a passalong from my sister-in-law. It is taller than the one already growing here, and I don’t know if that’s because it’s naturally taller or because it’s too shady for it.
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- It is my understanding that this color is scarlet: a red that leans toward orange.
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- Aimee’s a flopper, but I love her multitude of petals and wonderful fragrance. I got her from Brent & Becky’s.
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- Rozella’s got spunk. Short and perky, she never flops. I got her from Reath’s.
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- Oriental poppies are always the first of the three grandes dames to flower. They were here when we moved in and have multiplied for me. I think they look great with deep purple, such as the Campanula glomerata ‘Joan Elliot’ shown here.
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- I planted my peonies along the driveway, intending them to function as an informal hedge. Unlike a woody hedge, they die back to ground level each winter and are not bothered by the snow piled on them when the driveway is shoveled.
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- I wanted ‘Bev’ for years before I actually got her from Reath’s. Despite being tall, she never flops and has a wonderful fragrance. Her blossoms start out a deep pink and gradually lighten.
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- Carrying on the white theme are variegated bulbous oat grass, ‘Francee’ hosta, a white violet, and ‘Looking Glass’ brunnera. Foxglove, dames’ rocket, ‘Concord Grape’ spiderwort, and ‘Black Stockings’ thalictrum contribute a mauvey-purple counterpoint.
Also Blooming Now
- feverfew
- catmint
- giant yellow scabious (just starting)
- ‘Wanderin’ Wind’ rose (my Griffith Buck rose)
- German catchfly (Lychnis viscaria ‘Plena’)
- ‘Sooty’ sweet William
- perennial flax
- bloody cranesbill
- various columbines, including the native one in our field
- maiden pinks
- ‘Joan Elliot’ clustered bellflower
- garden heliotrope
- ‘Miller’s Crimson’ primrose
- Lady’s mantle
- snowberry bush (very tiny)
- native rose (probably Rosa virginiana, photo here)
- dames’ rocket
- ‘Black Stockings’ thalictrum
- ‘Concord Grape’ spiderwort
- pink foxgloves
- Johnny-jump-ups
- forget-me-nots (on the decline)
- mockorange shrub
Check out all the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day posts here.
Hi Kathy,
Although my Zone is 5, which I don’t really consider that cold, I love reading your blog and enjoy the fact that you also are a peony-lover. I’ve been planting them like crazy for the past 10 years. I’m the editor for the Midwest Peony Society and went to the annual meeting last year in Wisconsin. Anyway, this is the first year I’ve had fungal issues because of the incredibly wet spring. Have you ever had issues with fungal disease? My peonies are kind of closely planted with other perennials and I don’t have an abundance of sun. But peony-lovers are undeterred by this kind of setback. Keep up the great writing.
Hi, Jean, thank you for your kind words. You don’t consider Zone 5 cold because you live in Wisconsin. Trust me, the southern two-thirds of the country considers it cold. You are right: I love peonies. I wrote about problems with botrytis on my peonies back in 2006. All the blog posts I’ve written about peonies are here.
My daughter is getting married June 12th. She wants peonies in her bouquet but I’m afraid they will already have bloomed and died by then. They are growing in Iowa. Is there a method that I could keep them in fridg when just in bud form and delay blooming?
I have read of that being done, but I don’t know the exact process or how long you could keep them that way.
Hi Kathy & Joleen,
I learned how to hold peonies in refrigeration for later bloom when I lived in Illinois and wrote a post about the method a few years ago…Happy Wedding!
http://annieinaustin.blogspot.com/2007/05/bossing-blooms.html
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
.-= Annie in Austin´s last blog ..Finally Time for March 2010 GBBD =-.
Thank you Annie!!! I’m so excited to try this. You are awesome!
I love Bev! I have quite a number of peonies, most of which are now nameless. I think I know which is Kansas (a beautiul red) and Green Lotus is unmistakable, but Elsa Sass, Pillow Talk,Bowl of Cream are all in there anonymously. I think I have about 2 dozen in a kind of border hedge. There’s always room for more, like Bev and Coral Charm which I just saw in a friend’s garden.
Gorgeous! Your gallery looks wonderful.
Margaret Roach ought to get outside and shoot more pictures so she can use the new-ish 2.5 photo gallery again a lot. Thanks, Kathy, for reminding me!
http://www.progressivegardens.com/growers_guide/plantnut.html
Check out the photos of nutrient deficiencies and see if any of them match your plant.
Have you been fertilizing them? It sounds like a nutrient deficiency. Any generic fertilizer will do.
Wow! Your pictures are gorgeous! So much in bloom! They must like the lack of spring!
Hi you all.. I am a beginner gardener.. in Minnesota.. i have planted tomatoes , and the plants are growing pretty well, but the top crown of leaves are turning half yellow.. what should i do??
Thanks, MSS. Perhaps you just didn’t realize others were using the gallery feature. Dee used it on this post and Margaret Roach uses it quite frequently.
Figure you to be the first person I know to try out the latest WordPress feature.
I like your description of the compressed seasons and your weather stats. From freezing to the 90s in nine days is a pretty impressive record. I wish more bloggers would include some weather information with their bloom reports. I’m always interested in knowing how long the days are and what the temperature is when someone’s tulips are blooming, for example. Or roses…how long do the flowers last and at what temperature. I love details. I guess other people are bored by them.
I just love your blooms! Gorgeous!
Thank you, Karen.
Beautiful blooms, Kathy! Definitely worth waiting for. And you did a great job with the photo gallery. It looks good, and well done with getting the captions to work out. I still haven’t figured that out yet.
‘Bev’ sounds (& looks) like my kind of Peony. I’m tired of flopped down, broken stemmed messes. Your Siberians are looking good – love that blue.
I really love peonies. My best friend’s name is Aimee spelled exactly that way. Maybe I should get it for her, or just put it in my jardin to remind me of her.~~Dee
There was something fascinating about tapping a bloom on the scarlet oriental poppies to see the interior parts ‘shimmer’ in the sun. Peonies and poppies and Siberian iris are such great plants.
You had a long time to wait, Kathy, but the June show is lovely!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Oh my gosh—that ‘Jay Bird’ iris is stunning. I’m definitely adding that to my list! The ‘Rozella’ peony is wonderful–my mother-in-law has a couple of those, and they really don’t flop.
Gorgeous blooms, Kathy!
Colleen, I got Jaybird from Seneca Hill Perennials, and they don’t carry it anymore. I saw it in the Roots & Rhizomes catalog one year, but it’s not in their online offerings right now. They did have some other deep blue ones, though.
What big, generous blooms the grande dames have. They look so fresh and springy, even if you’ve had some unseasonably hot weather already. Thanks for sharing them.
Pam, I try to take pictures in the early morning, when there is still dew on the lawn and plants are at their coolest. I think that helps.
What a great showing of blooms, considering it wasn’t that long ago you had very little in bloom. It is “hurry up the frost is coming” season in your garden, otherwise known as summer.
I hope you get some good rain, soon.
Carol, I remember last year you suffered with drought. The scariest thing about the lack of rain is the possibility of our well running dry. Even thinking about rationing water makes me anxious.
Your blooms are GOR-geous! I have some wintersown poppies that look like they may bloom yet. I haven’t gotten around to planting peonies yet, but oh, I want some. They’re soooo pretties.
Thank you, Min Hus. I suggest you do some research before you invest in peonies. Some don’t have fragrance. Some stay upright without hoops. Some are more prone to disease than others. Reath’s, La Pivoinerie, and Song Sparrow Nursery are three mail order firms that have better than average selection.