The plentiful rain and lack of frost that characterized this spring is still bearing fruit. I can’t remember ever seeing my daylilies so floriferous. The whole garden has a feeling of lushness that I soak up every chance I get. So it was tough choosing photos for this month’s Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. For the most part, I picked combinations of plants that I particularly liked.
My grandma gave me the seed that eventually grew into this lily. Cephalaria gigantea peeks out from behind it.
This lily is the exception to the plant combination criteria; I like it just for itself. Besides looking gorgeous, it is a sentimental favorite. I
grew it from seed that my grandma gave me. It has been ravaged by
untimely hard freezes these past several years, knocked back before it could even form buds. Its sister bulb failed to even make an appearance this year, so I am mighty pleased to have this one flower. Build up your strength, my dear lily, so you may bloom more bountifully in years to come.
I love how the Allegheny vine threads itself through the purple foliage of the snakeroot.
I’ve written about
Allegheny vine and
Black Negligee snakeroot before. I think they are perfect partners. The vine’s foliage looks more blue-green than it appears in this photo, a wonderful contrast to the dark purple foliage, while the pink flowers echo it.
I think golds and peaches play well with the maroon rounds of smokebush foliage
The foliage of ‘Nordine Red’ smokebush isn’t as dark as that of the snakeroot, but it’s another great plant to play color games with. Here it is partnered with ‘Ice Cream Parlor’ daylily,
‘White Wonder’ feverfew (a free sample from Renee’s Garden Seeds), and a self-sown black-eyed Susan. Yummy.
Lauren's Grape poppies plus a self-sown interloper, Whimsical daylily, and Dark Towers penstemon
I just noticed that each combination I’m showcasing has an element of purple. Here it’s the ‘Lauren’s Grape’ poppies and the foliage of the ‘Dark Towers’ penstemon. I first got the
‘Lauren’s Grape’ seed as a free sample from
Botanical Interests. It has since reseeded itself over several years, for which I am very glad, as Botanical Interests didn’t carry it this year. I’ve had’Whimsical’for many years and it has far more buds on each scape than I’ve ever seen before. It is the kind of daylily where the spent blooms get very mushy; you have to keep it deadheaded in order for it to look good. I prefer daylilies where the spent blooms don’t make such a spectacle of themselves, so ‘Whimsical’ may one day be replaced by a less slovenly–well, I have seen it called “bright purple,” but it is pretty darn close to magenta–daylily. I have to admit I’m not looking too hard. And that last poppy–what serendipity! I don’t think I could have picked a better color echo for the flowers of the penstemon if I’d tried–which I didn’t. Laissez-faire gardening suits me very well.
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.
Tagged as:
actaea,
adlumia,
Dark Towers,
daylilies,
feverfew,
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day,
Laurens Grape,
lilies,
penstemon,
poppies,
smokebush
About the Author
Kathy Purdy is a colchicum evangelist, converting unsuspecting gardeners into colchicophiles. She would be delighted to speak to your group about colchicums or other gardening topics. Kathy’s been writing since 4th grade, gardening since high school, and blogging since 2002.
In the end, this may be the most important thing about frost: Frost slows us down. In spring, it tempers our eagerness. In fall, it brings closure and rest. In our gotta-go world–where every nanosecond seems to count–slowness can be a great gift. So rather than see Jack Frost as an adversary, you could choose to greet him as a friend.
~Philip Harnden
in
A Gardener’s Guide to Frost: Outwit the Weather and Extend the Spring and Fall Seasons
Grandmas Lily maybe does just have the one bloom this year, but what a beauty.
Your lily looks beautiful. I like the fourth picture as it dis play a combination of flowers. Really nice.
Kathy,
The last image called to me. I agree seeing a shot of blooms in the garden is refreshing on GBBD.
Poppies were retired here last month but I so did enjoy the purple poppy with the penstemon.
I can’t help but love the last combo last – such pretty lavenders together. I just planted some plum/rose ‘Medallion’ poppies, but at the rate they’re growing it will be a couple of years before I get to see blooms.
I was happy to see a Laurens Grape poppy in the photo. I tried these from seed this year-direct sow and had no luck (though I’m SURE the fault was my own!). Yours are so beautiful!! I’m glad you had them turn out.
Sue, I always scatter seed on bare earth well before the last frost of spring. Of course, when the self-sow the seeds are scattered in late summer or early fall, so you might even try that. I believe it was Henry Mitchell who said to sprinkle them right on a late snowfall. Obviously you can’t mulch after you’ve sown the seeds, although you could mulch first and then sprinkle them. Those are all the tips I can offer.
Kathy, I like your posts, because it’s not just a flower photo, but a garden photo. I like seeing what other flowers are growing with the featured flower.
That last photo in particular is just stunning Kathy! I love it, but then it goes well with what I chose to show this month, so it must be colors right up my alley. Happy Bloom Day!