First Hemerocallis of the season

Well, the early daylilies have started to bloom. Stella De'Oro are usually the first bloomers of the year. I only have one clump of Stella De'Oro here in my gardens  and while mine are not yet in bloom because they are getting too much shade, most of my neighbors' are. Here are a few of my other day lilies that have started to bloom:

If you happened to see the pictures I posted earlier, of my Jackmanii Clematis, here is another picture of the clematis on my fence and you can see how many more blooms it has now, over when the last picture was taken back in April.

This is some Victoria Blue salvia that I have growing by the koi pond.  It is a carefree plant and it's flowers are long lasting.

I took a brief walk through what used to be my shady side garden. That was three large dead trees ago. I have had the dead trees removed, and for now the garden gets more sun than it was intended. Most of the plants are capable of adapting. The 'Bloodgood' and 'Coral Bark' Japanese maples do well in the shade or sun. As do the osmanthus, the camelia sasanqua & japonica, iteas, 'Encore' azaleas, and many of the other plants in this garden. Even the hostas look nice in spring, but in a few months the sun will take its toll on them and they will start looking worse for the wear.

I have allowed some Tulip poplar seedlings to grow int this garden, and they should grow quickly to bring shade back to this garden. And they serve as a host plant to butterflies.

The Virginia Sweetspire (Itea) is in full bloom now. This is a truly wonderful plant that can serve many purposes. It can be planted in wet areas, sun, shade and will perform well.

Pea Harvest

I planted three types of peas this year. One variety I had planted last year, Early Frosty, is a very sweet pea and produces well. If you have the time, energy and thumbs to shell peas, I can recommend this variety for here in the Carolinas.

 The second variety is Alaska. It is a new variety for me, and I was encouraged to try it because it promised an early crop. Well, it was no earlier than the other two varieties I planted, and the peas taste bland and starchy. Perhaps it is intended for a cooler climate, but I will not be planting it again.

 The last I variety is Super Sugar Snap Pea. As I mentioned in an earlier post, these are very sweet peas which are eaten with the shell on. We snap the ends off of them and remove the strings that form on the spines and either steam them or use them in a stir fry. Many of them never make it all the way in from the garden they are so good straight off the vine.

Tragedy strikes.

 A raccoon got into the hen house last night and killed my two hens. They were affectionately named Fatazz and Token. Fatazz was one fat chicken. She was the sole survivor of my first batch of chickens. She laid the biggest eggs ever. Token was a mostly black chicken with  beautiful markings.
 They will be sorely missed.

RIP girls.

Mophead/Lacecap Hydrangea blooms

The 'All Summer Beauty' Mophead Hydrangeas have started to bloom. They start out a light greenish, then turn a little pinkish,  and then turn to purple and finally to blue. (Again, in the bottom photo, you can see where I grown Clematis up through a shrub).

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  These three are a lace cap hydrangea macrophylla 'Lady in Red'. It has lacecap flowers that open pinkish white and turn a burgundy rose as the age. The foliage turns reddish purple in the fall and the stems and veins in the leaves are red. Mine is located on the northwest side of the house, just outside the  family room window.  It's part of my little 'courtyard' garden between the end of the drive, and the gate to the back yard. 

Oakleaf Hydrangea

I just thought I'd take a moment to show some pictures of my Oakleaf Hydrangeas in full bloom. They can be grown in sun to shade and require next to no care.

And here are some of my shrubs with clematis growing up through them. The one is being pulled over by the weight of the blooms.

And here is a Siberian Iris called Illini Charm. I had to have it (my DW is from Illinois :-).

And finally a Siberian Iris 'Silver Edge'.

Penelope antique rose

I recall mentioning my Penelope antique rose in an earlier post, along with a promise to post pictures when it bloomed, so here they are.

This rose is available via the Antique Rose Emporium online. I have purchased several roses from them  and they deliver a good quality rose. It is best if you plant them in the fall here in the south. It allows them time to get established before our brutal summer heat sets in. 

I have found Penelope and Marie Pavlie both to be relatively disease free and they rebloom all summer. They are very much like knock outs roses in this respect.

I grow a few David Austin Roses, although I don't know that I would recommend them to southern gardeners. As you can see, their blooms are fantastic. But they suffer from every disease known to man, and they do not rebloom well here because of that. Of the four I have, I would say that Iceberg (bottom two pictures) reblooms the most reliably,  but the blooms tend to brown quickly because of our intense summer heat.

My Little Gem Magnolia has started to bloom, adding it's sweet fragrance to the mix in the air. These are terrific landscape trees for today's smaller lots. It will not get so large as to take up your entire yard and it blooms from a very young age because it is vegetatively propagated.

Here are a few pictures of some of my peonies. Because it got so hot, so fast this year, the blooms do not stay attractive for long. Most peony blooms will do better if given some afternoon shade.

Styrax in bloom

I was blessed when I bought my current piece of property in that I have a large grouping of Styrax americana growing here. It is a wonderful large shrub/small tree. It has vibrant burgundy leaves in the fall and tiny, slightly fragrant bell shaped blooms in early May.
 I also planted a Styrax Japonica as a specimen tree. It has larger blooms, no perceptible fragrance. It makes a fine specimen tree though and I highly recommend it. If given the choice, and each was available (Styrax Americana is not widely available in the nursery trade) I would choose the Americana over the Japonica.

  This is one of my favorite times to get out in the gardens and just admire all the blooms. It helps that it hasn't gotten too terribly hot yet, and that we have so many wonderfully fragrant plants blooming now. In addition to the roses and irises that I have mentioned previously, the asian honeysuckle, star jasmine and ligustrum/privet are all blooming and their wonderful fragrance fills the air. For those of you who don't know, asian honeysuckle and privet are very invasive plants here in the Carolinas (and I imagine in other areas as well, check your local agricultural extension service for a list of invasive plants in your area). I did not, nor never would, plant the asian honeysuckle on my property. I will make another attempt, after it finishes blooming, to eradicate it from my property. But, with two acres of woodland, I am sure I will not get it all. I have been fighting this war for five years, and while I am not winning, I am holding my own.
 I did plant some ligustrum as a small hedge. I had to have it because as a kid we had a large hedge of privet at our home, and the smell takes me back to my childhood. I make sure to remove the flowerheads after it blooms so that it will not go to seed, but there is so much of it planted around here that it shows up everywhere. I have many wild plants in and around the edges of my woods.

I have two spots where I have planted Star Jasmine, one at the bottom of the pergola that holds our swing,

and the other on the wall under our bedroom window.  It is nice to sit on the swing and smell the jasmine and when the nights are cool, we open the bedroom windows and enjoy the fragrance as well fall asleep. 

Out in the veggie garden, the sugar snap peas are maturing. We had our first batch for dinner tonight and man, are they good! 

And I have more broccoli starting to head up in addition to some side shoots from the first head I harvested.

 The cabbage is ready for harvest and I'll be making some sauerkraut this weekend.

And the tomato plants are doing well, and as you can see in the bottom photo, some have started to fruit.