Garden Bloggers Bloom Day
July 2008
If you are here for Ruby Tuesday or Wordless Wednesday please scroll down to the next post. As always thanks for visiting.
There was quite a bit blooming in the garden yesterday when I took these pictures. At first I was only going to use the 24mm lens but I chickened out and used the 60mm for some of the shots. There were enough things flowering that I could continue this post tomorrow. There will probably be a lot of people posting Daylilies. Seems we are right about in the mid-season for them here in Connecticut. The early varieties have gone by and some of the later ones are still in bud. This one is unusual since it is all by itself out in the deer infested part of the garden. I don’t remember planting it but it is too nice and too far away to be a seedling.
The Coneflowers have been terrific this year and they will have to have their own post coming up soon. This is a seed grown variety. It seems to have petals that reflex down more and a lighter color than the more showy cultivars. I have a little experiment going. I am only taking the seed from the flowers that have the most downward pointing petals and using that. It isn’t scientific or anything just seeing if I can keep that trait going. There has to be a few thousand seed grown Coneflowers at the big garden now. I have been spreading the seed in rough areas and along the roads for several years now. It is fun to see the different variations.
The Hydrangea macrophylla have been very good this year. This hedge had a lot of blooms but the rain knocked them to the ground. I sprinkled the chemical to turn blue sporadically down the hedge and I like all the color variations it produced.
This next plant is Small Globe Thistle (Echinops ritro). I know some can’t get over planting a Thistle but it is nice to have in the garden. It grows in crummy soil and doesn’t need too much water. I like mixing in with other plants because the basal leaves sometimes don’t look great when it gets to flowering time. I saw a huge planting of these with Coneflower, which was quite striking. There is also a white version that I am growing for the first time this year. It seems a little smaller and more compact. It has done well and is on the ‘plant again’ list.
Looking forward to seeing all the cool things everybody else has. Visit Carol for other Bloom Day Posts
17 comments:
Superb shot of the Day lily!
The day lilys are in bloom here too.
Beautiful close ups! My hydrengea has just one poor little bloom :o( And she was full of them last year ...
I am looking forward to planting hydrangeas again in my new garden.
Hydreangeas are on my list of things to have a ton of in the garden, one day!
I like the coloring of the globe thistle. I may have to try that with my coneflower.
I came by for Ruby Tuesday but that first image just pulled me in.
well done!
Absolutely beautiful photographs!
You might want to think about putting a very light watermark across the center of your photos. These could still be cropped and used. Just a thought :O)
beautiful flowers. Happy tuesday
Great shots. We have two echinps They will be in flower soon. The bees love them! Happy WW
You have convinced me that I must plant a thistle especially if it will grow in crummy soil..I can promise it crummy soil. BTW, that is a great photo of the globe thistle...and those are quite possibly the most perfect looking petals on the coneflower that I have seen all day...and I have seen a lot of coneflowers! Mine are being eaten by some nasty beetle!
Thanks for reminding me of the globe thistle,
Gail
Your pictures are amazing, such clarity and focus, making the flowers just pop! I don't know what Ruby Tuesday is, but thanks for joining in for bloom day!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Every shot is amazing and you've shot the best of them all :)
Wow, what awesome pics. Happy WW.
Lovely shots - the light yellow daylily is a beauty! Even though daylilies come in all sorts of colours - this is among the nicest!
/Katarina
Roses and stuff
Amazing pictures! Great bloom day post
How did you get your thistles to grow? I ordered mine from Spring Hill nursery and they came as roots. They seems to have stopped growing at 4 inches tall and the leaves have started to die. THey looked really good for a couple weeks but I Haven't seen any new growth! what were the growth stages like for you for this plant?
Thanks to everyone that left a comment. This year I didn't feel like the garden was in the doldrums as in some Julys.
samantha, Hi there. I have always got my thistles in one gallon containers and they have done well. I would give yours some more time and don't over water them.
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