“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” ~ Henri Matisse
I just learned about this cool gig that garden bloggers have going. The 15th of every month is designated as Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day, with bloggers posting about what’s blooming in their gardens that day.
Though I’m not solely a garden blogger, I thought it would a good opportunity to diversify my posts. My garden writing is a little quirky, ranging from my talking compost pile to a snake muse and, most recently, murder (or dinner) outside my kitchen window.
I’ll just keep it simple and pretty today with images of what’s blooming in my northern Virginia (USDA zone 7) garden right now. It’s HOT here this week, well into the ’90’s, with the heat index close to 100. The plants are holding up better than expected, though, given substantial rainfall throughout the spring and early summer.
Here we go. (I just realized that all my shots are close ups — at some point a wider perspective will be valuable as well. But it’s dark outside now, so the window for retakes has closed…)
Lilium ‘Dizzy’
Orienpet lily (cultivar unknown)
Geranium ‘Rozanne’
Geranium sanguineum ‘Striatum’
Coreopsis Big Bang ‘Mercury Rising’
Delphinium exaltatum
Leucanthemum ‘Becky’ (Shasta Daisy)
Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’
Abraham Darby (Auscot) rose and clematis ‘Betty Corning’
Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan)
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Coneflower)
Gaillardia
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Nikko Blue’ (fading now!)
Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’
Hydrangea quercifolia (need to dig up the name of this oakleaf cultivar)
Not shown: Hydrangea serrata ‘Blue Bird’ (a blue lace cap).
I’m afraid I’ve lost the names of the daylilies, if I ever had them (I can’t remember now which I bought and which I nabbed from friends’ gardens). Photos will have to suffice (and let me know if you can identify any of them!).
So I guess that’s about it for the current bloomers. I didn’t include the hostas, the cool foliage plants, or the edibles (the blueberries are still going strong and the figs and tomatoes–planted late–will be ripening up soon).
I was tempted to include a photo of the bark peeling from my crape myrtle tree because I think the residual jigsaw puzzle pattern on the trunk is mesmerizing, but I will need to leave the subtleties of the garden for another post.
What’s blooming in your garden? While I’m on the subject, don’t forget to visit me at my new Facebook page, Whispers From My Garden, and over on Google+ if you hang out there. And if you’re not yet subscribed for email delivery of new blog posts, add your email address to the box above!
