Surprises in the Garden

A couple of unexpected additions to the garden have flowered in the past week. A beautiful lily from Terry came along with a clump of the triple daylilies she gave me. I also have a black-eyed susan in the island bed that either reawakened when the juniper was ripped out, or seeded itself there. It's a different variety than the ones I have in the back.





The pool bed is filled with monarda and echinacea and the black-eyed susans will flower any day now. There is also coreopsis and a cosmos in there. The monarda and echnicea will be divided in the fall to make room for a better variety of perennials.



Casa Blanca lilies exploded in the front bed this weekend:


Phlox Laura:


Gladiolus - the tender variety that have to be dug out each fall:


I can't get a great overview of everything blooming in the front bed, so this is the best I can do. The lilies will be moved in the fall since I didn't count on the Agastache being so tall. I like it in that location though, so I'm keeping it. This picture shows pansies, pink and white gladiolus, the Casa Blanca lilies, Agastache Blue Fortune, Phlox Laura, a yellow potentilla, and yellow coreopsis. A Russian Sage next to the agastache will flower soon.



Annual Madness! Cosmos Bright Lights are a huge performer, as are the zinnias and new guinea impatiens. They have been flowering for a couple of months probably and show no sign of stopping.

Summer Flowers Finally Starting

I've had some computer problems over the past week but I think they're finally sorted out. Here's a photo overview of what's flowering now.

Beautiful double (or triple?) daylily from Terry:




Another that came with the house:


Mini Kordana rose from Terry. She actually gave me a pot of these after my surgery back in January. They were full of flowers then. I cut them back when they were done blooming and managed to keep them alive over the winter. There were 4 separate plants and 2 have made it. I'm really excited since I've read they are difficult to keep alive indoors. This is a nice peach/pink:


The Gazania are really putting on a show now:


I wish this picture captured the colors better:


Coreopsis in full swing and a glimpse of cottage garden style? Maybe?


Goldrausch Daisies are floppy after our rain this weekend. This was before the storms:


First flower on Phlox Laura:


Stoke's Aster (stokesia). This is the first time the plant has bloomed since we moved here:


Limelight Hydrangea has begun blooming. I expect a nice long show out of this awesome shrub!


Monarda and echinacea just starting up in the pool bed:


My surprise pumpkin patch. I transplanted some hollyhock seedlings to this area a couple of months ago, and these plants popped up. I just assumed they were more hollyhocks until they started flowering this week. I'm almost positive they are pumpkins! I had thrown some rotting pumpkins in this area last fall and let them decompose. Apparently some of the seeds liked the area. My plan is to move them someplace where they can sprawl, probably the dog's pen. Hopefully he won't destroy them. They may be too early, but it would be great to get some actual pumpkins growing!

Goldrausch Daisies

I knew this blog was good for something. After looking back at a post from last fall, I realized the "mystery" Snowcap Shasta Daisies were also marked with a Goldrausch tag. They are definitely Goldrausch and they are beautiful. They should be full of blooms by next week so I will take a new picture then.

I didn't do much in the garden this week. My fountain arrived and it's gorgeous. I'm having trouble with the patio though, and I'm taking a wee break from it until I sort things out. My first design idea - circular brick with a stone filled center that the fountain would sit on top of - won't work. The space isn't large enough to make a decent pattern around the fountain, and I see no need to make a larger patio. Then I tried a square design, which fits well and will definitely work. But I don't like that pattern as much as the circular pattern. Now I'm playing around with different brick cuts and trying to come up with 1 circular pattern that will work for the whole patio. I'll get there...I knew this would be a long process. I did manage to move a bunch of topsoil around and do some sketching/designing of the plantings. That's the fun part!

My summer flowers are just starting to bloom. The daylilies are nearly in full swing and I've got a few flowers on the Blue Fortune Agastache in front and my red Monarda in the back. There's also a bud on Terry's mini Kordana roses that she gave me in January. I'm very excited to see an outdoor flower on those plants! The echinacea and black-eyed susans out back will also be blooming soon.

New lavender in the front border with pansies that seem to be thriving in the ground (they were looking pretty weak in the front porch pots, so I replaced them with impatiens).


This verbena did not like the shady location where I originally put it. I've realized I can't hang anything in that garage/house corner except impatiens. After going without flowers for a good month, it has rebounded with a vengeance in its new home near the grill out back.


I didn't expect any flowers from the 2 potentilla this year but it looks like the yellow one will bloom. The white is getting moved to a more spacious and sunnier location in the fall.


The window box out back looking pretty good. The window has now been repaired and is waiting for John to install it and tweak the hinges so it doesn't break again.


Coreopsis from Bob doing great in the front. The back is also starting to bloom, but needs to have lamium weeded out. Anyone want some lamium? I got lots.


Some daylilies in bloom. No clue about the varieties, they all came with the house. All daylilies will be divided and relocated in the fall.




I think this is my favorite of the daylilies that came with the house:


The best daylily showing I've had since moving here. Removing that horrible juniper did wonders for this bed, and there's so much work yet to be done.