Adjusting For July Bloom Day

After the summer solstice passes, the gardens enter a transition period. This is when the thoughtfully planned passing of the bloom baton can easily be dropped. Let us see how the runners are faring in the Fairegarden race to fall this year.

A crossover plant is dill, Anethum graveolens. A self seeding member of the herbal tribe, this is edible, ornamental and larval friendly.

The common weed pokeberry, Phytolacca americana wears several hats as well. A tall plant this, offering shelter and berries to wildlife after the beautiful blooms finish attracting pollinators.

The white Phlox paniculata ‘David’ is a fine baton carrier, never clumsy with the rod. Blessed rain wetted Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ is companionable.

The daylily hill looks even more the jungle than ever in this color accented shot. The maroon of the species Phlox paniculata was chosen as the color for the Canon SX1 IS to recognize, a simple enough task since that is the main bloomer on the growing shadier by the day hillside.

Here the color selected was the orange of a nearby cosmos, highlighted on the cones of the summer stalwart Echinacea purpurea. Phlox ‘David’ stands nearby. Okay, that is all the fooling around with the camera settings for today. Fun, wasn’t it?

The daylily season is nearly over. There is one more very late variety that has shown no flowers yet but that has several buds. One of the prettiest still blooming is Hemerocallis ‘Royal Butterfly’. This plant has been flowering over a very long period. New shoots with buds have been spotted on a couple of early season bloomers as well, reblooming is such an appreciated trait.

Rudbeckia hirta ‘Prairie Sun’ has been a bright spot in the flat garden.

Too much fine foliage, otherwise known as the dreaded little leaf syndrome in this bed, is confusing to the eye. The aptly named Prairie Sun offers a resting spot. As is forever the case, more are needed. It goes without saying at this point. The larger leaf in the top center is a clump of Aster tataricus ‘Jindai’ that is being encouraged to multiply freely. I believe it is obliging for there are small sprouts poking up near the mother ship, er clump.

Statuesque, imposing and fragrant, the late season lilies are the true stars at the moment. Seen above is the yellow/red Orienpet Lilium ‘Robert Johnson’ backed by the towering multibudded L. ‘Black Beauty’.

So easy to take for granted are the inherited with the property Lilium tigrinum. The Eastern Swallowtail is drawn to the brilliant coloration, as are hummingbirds. And people. The bulbils from the leaf axils have dropped and germinated throughout the garden. Seedlings are dug and moved to proper locations, for this is a very tall plant.

It was learned at the recent blogger meetup in Buffalo, New York from co-host of the event Elizabeth that our thought to be and sold as Lilium ‘Lady Alice’ is actually L. white henryi. I wondered why there was so much variation in the colorways of the five bulbs received from Brent And Becky’s. Now we know, thanks to the generous sharing of knowledgable garden bloggers.

A long view looking across the shed bed into the knot garden tippy tiptops shows the brightest flowers that can be seen from inside the addition whilst sitting with the laptop on the trusty lazyboy.

Belamcanda chinensis of varying hue dot the shed bed, (Added: We have been informed that these are probably crosses of x pardancanda norissii — a bigeneric hybrid between Belamcanda and Pardanopsis, thanks Joseph!) viewing as orange from afar. We find it amusing how because most all of them have freckles…

…It is the smooth solids that are held in higher regard. If the numbers were reversed, the freckles would be prized. Eryngiums offer a cooling backdrop with blue stems, leaves and seedheads.

But it is this yellow that is most prized, for it is the only one of its kind. It may have to be moved to the yellow/white garden for safe keeping.

Calla lily Zantedeschia ‘Naomi Campbell’ has faded from purple to nearly black but still stands tall and model erect. Behind her to the right is the Bongo Congo family. The drought has been broken by recent ample precipitation, but it came too late to revive the burnt toast foliage of the astible. The lack of rain for more than two months has sped the process of the warm season flowering, but…

…it was still a shock to find a fully open flowering stalk on the fall blooming Muhlenbergia capillaris grass. What is the world coming to? Or the more grammatically correct might be: To what is the world coming? Can the all knowing, all seeing Carol of Maydreams, idea-master of Bloom Day tell us?

Frances

~ by fairegarden on July 16, 2010.