The Garden in Mid-June

Hard to believe we’re already approaching the summer solstice!  I was away for about 10 days in May, which was a rough time to be leaving the garden.  Happily, not too much happened in my absence.  And it’s been blissfully cool since my return.  I feel like that’s about to change next week, so I’m soaking it up now since it won’t be back until late September (or so).

Lots of things are going on in the garden, of course, like the Alstroemeria are all in bloom. We have 3 variations on orange, one is a (welcome) invader from the property behind us…

Also, the Clematis viticella are in full swing.  Below are ‘Prince Charles’, ‘Etoile Violette’, and an unknown variety from the discount section of the grocery store.  More than ever, and also because our trees have grown, they are scrambling up into conifers and apple trees, and it’s delightful.

I added a new skinny wire trellis up which to grow Chilean Glory Vine (Eccremocarpus scaber).  This is just next to my office window so I’m hoping for some hummingbird sightings when it grows tall enough.

The front garden has entered its purple phase, with a little apricot thrown in for good measure along with all the burgundy foliage.

And specific plants are having really good moments, like the aging Hypericum berries, and the new flowers, foliage, and fruit of other beloved plants.

Happily, the two Clematis vines (Clematis cirrhosa – right & Clematis fasciculiflora – left) growing on the arbor at the corner of the house have finally reached the top!

The terra cotta pot collection in the back is all planted up.  Succulents in the front, herbs in the back.

I did a little “Chelsea Chop” to the Chocolate Eupatorium to see if it’ll bush out a little. I’m concerned I wasn’t ruthless enough, but we’ll see.

And the back border is leaving the Dianthus phase, and is primarily foliage until later in the summer, which I really enjoy.  I guess it’s time for the annual Dianthus “hair cut.”

Here’s a wider shot where you can see where the established part of the bed meets the part that was renovated earlier this year.  Soon we’ll be adding a low, juniper retaining wall here.  It’s also nice how the evergreen privacy screen has grown so tall — fewer occurrences of naked neighbor sightings in our future!

Two of my Dahlias are planted out, and two are still in a pot.  One is putting on steady growth and will be planted out in about a week — and this little guy only just poked his head above the soil!  I was about ready to give up.  This (hopefully) means some great bouquets in our future as we’ll see the return of Mrs. Kennedy + 3 other (new to me) varieties.

And finally … I don’t have many roses in our garden, but I’ve just increased our collection from 3 to 4.  Please meet Rose ‘Carding Mill’ from David Austin.  The tag says it smells like Myrrh and is a repeat bloomer, and I can’t wait to find out.  I’m going to plant it between the exhaust pipe for our furnace and the exhaust pipe for our water heater so it’ll get a little extra warmth to boost it along.  I’ve been composting last year’s leaves in that spot in a wire hoop, so hopefully the ground is nice and friable and ready for its new tenant.

This is one of the others, which starts out with yellow buds and fades to creamy white flowers.  I can’t remember the name offhand.

And the hips of Rosa Glauca, which are far better than the flowers IMHO.

And, lastly, the tiny bloom of this miniature rose, which was given to me as a gift a few years ago, and is actually doing okay for the moment out in the garden.  It succumbed to fungus last year, so we’ll see what happens this year.  It is lovely, though, at the moment.