Th daylilies are really putting on a show this year.. more on those later this week. The Japanese Iris or Iris ensata are giving them a run for their money, however. These are grown here in Groton by a wonderful woman who donates them to our Garden Club plant sale every year. I keep adding to my collection.
Variegated
Silent thunder
Warai Hotel
Raspberry Candy
Ruffled White Water
Unknown blue
Happy belated 4th.. I have been having some “technical difficulties” with my photo equipment. I hope it is now fixed, and I can get back to posting. I took these photos on the 4th because I thought the blossoms looked like fireworks.
Daylilies and Veronica
Centaurea macrocephala
Allium cernuum
Allium pulchellum
Papyrus ‘King Tut’
The daylily explosion has begun. There was one very early one called “Elizabeth” that popped a few weeks ago but the real show is beginning now. There are three that vie for the first June blossom.. .this year “Little Baby Cakes” won the prize. Here’s a photo of it next to my granddaughter’s favorite rock.
There will be many more to come – perhaps a different bloom every day. I planted a few new ones this spring, and I can’t wait to see what they look like.
The sun came out after the big rain storm and so did Mom and Dad rabbit and their babies. I don’t know if they were out celebrating Father’s Day or the Summer Solstice but having four rabbits in one’s garden is not a good thing. Maybe they will just eat the clover in the lawn… yeah right. Here’s Dad…
and the kids…..
I hope they don’t munch everything..
This beautiful Catalpa (some call it Catawba) tree is now in bloom. It is particularly full of blossoms this year. It grows at the edge of the Lupine meadow in a swampy wet area. This isn’t the best photo, but I wanted to show the size of the tree.
Here’s a close-up of the blossoms.. stunning
When we were hiking in Scotland, I fell in love with this little plant – Pinguicula Grandiflora – common name Butterwort. The intense purple flower and lime green leaves really stood out in the boggy areas of the highlands. I saw the plant for sale at Cadys Falls Nursery in Vermont – cadysfallsnursery.com. The nursery had the plant growing in their large display garden and in little container bog gardens as well. I decided to try making one. The pot is plastic, with holes drilled 2 inches from the top .. no holes in the bottom. There are pebbles in the bottom, then a layer of sand , then a peaty mix, then sphagnum moss on the top. I am hoping all will thrive.
Another new development in the garden is the number of birds nesting this year. There are chickadees in one birdhouse, wrens in two of the others and robin nests in the cedar right outside the family room window and as of yesterday, in one of my hanging planters on the porch. The planter hangs right over my favorite chair. I guess I won’t be using that chair for awhile.
I apologize for not posting more pix from the garden. I have had a very hectic May schedule, and its been hard to find time for the garden. It has also been very dry, so I have been watering a lot trying to keep everything going. We finally got real rain today which should help out a lot. Here’s some photos I took the last few weeks, but didn’t have a chance to post. I hope you enjoy them, and if you live nearby , please come visit and see everything in person.
Epimedium “Wildfire”
Dodecatheon (Shooting star) from friend Sally
Dictamnus – my mom’s Gas Plant
Iris and Allium
Camassia and blueberry blossoms
Daylily “Elizabeth” – an early bloomer
Hosta “Marmalade”
Lupine meadow
Tree peony
I love these glorious mornings … nice and cool before it warms up. I would like to linger, but am off to work on our plant sale. However, the dew on the Lady’s Mantle was just too much to resist.
The cool spring continues but the few warm days we had last week allowed the plants to start catching up with where they should be. The trough plants are beginning to bloom and many of the ephemerals are starting their show.
This beautiful primrose – Primula marginata ‘Bentham’ was – purchased three years ago and this year it is blooming in my soapstone sink trough
Saxifraga apiculata ‘Alba’ (the white one) and Saxifraga sancta (yellow) share trough space with an unknown pink bloom
These Hepatica buds are as lovely as the blossoms I think
I also have a wild Hepatica – smaller and lighter blossom – peeking out from behind Dutchman’s breeches foliage
This is a new bloodroot I purchased last year – Sanguinaria canadensis – pink form
The lettuce and spinach are up and I’m expecting peas, radishes and beets to break through any day now. Now if Ma Nature could bring us a little more warmth, it would be most appreciated.
I planted peas today……..and radishes, lettuce and spinach. My hands are a mess, my back hurts and I have a big smile on my face. It felt so good to get back out in the dirt. The crocuses and snowdrops are blooming and everything else is growing, growing, growing. I swear I can just watch things shoot up before my eyes. I moved a lot of stuff around last fall, and I wrote most of it down but I have some mystery spots on my garden “map”. I know I put something in those spaces but I won’t know for sure what until something comes up. Can’t wait.
In the meantime, this might look like a pretty boring photo but to me its just beautiful because I planted sugar snap peas in that dirt. They should be up in a week.
Gramma Penny's Garden 