Showing posts with label bloom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bloom. Show all posts

Monday, June 10, 2013

Early June Downpours Pack Punch

The growing season is just getting underway and last night there was a downpour. Followed by another at 13:30. Downpours can deliver a powerful punch. Weather can knock-out a garden before its prime. Between the downpours, I ran outside to assess the damage.


Above is a well established Black Eyed Stella Daylily with petals thinned by a rain beating.



This Clematis x durandii was wet but came through without needing the cut man.

The remaining blooming flowers were down for a technical. So I wondered over to the raised bed rings to see if the vegetables got their ears pinned back.



Lettuce was still holding their heads high. Prepared for what ever nature may unload on them in later rounds. 

The above lettuce is Red Rosie purchased from Johnny's Select Seeds for the 2012 growing season. I have been taking some outside leaves for salads over the last week. It tastes delicious. Nothing better than lettuce from the bed directly to the salad bowl. Except for tomatoes directly from the vine to my lips.



This is Buttercrunch. It, too, was purchased at Johnny's for the 2012 growing season.

The potatoes planted in the lazy bed are showing signs of growth.



After I covered the potatoes with sod, grass side down, I covered the bed with shredded tree leaves collected and shredded last autumn. There are five or six plants that have pushed their way to the sunlight.

On the whole, the garden is in good shape this early June. All one can do is be prepared. And, hope for the best.

I hope it will be a champion season.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved




Sunday, June 2, 2013

May Ends Bursting with Flowers

By the end of May all of the early spring bulbs are spent. Now the croms, tubers and perennials take over the spring flush of flowers.


There are two hardy geraniums blooming in my garden. On the left is Brookside and the right Claridge Druce

One of the best purchases I ever made was two bushes of Sambucus Nigra - Elderberry - Black Lace. They were planted some six years ago. They have been trimmed very little over those years.



It can be grown as a wonderful screen or trimmed for a more formal look. In the above photograph it has reached the height of 8'/2.4m. The pink blossoms have a heady licorice scent that fills the air. Blackish-red berries follow in late summer. The birds always seem to beat me to the berries. 




Another strongly scented flower blooming in late May is the Madame Isaac Pereire rose.



The antique Bourbon rose variety shares a 15'/4.5m trellis with a 
 Lonicera - Honeysuckle - Alabama Crimson on the south side of my house.



Madame Isaac Pereire is virtually thornless, which is good because I brush against it as I walk along the footpath. The honeysuckle attracts hummingbirds.



Iris are in bloom. The above white spreads into thick clumps.



This stately tall, dark and handsome variety is slow to spread and
looks
marvelous.



Meadow sage tends to fall over and could use support. 



I found this hoe stealing a sip. The ferns said nothing.

It won't be long to see what blooms in June.


©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

May - Spring Flowers

While my square foot vegetable garden is beginning to bare fruit, more flowers around my house are blooming each and every day. I guess the old adage, "April showers, bring May flowers", is mostly correct.  There wasn't much rain in April but there are May flowers.
Clematis 
Clematis
Rose Madame Isaac Pereire
 Iris
Iris

Budding white Iris with Red Poppy in background
"Johnson's Blue" Cranesbill or Hardy Geranium
2 Sambucus Nigra "Black Lace" bushes in full bloom
The odor is lovely, spicy with a strong taste of licorice

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved