July Garden: What's Blooming Now

It's hot and humid here on Long Island, NY this month, which is typical for July. Around this time, I'm happy I did most of my big gardening tasks in the spring when the weather was more comfortable. Still, there is always a flower to deadhead or a perennial to relocate. Thankfully though, the garden is mostly on auto pilot and I'm enjoying the blooms.

Here's what's growing and blooming in my garden this month:

 The Russian Sage mingles with the Black Eye Susans

Echinacea 'Hot Papaya' really stands out (and above!) the 

Sedum, Liatris and more Black Eyed Susans

 A beautiful pink bee balm - Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'

More pinks! Above, coneflowers (echinacea) in bloom and below, a hydrangea -

Over in the shade garden, the Japanese Painted Fern is looking lovely next to the small Hosta 'Mouse Ears' and Hosta 'June.' This whole garden is finally starting to fill in!

Do you have any of these same plants? How's your garden this month? I'd love to hear from you!

After leaving a comment, head on over to May Dreams Gardens to see what's blooming around the country today.

Feathery Plumes of Astilbe

Astilbe is one of those plants I have really become fond of over the years. The fern-like foliage looks so handsome in the garden and suddenly, spires of feathery plumes arise above in an array of colors. 

Below, Astilbe 'Bressingham Beauty' enjoys the dappled sunlight in my backyard.

These shade loving plants can certainly brighten up a darkened section of the garden or even along a garden path to do the same. In colder climates, they can tolerate full sun, but they really thrive in the shade/dappled shade of my zone 7b garden on Long Island, NY.

This red variety doesn't get much "fuzzier" than this and also does well in some sun (most it gets is 2 hrs direct sun a day). But it's tall spires look like soldiers above the lush foliage below.

Here is a row of white astilbe I saw while on a local garden tour. I love how whimsical they look along the border. Such a great plant!

What's Blooming This Month? September 2014

The last few days have been perfect September weather - cool mornings and evenings, warm days and low humidity. The sunlight hits the garden differently this time of year - warmer, softer and somewhat more peaceful. 

Here's what's blooming in my Long Island, NY garden this month:

Although the Rudbeckias (Black-eyed Susans) are starting to fade, their seed heads are a wonderful treat for the birds. In a few more days, the mums will be in full bloom, prolonging the show in this garden.

The panicle hydrangea is still in full bloom. I just love the fullness of this shrub, the delicacy of the flowers and its long season. 

The Crape Myrtle finished flowering weeks ago, but the seed heads will remain and are quite attractive. 

The Knockout Rose shrub is still blooming, with new buds appearing every day. It's a lovely compliment to the light green and pink of the neighboring Sedum.

Deep in the shade of my shade garden, these Toad Lilies are happy as can be.

The variegated Liriope is also in full bloom. I love the purple spikes standing tall over the green and white leaves. 

And what would fall be without a few new container plantings?

That's what's blooming in my garden this month! What's in yours? I'd love to hear from you.
As always, thanks to Carol over at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. It's great to see what's blooming all over the country!

What's Blooming: June 2014

Things here have been, well, hectic, to say the least. I took these photos of the garden in mid June and today I see it is July 1! Nevertheless, I want to put these up anyway, because June is my favorite month in the garden. All the pinks, blues, purples and yellows making their way into view. The air smells delicious, the birds are chirping continuously throughout the day and the trees are still a lovely shade of bright green.

Here's what my garden in June looks like this year:

The pink astilbe look fabulous against the wall and their sweet, subtle fragrance is a treat if you catch a whiff of it. Along the edges, I'm so happy to see the "Pretty Polly" Heuchera (coral bells) starting to fill in and produce their delicate wispy blooms.

Many varieties of hydrangea won't bloom this summer because of the brutal winter we had, which killed off all the over-wintering buds. But these Endless Summer varieties are just beginning to bloom and I'm so happy to see the lush foliage and blue flower heads.

This mountain laurel was salvaged during the backyard renovation project a few years ago and I'm so happy I kept it. It's in the perfect spot now and it's soft pink blooms are such a welcome sight in June.

This spot along the back fence gets a good deal of morning shade but enjoys some afternoon sun. Because of this, the blue hostas, viburnum and variegated red twig dogwood all get along swimmingly here.

 And of course, the carpet rose. Carefree, abundant and repeat bloomer. I just love this plant.

In the front yard, the pink lychnis (rose campion) is in full swing and mimics the color of the Salvia involucrata 'Mulberry Jam', to the right.

Along the sidewalk, the purple salvias are still putting on quite a show, the yellow daylilies (Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns') are starting to bloom and in the back, the blue tradescantia and white daisies are making their presences known.

Ah. And my much beloved shade garden that I created last summer. Look how everything is really filling in and growing so lush and healthy. I just love watching this garden unfold and morph into itself.

And so that's what my garden in June looks like! Let's hope next month is just as lovely!

New Shade Garden - 2 month update

As you may remember reading, in May 2013, I cleared out an overgrown area full of English Ivy to make room for a new shade garden in my front yard. (You can re-read that post here.). By now, it's the middle of July and things are growing well, filling out and blooming. So far, they seem happy in their new spot. Have a look at the progression below:  

May 8

The Kwanzan cherry tree above began to drop its petals, creating a beautiful pink carpet on the shade garden. Little plants were still getting settled in their new homes. 

May 28

By the end of the month, the Phlox 'Home Fires' and Aquilegia 'Biedermeier' were blooming!

June 15

A month later, the plants were really starting to take shape. 

In the far end, I have Tricyrtis 'Tojen', Ghost Fern, Astilbe 'Peach Blossom', and Hosta 'June'. Towards the middle, I planted Hercherella x Rosalie, Japanese Painted Fern, Phlox 'Home Fires', Polygonatum Varigatum and Hosta 'Great Expectations'. Continuing forward, I planted Brunnera 'Jack Frost', Dicentra rosa, Hosta 'Mouse Ears', Aquilegia 'Biedermeier', Anenome sylvestris, and Heuchera 'Obsidian'.  

June 23

The cute, little Hosta 'Mouse Ears' is in in bloom with lovely purple blossoms. 

July 17

Really filling in now. The Brunnera finished blooming and the foliage was doing well, but suddenly the leaves died off. Thankfully there are new ones coming up, so I'm hoping it will come back and thrive. 

I'm so happy it is doing well and really excited to see it flourish next year. 

New Shade Garden

I have always admired shade gardens. Varying shades of green, different textures and even a few delicate blossoms to enhance the woodland effect of such a garden always intrigued me. After we did the renovations last year, I suddenly had mostly sunny areas to plant. I wondered if I'd be able to find a spot to grow my lush woodland garden. But then, I noticed a rather boring spot along the side of my front yard that was covered with English Ivy. It is shaded by a Kwanzan cherry tree on one side and a Forsythia hedge on the other. I knew it was the perfect spot for my long awaited shade garden.

The first task was to remove the ivy. Judging by the spread and depth of the vine, I'm guessing it was here for a long time. Their roots are not very deep, so its relatively easy to pull out, but it was still a big job, given the amount of it.

The ivy was removed and the area was raked clean. The soil beneath had not seen the sun in many years and was quite compacted. I laid a nice layer of compost on top and then enlisted my husband to turn over the soil in order to loosen it and mix in the compost.

Ah... a nice clean, prepared bed. just waiting for plants now.

Back in February, when I started day dreaming about this shade garden, I ordered a bunch of plants from a mail-order catalog called Bluestone Perennials. They arrived nice and neat in a box just waiting to go into the garden. I was so excited when my shipment arrived. My kids thought I was a weirdo. 

I had drawn up a plan on homemade graph paper, plotting out complimentary and contrasting textures, colors and mature size of the plants. So after giving the shipped plants a good watering and some dappled sunlight, I placed the plants into the garden and modified the layout a bit. I have hostas, heucheras, ferns, columbine, bleeding hearts, tricyrtis (toad lily), solomon seal and anenome to name a few. The great thing about the plants from Bluestone is that they arrive in biodegradable plantable pots made from coconut husk fibers (coir). Because of this, you can plant the pot directly into the ground causing little to no transplant shock and the fibers naturally break down in the soil on their own.

After planting them in the ground, I edged the bed with some rocks I found on the property that match the edgings of the other garden beds.

After two weeks, the little plants are still growing. I can see a few new leaf sprouts and flower buds on a few of the plants which is encouraging. Parts of the garden get some morning sun and a little evening sun. Some parts are very shady. I can't wait to see how each plant grows as I continue to learn... after all, that's what gardening is all about, right?

Shade garden under a blanket of cherry petals.