The dahlia bulbs that Leon’s friend Gudrun passed to us are flourishing.  I planted them randomly, as many did not have labels.

The challenge with not knowing which cultivars were which meant that some shorter ones ended up in the back and taller ones in the front.  I’ll fix it next year when I’ll move some around.

The enormous Echinops ritro grown from seed many years ago is coming into bloom, to the bee’s delight.

The detail of these flowers is spectacular and intricate.

And the honeybee agrees.

Leon has been gardening in pots this year and they are starting to come into their own.  These are just outside the front door.

One of the rain lilies has been fooled by my overhead watering in the greenhouse and is throwing a spike.  These flowers are delicate in color and constitution…I’ll be lucky in this busy season to catch the flower open.

This Eucomis is blooming in the greenhouse.  The spikes are unruly, but the florets are starry and bright.

This rather blurry photo is of the Coelogyne cristata that I plan to try and sell on Craigslist.   It has grown well, but is shy to bloom.  I suspect it would be happier in a warmer greenhouse.

A clearer picture.

The Clematis seeds are glistening on the vines.

 

 

 

July is probably my favorite month for the orchard garden.  I’ve been harvesting berries every day, including two big bags of chokeberries (aronia) for smoothies.  It was really sad–there were three GIANT berries on the Prime Ark blackberry cane, but when I got back from the cabin over the 4th, they were gone.  It is blooming again, so there will be more in another month or so, but who knows if they’ll be that big and juicy.

The Apache blackberries are ripening now, at the same time as the wild Himalayan blackberries around the neighborhood.  It is early for them all–I guess the early warm months got them off to a fast start, because it hasn’t been particularly warm in June/July.

Here are some of the standouts in the garden this week:

I really love this perennial geranium that I started from seed this year.

Another view–there are dozens of flowers coming on, too.

You can see the way this plant grows–the leaves are pretty cool, too.

Crocosmia “Lucifer” shouting loud and proud in the orchard garden.  These are from sister Cate.

You don’t often see the yellow form of the butterfly bush.  I’ve had this one for 25 years or so–pruned it way back this year and thought it might die, but instead, here it is!

Another view.

Here is a more common purple hybrid, with verbascums underneath.

White butterfly bush.  This one has particularly generous flower spikes.

These are graceful when they aren’t quite open yet.

You can really see how exuberant this hybrid is here.  The fragrance is wonderful, too–reminds me of my childhood.

I’ve had this phlox for 25 years, too.  It is crowded a bit right now and doesn’t get the care it should, but it still blooms.

Here are some of the white alpine strawberries I grew from seed last year.  These berries actually taste BETTER than the red ones and they are fairly prolific–much more so than I was led to believe.

This is the Acca sellowiana I bought from Hirt’s this year.  It is growing well, but slowly.  There are purple Jacob’s ladders here between the geranium seedlings, all in a ring around the Acca.

One of the grafted branches from my espaliered asian pear tree.

There are a few other pears on this tree, but by far most of them are on the Shinseiki cultivar.  My brother helped me prop up the branch and I lightened the load by picking three of these today.  They are ripe and wonderful–not a strong flavor, but fantastic.Apache blackberries ripening.

Clematis is still blooming and graceful.

Still quite a few flowers…

Crocosmia always make for some interesting photos.  I would expect hummingbirds to hang out around these, but I haven’t seen them here–they love the fuchsias much more.

Clematis “Rooguchi”–first blooms.  The vine isn’t strong this year, as it has been moved around and the vines broken.

Same flower with flash–I really like this photo.

Daphne blooming really well on the back patio…and, oh, the fragrance!

Streptocarpus blooming in the greenhouse.

One of the abutilon seedlings blooming.  This is a favorite, with the darker veins on cream petals.

Another of the abutilon seedlings.  This one is a mauvey pink.  I’m struggling with these water lovers this year–they need to get potted on in bigger pots, but I’m not sure how much room I want to devote to them…and then the flowers start and I think no amount of room would be too much for these cheerful blooms.

One of my Clivia species…I think this is gardenii.

Another Madevallia bloom, just for the record.  I want to be able to look back and see how long these amazing plants have been blooming.

I planted some nasturtium seeds that I’m growing with pole beans in a pot in the greenhouse.  The strange thing is that they are supposed to look like the flower below, but they are a mix of all different kinds–semi-doubles, singles, etc.

This is what the package showed.  The petals are pretty interesting–a nice take on an old favorite.

Here is the veggie garden…full of flowers.  I think I’m not much for growing vegetables.  But there are some beans in there somewhere, and they are blooming and setting beans.

A Cymbidium still blooming under the Douglas fir tree.

One of my favorite combinations…aucuba and goats beard.  Even after the flowers have turned brown, they still work in the garden.

Acanthus blooms close-up.

More detail of the Acanthus spinosus flowers.

Dahlia out in the front garden…these were from Leon’s friend Gudrun’s ex-boyfriend.  I sprinkled them around a couple of months ago and they are rewarding me now.

Malva blooming in the front garden–another volunteer from plants grown 20 years ago from sister Cate.  Amazing how the seeds rest in the soil and pop up just every so often.

Here is the wild rose (seed-grown from arboretum seed) that I butchered a few weeks ago.  You can see it is responding with a huge flush of new growth.  If I remember, in a couple of weeks, I’ll tip it back again and try to keep it short and bushy.

This dahlia was pictured above–it is a nice salmony pink and looks to have a waterlily form.

The phlox are loving the wetter spring/summer this year.  I had gotten some tiny starts from mail order years ago and I just stuck them in together.  They have grown up a bit, but haven’t been as robust in the driveway bed as I had hoped.  Of course, they probably could use a little TLC and maybe more food–so I fertilized them more this year and they responded.

Here is the other cultivar that got crammed with the lavendar/white one.  It is interesting–the flowers open darker and fade, or open lighter and darken.  I’m not sure which.  But I like it!

A little closer up…

You an see the colored leaves here…and the flowers are really big for a perennial phlox.

Even closer up.

The wonderful fragrant rose on the Tangen arbor still has some flowers and fragrance, though it is past its prime.  I need to prune it once the floral show has past to keep it bushy and in-bounds.