![\"DSC06325\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gardenescapades.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/DSC06325.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI really love this perennial geranium that I started from seed this year.<\/p>\n
Another view\u2013there are dozens of flowers coming on, too.<\/p>\n You can see the way this plant grows\u2013the leaves are pretty cool, too.<\/p>\n Crocosmia \u201cLucifer\u201d shouting loud and proud in the orchard garden. \u00a0These are from sister Cate.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t often see the yellow form of the butterfly bush. \u00a0I\u2019ve had this one for 25 years or so\u2013pruned it way back this year and thought it might die, but instead, here it is!<\/p>\n Another view.<\/p>\n Here is a more common purple hybrid, with verbascums underneath.<\/p>\n White butterfly bush. \u00a0This one has particularly generous flower spikes.<\/p>\n These are graceful when they aren\u2019t quite open yet.<\/p>\n You can really see how exuberant this hybrid is here. \u00a0The fragrance is wonderful, too\u2013reminds me of my childhood.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve had this phlox for 25 years, too. \u00a0It is crowded a bit right now and doesn\u2019t get the care it should, but it still blooms.<\/p>\n Here are some of the white alpine strawberries I grew from seed last year. \u00a0These berries actually taste BETTER than the red ones and they are fairly prolific\u2013much more so than I was led to believe.<\/p>\n This is the\u00a0Acca sellowiana I bought from Hirt\u2019s this year. \u00a0It is growing well, but slowly. \u00a0There are purple Jacob\u2019s ladders here between the geranium seedlings, all in a ring around the Acca.<\/p>\n One of the grafted branches from my espaliered asian pear tree.<\/p>\n There are a few other pears on this tree, but by far most of them are on the Shinseiki cultivar. \u00a0My brother helped me prop up the branch and I lightened the load by picking three of these today. \u00a0They are ripe and wonderful\u2013not a strong flavor, but fantastic. Clematis is still blooming and graceful. Still quite a few flowers\u2026<\/p>\n Crocosmia always make for some interesting photos. \u00a0I would expect hummingbirds to hang out around these, but I haven\u2019t seen them here\u2013they love the fuchsias much more.<\/p>\n Clematis \u201cRooguchi\u201d\u2013first blooms. \u00a0The vine isn\u2019t strong this year, as it has been moved around and the vines broken.<\/p>\n Same flower with flash\u2013I really like this photo.<\/p>\n Daphne blooming really well on the back patio\u2026and, oh, the fragrance!<\/p>\n Streptocarpus blooming in the greenhouse.<\/p>\n One of the abutilon seedlings blooming. \u00a0This is a favorite, with the darker veins on cream petals.<\/p>\n Another of the abutilon seedlings. \u00a0This one is a mauvey pink. \u00a0I\u2019m struggling with these water lovers this year\u2013they need to get potted on in bigger pots, but I\u2019m not sure how much room I want to devote to them\u2026and then the flowers start and I think no amount of room would be too much for these cheerful blooms.<\/p>\n One of my Clivia species\u2026I think this is gardenii.<\/p>\n Another Madevallia bloom, just for the record. \u00a0I want to be able to look back and see how long these amazing plants have been blooming.<\/p>\n I planted some nasturtium seeds that I\u2019m growing with pole beans in a pot in the greenhouse. \u00a0The strange thing is that they are supposed to look like the flower below, but they are a mix of all different kinds\u2013semi-doubles, singles, etc.<\/p>\n This is what the package showed. \u00a0The petals are pretty interesting\u2013a nice take on an old favorite.<\/p>\n Here is the veggie garden\u2026full of flowers. \u00a0I think I\u2019m not much for growing vegetables. \u00a0But there are some beans in there somewhere, and they are blooming and setting beans.<\/p>\n A Cymbidium still blooming under the Douglas fir tree.<\/p>\n One of my favorite combinations\u2026aucuba and goats beard. \u00a0Even after the flowers have turned brown, they still work in the garden.<\/p>\n Acanthus blooms close-up.<\/p>\n More detail of the Acanthus spinosus flowers.<\/p>\n Dahlia out in the front garden\u2026these were from Leon\u2019s friend Gudrun\u2019s ex-boyfriend. \u00a0I sprinkled them around a couple of months ago and they are rewarding me now.<\/p>\n Malva blooming in the front garden\u2013another volunteer from plants grown 20 years ago from sister Cate. \u00a0Amazing how the seeds rest in the soil and pop up just every so often.<\/p>\n Here is the wild rose (seed-grown from arboretum seed) that I butchered a few weeks ago. \u00a0You can see it is responding with a huge flush of new growth. \u00a0If I remember, in a couple of weeks, I\u2019ll tip it back again and try to keep it short and bushy.<\/p>\n This dahlia was pictured above\u2013it is a nice salmony pink and looks to have a waterlily form.<\/p>\n The phlox are loving the wetter spring\/summer this year. \u00a0I had gotten some tiny starts from mail order years ago and I just stuck them in together. \u00a0They have grown up a bit, but haven\u2019t been as robust in the driveway bed as I had hoped. \u00a0Of course, they probably could use a little TLC and maybe more food\u2013so I fertilized them more this year and they responded.<\/p>\n Here is the other cultivar that got crammed with the lavendar\/white one. \u00a0It is interesting\u2013the flowers open darker and fade, or open lighter and darken. \u00a0I\u2019m not sure which. \u00a0But I like it!<\/p>\n A little closer up\u2026<\/p>\n You an see the colored leaves here\u2026and the flowers are really big for a perennial phlox.<\/p>\n Even closer up.<\/p>\n The wonderful fragrant rose on the Tangen arbor still has some flowers and fragrance, though it is past its prime. \u00a0I need to prune it once the floral show has past to keep it bushy and in-bounds.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" July is probably my favorite month for the orchard garden. \u00a0I\u2019ve been harvesting berries every day, including two big bags of chokeberries (aronia) for smoothies. \u00a0It was really sad\u2013there were three GIANT berries on the Prime Ark blackberry cane, but when I got back from the cabin over the 4th, they were gone. \u00a0It is … Continue reading July Update–Dahlias and Geraniums and Clematis, Oh My!<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>Apache blackberries ripening.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n