Once more the garden is changing gear, a lot of the poppies, iris and peonies, but not all, have finished and are handing over to Hydrangeas, Hemerocallis and Crocosmia. The colours are changing with Hemerocallis and Crocosmia, their flowers are looking a lot hotter and I think the garden is trying to tell me that it is summer. We are not having summer temperatures and we are still having rain every day, so it doesn’t really feel like summer at the moment, but my bog plants are happy! The following photos are for my Six on Saturday post.
No 1 Chrysanthemum superbum
Chrysanthemum superbum Wirral Supreme, another plant that reminds me of home in the North West, I spent all my childhood years on the Wirral.
No 2 Clematis Prince Charles
Clematis Blue Angel who is guarding the gas tank.
He will have to work a bit harder though before he hides the tank! It’s nice though that I get a spiritual wave as I come up the drive.
No 3 Hemerocallis
Unknown day lily, it always has lots of flowers.
H. Pink Damask, the first Day lily that I bought about 25 yrs ago, it is still going strong.
H. Stafford was bought because my parents used to live in Stafford.
No 4 Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are just starting to flower, this one is a lovely shade of pale blue.
Hydrangea Mme E. Moullierre is under the kitchen window and I can watch the bluetits searching for insects while I wash the dishes.
No 5 Crocosmia
Crocosmia Lucifer is always my first crocosmia to flower, the others won’t be far behind.
No 6 Astilbe.
This red Astilbe is the first one to flower in the bog garden, plenty more to come over the next few weeks.
This pink one is planted on the rockery, below some rocks where the rainwater runs down, so it gets plenty to drink.
Those are my Six for this week, the garden is changing so I must do a lot of cutting back and deadheading, it is pouring down at the moment so will have to wait a bit before I venture out and tackle things, maybe I can catch up with the housework!
Thanks once again to Jon The Propagator for hosting, please pay him a visit to see other garden’s highlights for this week.
Nice to see hydrangeas when it is still winter here.
Thanks Barbara, lovely to hear from you!
A lovely selection. That blue hydrangea is very pretty indeed.
Thank you Graeme, I like that hydrangea too. It used to be owned by my mother, she had it in a pot and it was pink! When she came to live with us I released it into the garden here and gradually over the years it has turned a beautiful blue as my soil is different.
The pale blue Hydrangea that was your mothers is a beautiful colour. The Hemerocallus really are starting to add a splash of bright colours to the garden. We have rain here at last, just as well, so I too catch up with a bit of housework lol.
I can send you more rain if you would like it Denise! The day lilies are making a lovely splash of colour, so different to my other plants, it will be amazing when they all get going.
Lovely July selection Pauline. I am always envious of people who can grow astilbes, although they would have done very well this year with so much rain. Hydrangeas are difficult here too although I do grow them in pots where I can kerp them watered. I love Madame. E. Moulliere.
All our rain and my heavy soil dictate what I can grow Chloris, there are times I long for plants that like well drained soil, but I know they will only die in my garden, like you I have to grow them in pots!
I’m surprised to hear you are having so much rain. It’s been dry around here until recently and horribly muggy and close. What a lovely selection, I just love your blue hydrangea, such a lovely colour. Mine always turn pink once in my soil.xxx
The rain has hardly stopped this month Dina, but the forecast says it soon will thank goodness! My soil is just the acid side of neutral so that is why the hydrangea changed colour, it took quite a few years to do so though.x
I haven’t tried hemerocallis or crocosmia for a few years as they just gave up flowering – possibly because they were getting too shad, so seeing yous makes me think I could try again – as you say, they change the colour palette of a garden as the year goes on. But I do have astilbe, even without the dampness. I like the look of that Chrysanthemum and will seek it out as I note it has a long flowering season.
Both plants make such a difference to the look of the garden at this time of year, blue and white agapanthus will soon be joining them, making the garden quite colourful. I’m surprised that the day lilies look so happy in the flood water each time it rains hard.