Wildflowers Begin to Brighten the Hillside Meadow

On a walk below the cliff tonight, I discovered lots of wildflowers 

and went back home for my camera.

Lupines

Rosa rugosa

Magenta Sweet Williams

Bi-color Sweet Williams

Yarrow

Bird's Foot Trefoil clump and Daisy buds behind

Bird's Foot Trefoil close-up

Cinquefoil

Clover

It must be almost June!

Front Planting with Fall in Mind

While the back deck plantings were a choice between tropical colors, the front planter has a fall theme with oranges, reds and yellows.  The yellow-gold Stella De Oro daylilies set the tone here with a brilliant, chartreuse low-growing cedar and the deep green of the upright holly bush.

The thriller is a Sundaze Flame Strawflower by Proven Winners. It's only 10 -14 inches high but it is in a footed urn planter which has height of its own.  From the Australian outback, it is sun and drought and heat tolerant which it will need to be in the front of the house facing west.  Smart Look Red Celosia will also provide some spikes of brilliant plumes about a foot tall.

The fillers include Festive Dance Coleus and Blush Euphorbia by Breathless. The red is in the green leaves of the Euphorbia and the blooms are white touched with a bit of pink.  The coleus may not have been a good choice. As I read more about it, I found that it cannot tolerate sun.  Too bad because it has orange, olive, carmine and parrot green edges IN THE SHADE!

The spillers are Superbells Dreamsicle in orange by Proven Winners

 and Marguerite Sweet Potato Vine in chartreuse green.

My hummingbird spike and some metal bell chimes complete the area.

Now I'll need to watch the planter as we go through the growing season 

to see if the plants can stand the same environment: hot, sunny afternoons, quick to dry out 

and the drainage isn't great in an urn.

Maybe I should drill some small holes in the lower part of the base?

Check out growing environment details at: 

Proven Winners

BloomIQ

Dave's Garden

Two Planters--One Is Purple and the Other Red

I couldn't decide which color to make the two planters on the deck this year, so I made one of each of my top two color choices:  purples and reds.

The purple one has thrillers, fillers and spillers in pinks and purples.

The thriller is a pink Mandevilla vine, a Sun Parasol variety from Monrovia

which is supposed to be much less likely to fade in color in intense sun.

One problem:  the first bloom seems to be red and not pink!  Mismarked?

The fillers are Mexican Heather in pink with textured, deep green leaves; two summer snapdragons, one in blue by Proven Winners and another in Orchid Pink by Archangel.

Proven Selections Blue Zephyr has lacy foliage and fragrant, daisy-like blooms.

Icicles is a licorice plant with upright, bushy silver foliage by Proven Winners.

The spillers are Proven Winners Supertunia Bordeaux in violet pink with deep purple throats and veins and regular licorice plants with rounded silver-white leaves.

It's already settling in well to its new home on the deck.

The red planter is home to the hummingbird feeder.

The main thriller is a crimson Mandevilla vine, again a Sun Parasol variety.

The two coleus will be fillers as well as a Watermelon Charm Supertunia by Proven Winners.

There is also some Smart Look Red Celosia with brilliant paint brush plumes.

The two spillers are a regular licorice plant and an Ace of Spades Sweet Potato Vine.

Another filler is not visible and when I searched for it at Proven Winners,

it is one that doesn't bloom in heat. And we've been having heat!

Maybe it's in there and just hiding...

It's a Sunsatia Cranberry by Proven Winners.

The filler I can't identify is the tubular flower on the right.

I will need to go back to Paul & Sandy's to see what it is.

I remember that hummingbirds love it--and that's why I bought it.

Information on these varieties is available at Proven Winners web site

and BloomIQ.com  The photos are excellent and the information interesting.

If only I could remember the specifics through the summer.

But that's why I put it up here on the blog.

If I have trouble with a plant, I identify it here and search for some tips on growing it.

A Fairy Visited My Garden

A fairy named Lily came to visit today and set up the fairy garden under our deck.

My "worker bee" grandson, Robbie, had just put down the fresh mulch.

This is how she left it--and this is how it will stay until she flies over again.

She also did some watering in front.

She--and the flowers are growing so much.

At Jessica's Garden Center July 2013

 At Jessica's Garden Center July 2015

What a cute little garden fairy!

Memorial Day--a LIttle Early

Memorial Day came early this year. We still have a week of May to go before the glorious month of June. Yet, the garden is coming along despite the vagaries in the weather to date.

My neighbor's side garden has been lovely with color:  a red and coral azalea, 

the rhododendron's purple hues against the silver feathery stems of  artemsia    

and the chartreuse leaves of hosta.  The yellow iris pops among them all.

I tend her garden bed as well as mine.  Many of the plants have been divisions of my own.

I moved the Siberian Iris in the fall. Her iris are blooming but mine are still just buds.

I have only morning sun, while her bed faces south for day-long sunshine.

My bearded iris on my south side are in bloom.

They are divisions from Belltown Garden Club plant sales in the past.

The bees are out, but my favorite bees are the worker bees (my husband and son)

who are mowing along the fence line to keep the weeds down.

My youngest grandson helped me finish up mulching the beds.

The peonies

and the poppies 

are ready to burst!

June is coming!

May Day -- a Little Late

No rain and the garden is responding with delayed bloom.  Last night we had some rain, finally.

The grass is green, the azaleas in full bloom, the daffodils dry from two days of 80 + degrees.

The frog didn't need his umbrella.  The rain gauge only shows 1/4 inch of rain overnight.

But the raindrops look like diamonds on the large Hosta leaves.

The fuzzy Lamb's Ears look a little wet and caught a few drops in their leaf bud cups.

Lily couldn't find a single drop of water in any of the Bleeding Heart blooms

when she visited two days ago

even though each is supposed to have one under normal conditions in Spring.

But the quarter inch of rain was enough to paint pastel colors of May:

blue Ajuga, pink Korean Spice azalea, and lime green Creeping Jenny on fresh mulch.