Junecolour Outside: Early Summer Lushness

The variegated Geranium I bought a few weeks ago. I'm growing it for the foliage. The flowers are pale pink but they don't really "go" with the coloring of the leaves so I've been picking them off as they bloom. They're better looking in a small bud vase where they don't have to compete with those gorgeous multicolored leaves.

Ornamental grass "flowers" are almost 5 feet tall today. The day lily stalks are overtaking them. All photos clickable to enlarge.

The first Day Lily of Summer 2011 bloomed today.

This is a miniature version of Connecticut's state flower, the Mountain Laurel.

June's tomato plants are already blooming. She planted them a few weeks before I planted mine.

My new blue ceramic planter, a gift from Mary, has been replanted this week. For some reason, the three Marigolds I had in it before all died. All in the same night... Not sure what happened to them, but I moved my New Guinea Impatiens into it. That saturated blue color demands equally strong hues and shapes.

Spring Phlox are fading with time.

On the other hand, this hydrangea is just beginning to bud. These flowers are greenish/pinkish/bluish/lavender in the summer and then darken to a burgundy in the fall. Some of the petals stay green which is really a lovely combination.

Feverfew has small groups of white daisy-like flowers and the leaves when touched are very aromatic.

A closeup of the garden globe. The tree trunk it is sitting on is planted with purplish/burgunyd Perilla. A lonely Japanese Iris is at the bottom. They're just about done for the season.

Tiger Lily buds. These stalks are about 5-feet tall right now. Last year some insect ate them before they opened. This year, I've been more vigilant about hosing the bugs off. I don't use any chemicals on the flowers so it's rather hard to keep the foliage perfect. I'm pretty sure the flowers will bloom this year.

The radiating leaves of a small wild thistle plant. I find these in the lawn and diligently dig them up and move them into the flower gardens. Certain birds LOVE the thistle seeds in the early fall.

On its last bloom for 2011, the Japanese Iris next to my front steps is still beautiful.

The elegantly leaning boughs of my Solomon's Seals. The stalks are 5-6 feet tall but bend over and touch the ground.  By fall, those cream-colored hanging flowers will turn into seed pods that look just like ripe blueberries.

Neighbor Rick's summer annual by his front door. I can't remember the name of this variety.

A recent visitor to our yard is this Black-Crowned Night-Heron. He's been hanging out in the small creek behind the house. We've had so much rain this year, there is still quite a bit of water, and he hunts for his dinner back there. The creek always dries up by July though, so we probably won't see him much longer. He's about two-feet long from head to tail, and has red eyes that really look a bit spooky! I had to use the longest Zoom setting for this photo, hence the blurriness of it.

B T W :

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Though my dad died in 1986, I still raise a toast to him each year, and thank him for all he did for me as I was growing up. Though he was raised in an orphanage, and in fifteen foster homes, many of them abusive, and thus had no personal experience with what it meant to be a supportive, loving, father, he was all of that and much more.