Tuesday, June 3, 2014

June is Such a Pretty Month

A few weeks ago, when I was in Woodburn (Oregon) visiting my sister, we went nursery-hopping. One of our stops was not on any map and finding it was purely serendipitous. My sister was driving and when we saw the slightly tattered, "Plant Sale" sign, she braked quickly, turned us around and headed back. There was a very small dwelling surrounded by hoop houses and potted plants amid 4 foot tall grass. It was one of those places that you knew had hidden treasure but you'd have to put on your big girl pants and hunt for it. 

But first we had to hunt for a human. Finally, as Laura continued to search the premises, I went up to the house and knocked. A handsome young man named Emanuel came out and told us the rest of his family was at the farmers' market and we were welcome to look around and let him know if we saw anything we liked. One gallon pots were $5. 

Well, the price was right! So, off we went. 

I found this rose. I have no idea what the variety is but I love its clusters of small flowers, my favorite! The color is an exquisite cherry red. And the foliage doesn't look too terribly diseased. 

I might call her "Cherry" because she's so cheery. 


You can see her red cheeriness shining brightly in her new home.
Hopefully she'll get a little taller. 

I found one other polyantha-type rose in shades of pink. I'm thinking she could be 'Bonica.' However, I was forced to cut her completely down because, although she had lots of blossoms, she was royally pissed off that I pulled her up from the spot where she wanted to spend the remainder of her life, as evidenced by the deep root I had to tug and pull to loosen from the ground. I'll show photos of her when she recovers. I'd hate to embarrass her. 

I also found a sweet one gallon, Spiraea japonica 'Bullata'. I don't know why I don't have a photo of it but here is the photo from one of my favorite online nurseries, Far Reaches Farm in Port Townsend, Washington. I love the tiny, dark green leaves and of course, the pink blossoms are to-die-for. Plus this guy stays dwarf, at around 16 inches tops. Such a cutie! 

Spiraea japonica 'Bullata' in bloom at
Far Reaches Farm

Here are a few more goodies strutting their stuffs in my garden during the pretty month of June. 

Impatiens glandulifera ... the bees love to hide in these blossoms. 

Mimulus lewisii 

A newbie this year: Geranium 'Southcombe Double'
Its very first blossom! 

Penstemon 'Catherine Del LaMar'
My camera doesn't seem to be able to capture the intense blueness of this gem.

The Hypericums are coming in to bloom. 

And more of the Dianthus cultivars are lighting up the border.

Mock Orange (Philadelphis 'Belle Etoile') is intensely fragrant!  

Campanula punctata 'Pink Octopus' is such eye candy.
Even when not in bloom, the leaves are so nice.

I love the look of Ninebark, (Physocarpus opufolius 'Coppertina') post-blossom. 


Salvia verticillata 'Purple Rain' is just starting to bloom. 

My collection of Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) never disappoint me.
On Sunday a Swallowtail butterfly was also enjoying them. 

My daughter Beth, who is a much better photographer than I ever could be,
took this photo. How cool is that? 

I love June when the callas bloom. 

And the pink Jasmine (Jasminium stephanense)

And check out the clemmies...
C. 'Niobe' 

C. verticillata 'Venosa Violacea'  with Rosa 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
Yes, I planned this. Don't you love it when your ideas work out? 

C. 'Alionushka' 

C. 'Pagoda' which looks identical to my 'Betty Corning' but oh well. 

A Clemmy by any name is awesome. 

C. 'Ville de Lyon' is in the process of swallowing the windmill. 

After being unable to locate Plume Poppy (Macleaya cordata) for years,
I was finally able to land another one during my nursery trek
with my sister. I won't let this one die, darn it! 
I just had to show you this photo of a fun green and white foliage color combo.
We've got your Pulmonaria, Polemonium and Sedum. Plus a few solid greens for good measure.


And now, because you all like to see wide photos of the garden, here you go. There are a bunch so I'm not going to comment. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to holler.






























Finally, I wanted to share with you all Tracie Fish's blog, Fishtail Cottage. Tracie (who lives and gardens in northern Washington State) hosts a weekly Garden Party  link-up. Not only is her blog a treasure trove of garden goodness, the links to other blogs are really fun to visit. And, she is open to any garden blogger who wants to join. How sweet is that? 
Fishtail Cottage
June is such a pretty month, isn't it? 

16 comments:

  1. Wow Grace I can see why you love June in your garden...mine is not blooming as much still but I can't wait to see Campanula punctata 'Pink Octopus' as it is my fav campanula!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. June is indeed a pretty month! Love that you found some great buys at the nursery that you found! The wide shots of your garden are glorious - everything is so full, lush and vibrating with life!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grace, I love the gardens! Your blog is like browsing through a wonderful gardening magazine. It seems you have one of everything, just what I wish for.:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW!!! Your gardens are filled with so much beauty and color. You inspire me!

    FlowerLady

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love stumbling across hidden gems like that nursery. One or two seem to crop up on any drive through country roads. I would have a tough time choosing a favorite month, but R insists it must be June. This post might prove him right (shhh...don't tell him).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Your garden is so lovely Grace! A very big Wow. Of course, now I am going to have to find that Penstamon--yikes, what a shade of blue. And you also have a marvelous way with Dianthus, which all the critters love. Please tell you daughter she did a fabulous job with her photograph--Brava. She takes after her Mama.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your garden looks fabulous in June. It makes me want to go out and get more plants ; and I think I will this weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. So many blooms already! Amazing! Grace, your garden is beautiful! I love that combination: clematis and roses!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Amazing, Grace, I guess you get that a lot. Your garden is so lovely with all the flowers. I have a couple of the same Clematis, but my Violacea Venosa is just barely getting started, she is insanely loaded with vines and flowers this year! Your garden looks so neat and tidy, I'm still fighting all the weed grasses before they can go to seed. I would love to have a city garden without grass like yours. I especially like your neat clumps of pinks and Sweet Williams.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your garden is INCREDIBLE, Grace. After your first few plants, I thought "well, she put her best up front" but, no, there was just one great picture after another! It may seem odd but I was particularly taken by the photos of the beautiful green Acanthus - mine really didn't fare well under the heat that hit us hard in May.

    ReplyDelete
  11. So many lovely flowers! And your garden looks so lush and full. Your Stipa gigantea looks much better than mine. Not sure if it almost died because my parents cut it back or if my parents cut it back because it almost died.

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is so inspiring, I'd like to have them in my lawn too. Month of June is indeed beautiful, it is the time that flowers bloom to its fullest! So lovely!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think I could go on holiday just in your garden, Grace. :)

    The rose looks like it could be a Adelaide Hoodless if so, tough as nails. Gotta love 5 bucks, 5 bucks, 5 bucks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your garden is gorgeous, as usual. I LOVE your sambuncus and the hypericum. How do you keep both in bounds? I had to pull my hypericum out of the garden years ago because it took over. I have a Betty Corning growing through some really tall lilies for support but it hasn't bloomed yet. It's still pretty small. :(

    ReplyDelete
  15. oh, how i'd love to stroll thru the gardens in person! you have so many unique garden plants that I've never been introduced to before! thank you for linking up to Fishtail Cottage's Garden Party this week! Can't wait to see more of your garden posts this summer! xoox, tracie

    ReplyDelete
  16. WOW! That Campanula is to die for. And every one of the types of Clematis are beautiful. Is that a Sambucus nigra in bloom in the next to last photo? Whatever it is, it is GOR-GEOUS!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for being here! Your comments feed my soul.