Blooms of Mid-July, Part 2
Following up on the last post, here’s a run down of the blooms in the rest of the garden: the Left Bank (the smaller part of the front garden that lies west of the driveway) and the shady back garden.
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Notes from a wildlife-friendly cottage garden
Blooms of Mid-July, Part 1
By the middle of July it feels like we have reached the gateway to high summer in Chicago. Let’s see what’s blooming in the garden, starting with the main part of the front garden: the Driveway Border, Sidewalk Border, and the Island Bed. The remainder we’ll cover in a second post.
Along Came a Spiderwort
Now comes mid-June, and the garden is still in something of a blue period, tranquil and calm – at least in the sunny front area.
Blue June
By the first week of June our garden has taken on a more tranquil character. The orange, red, and yellow exuberance of the tulips, narcissi, and poppies has spent itself. Now the garden is full of the bulky greens of summer-blooming plants not yet ready to put on their show.
Poppies are Popular With Me
This May was the first time I had genuine Poppies (Papaver) blooming in our garden.
Late Return
For the gardener, spring is about plants returning to active growth from their winter dormancy. The earliest plants to do so inspire a special jolt of happiness.
The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring (Tra La)
A great deal can happen in the garden between the first of May and the middle of the month. Much depends on the vagaries of the weather, and we’ve had a surplus of vagaries this year. In this two week time span, some flowers fade and others emerge. Every inspection of the garden at this …
Mid-April Blooms
April had a rather wild mood swing during this past weekend. We transitioned abruptly from cold and surly to sunny warmth. Plants went from shivering in their foliage to galloping forward to catch up with the growing season.
Ten Favorite Stars for Sunny Gardens
In my last post I wrote about an article in the current issue of Gardens Illustrated called ‘100 Plants Every Gardener Should Grow’. While I took issue with the title, it has inspired me to do a much more modest list of my own. I want to stress up front that just because these plants …
Is Yellow Just Too Common?
Why is it that Sissinghurst has a White Garden but not a Yellow Garden? Perhaps yellow is just a bit too insistently cheerful, like those morning people who sing and bustle about while you try to burrow into your newspaper. Also, I read somewhere that yellow is the most common color for wildflowers, and its …
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