June Bloom Day

"Kathleen"

Now the rhodies and columbines are fading, and the roses, lavenders and fuchsias are coming on. The beds look a little sad without the riot of columbines. I need to do more for mid summer and autumn.

I've begun to want more roses after seeing Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery and many gorgeous rose gardens in town. It's sometimes a bit of a surprise to see how well roses can do in our cool, foggy seacoast climate. I like old roses the best, because they are more likely to have a scent, and most (if not all) can be grown on their own rootstock. English cottage gardens are inspirational, because I grew up thinking that roses had to be grown in a barren little bed with nothing else touching them. Seeing a rose bush burst out from a mob of annuals, or climbing a trellis with clematis gives my stomach butterflies. Holly recently gave me a "Mutabilis" rose that her mother started from a cutting. I am looking forward to seeing it big and blooming.


A wild bee visiting the French lavender

The lavenders aren't yet going full-tilt, but they are starting. The bees - honey and native - really like them, and so do we. If ever I get the lawns pulled out, I want masses of lavender, roses and blueberries. More rhodies would be nice, but I do have quite a few big, old ones already. Maybe if I pull out the driveway...

The fuchsias are also starting to bloom, but haven't hit their stride. The buddleia didn't get pruned this spring, so it's trying to take over the world. It's honeylike scent makes world domination seem not so bad.

The monkshood is nearly ready to go, but didn't make it for this month's bloom day. Sadly, the Bletilla orchid has a very short bloom time, and I missed photographing it for an early June update. Many flowers keep going and going. I never before realized that the camellias might still be blooming in June. Not strongly, but with us yet.

I've finally begun chipping up the Pittospora branches from my early spring destruction. I had help from Ananda. She was a champ, chunking up big branches so they would fit into the chipper. I'd given up finding a good helper, after hiring young men a couple of times. Slackers. Soon there will be room to pile up more trimmings. Watch out, Cotoneasters!

The June Bloom Day album on Picassa