GBBD June 2009

A big thank you to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Blogger's Bloom Day.

I've missed bloom day. It's been happening, but I haven't been participating. I either haven't had anything blooming, haven't been able to get good photographs, or have gotten home after dark so there were no photographs. But today, I'm home and I was able to take a few photos. Although there are only a few photos here, there is a lot blooming in my garden.

In my front porch pots, I have a mix of coleus and Fuchsia triphylla 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt.' While I tend to play with the combo, the fuchsia is always there. Its blooms brighten up the shady area, and it blooms all summer long.

Last fall, when we redid the perennial border, I added three Geranium 'Tiny Monster.' I didn't know at the time just what a monster it would be, but you would think the name would have given me a clue. I have three lovely, well behaved Geranium (cultivar unknonium) in the Azalea Bed. Silly me for thinking Tiny Monster would have the same growth habit. It isn't covered with flowers when it blooms, it has them sprinkled here and there. It sprawls, it insinuates, it intertwines. BUT, it also blooms and blooms and blooms. It's been blooming for more than 6 weeks, and it doesn't show any sign of stopping. For that, I can forgive its untidy habit, but it might get a haircut here pretty soon. I love the color of the flowers.

When I first started my little garden at our old home, around 1991, one of the first plants I bought was a yellow yarrow. I wasn't into plant identification at the time, other than common names, so I didn't keep the tag or remember the plant information. That yarrow, with its yellow flowers, bloomed like crazy every spring, and every year the clump got larger and larger. I divided it into three clumps, and each of them increased, even though we had heavy, clay soil. I brought one of the clumps with me when we moved to this house in 2003. The soil was better, but the yarrow sulked. It put out a few blooms each year, but the clump shrank down to just a few leaves. While all the other plants we brought, other than the catmint, were growing like weeds, the yarrow failed to thrive. Then, this last fall, we redid the perennial border and I bought a new yarrow. The threat of competition must have done it, because this year the yarrow is spectacular. The blooms are waist high and there are a lot of them. I'm happy because I've always loved that plant. Oh, I'm sure I'll love the new one, too, but we go way back, me and the old one.

I also have a lot of other things blooming, including the plants listed below.

• Aruncus dioicus 'Kneiffi'
• Astilbe - variety unknown
• Begonia x hybrida 'Dragon Wing Red'
• Calamagrostis acutiflora 'Karl Forster' - Feather Reed Grass
• Calibrachoa x hybrid 'Cherry Red'
• Campanula persicifolia 'Telham Beauty'
• Campanula poscharskyana 'Blue Waterfall'
• Cucumis sativus - two varieties (cucumber)
• Curcurbita - yellow straight neck and zucchini
• Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns'
• Ilex verticillata, cultivar unknown - Winterberry holly
• Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' - Golden Creeping Jenny
• Nepeta faassenii 'Walkers Low'
• Oenothera macrocarpa - Ozark Sundrops, Garden Man's favorite
• Pennisetum orientale
• Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'
• Salvia nemorosa 'Caradonna'
• Schizophragma hydrangeoides 'Moonlight' - False Climbing Hydrangea
• Solanum lycopersicum - Yellow Pear, Red Grape and Brandywine
• Spiraea japonica 'Lime Mound'
• Sutera cordata 'Snowstorm Pink' (deck pot)
• Tiarella 'Spring Symphony'
• Veronica longifolia 'Lilac Fantasy'
• Veronica spicata 'Royal Candles'
• Veronica spicata 'Red Fox' 

Thanks for visiting my garden today. Please sit here in the shade and have a cool glass of ice tea before you go (and since I'm a southerner, there's no "d" in ice tea! Please visit the other gardeners participating in Bloom Day, and make sure you visit Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

Comments

[Gail]

I love the gold yarrow, too. If I had room it would be right next to the liatris...but the sunny bed is already too full to believe. I love the fuschia you've shown; it's the perfect color and I can see how it would brighten up a shady spot...That is a wonderful list of blooms, sigh, isn't June delightful! gail

[Racquel]

I love your yellow yarrow too, is it Moonshine possibly? They seem to do better in soil that other plants would fail to thrive in don't you think? :) Sounds like you have a wonderful assortment of plants blooming at the moment. Happy Bloom Day Kim!

[Rose]

I think we have a lot in common--I'm a reluctant gardener too, or as I call myself, a "late bloomer." And I have a yarrow that I transplanted when we moved to this house in 2004. I've since divided it and divided it; if I'm not careful, I'll have a whole garden of yarrow and Stella d'Oro daylilies:) Your geranium does have lovely little blooms, even if it's a monster:)

[ChrisC]

What a lovely garden!And such variety,too.I tried growing Yarrow one year,but it only lasted about 2 years,and it performed rather poorly.I guess the heat and humidity did it in.

[Jen]

How funny that your yarrow decided to snap to it when threatened by a "competing" plant! Maybe we should use "competitive" planting techniques more often. I agree that the fuschia is really special - and I think I may need a few little monsters of my own!

[donna]

Your yarrow is further along than my Achillea 'Heidi'. Enjoyed the story about your yarrow.

[chuck b.]

I'm so happy they named that geranium 'Tiny Monster'--so considerate!

[Sweet Bay]

Love your header photo. It's gorgeous.

[Patsy Bell Hobson]

I have this enthusiastic Geranium. So glad to know the mame. Geranium 'Tiny Monster.' Thanks,