Above, rose 'Queen of Elegance'
Below, first Dahlia of the year, 'Cafe Au Lait':
The garden still looks wonderful. However, the next few days promise temperatures in the mid 90's F (34 C) which will either destroy or shut down flowering. Time to start looking forward to autumn, and focus on indoor projects. Nothing to do now in the garden except spot-water to keep things alive, and avert one's eyes from dessicated flowers and sunburnt foliage.
Hellebore still flowering!
Trachelium caeruleumHemerocallis 'Merlot Magic' coordinating with fresh new rose foliageClematis 'Perle d'Azur' climbing Grevillea 'Moonlight'. The thready flower centers echo the thready Grevillea foliage. Clemantis 'Etoile Violette' with rose 'Sombreuil':
Lavender 'Provence' with rose 'Laguna' as backdrop: Verbena with Tritelia 'Queen Fabiola' as backdrop:Clematis 'Blekitny Aniol'Geranium 'Rozanne' with Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' and Verbena as backdrop:The Sprekelia clump continues to send up new flowers:
Second Dahlia to flower: 'Loverboy'
And more 'Cafe Au Lait's open:Mutant Gaillardia flowers. The bees don't mind. All the Leonotis leonurus are in full flower now:I threw hundreds of Hunnemannia seeds on the front slope, and got two plants. Down in the part shade gully, it seems like every Hunnemannia seed germinated. Rose 'Laguna':A pale Hydrangea looks fine with white Leucanthemums and a bright Fuchsia, but...
...but not with the Aechmaea blanchetiana and a coral fuchsia. Must change this.
Not so bad from farther back:
Third Dahlia of the year--this red pompom came from a clump of red-striped yellow Dahlia. Will it produce flowers with the original coloration as well?
The yellow version:
Agapanthus 'Black Pantha' is taking its time opening.Geum 'Totally Tangerine' flowers are really cute little thingsBranching stems:From tiny to really big:
This post began with rose 'Queen Of Elegance' and will end with it. Happy What's-Left-Of-Spring. Autumn isn't that far away.
Gorgeous photos. Love the mutant gaillardia. Odd to hear you say gardening is almost done as we are just getting started. We grow many of the same plants such as clematis, roses and salvias but they really don't like cool weather so take their time. Will just enjoy yours for now.
ReplyDeleteOur summer (trapped indoors by extreme weather) is your winter (you don't garden much then?) . I'll enjoy northerly climate roses and clematis via blogs very soon!
DeleteI love your roses, Clematis and mutant Gaillardias. I share your concern with what this heatwave and those that follow will bring. Your dahlias are WAY ahead of mine. With zero rain, I overwatered some I started in pots, leading to rotted tubers, an amateur move on my part. I finally have several sprouting, including 'Loverboy', but I don't image I'll see any flowers for a couple of months yet.
ReplyDeleteDahlias--those three are blooming, while others of the same cultivar are just emerging from the soil. Maybe some spots too dry. I thought I'd lost 'Loverboy'. It doesn't seem all that vigorous. Fabulous flowers, though.
DeleteSo far we're still getting some overnight cooling, at least. That's something to be grateful for. One heat wave at a time. Stay cool!
Stunning flowers taken with fantastic skill ! You have a light and dark pairing I had tried for years to do with a pale rose and dark clematis. I don't think the roses had enough sun where I had them. Now I am trying Romantika and Mary Claire, clematis .. over an arbor seat.
ReplyDeleteI find the plants are racing ahead of time this year more than other years .. your flowers are truly gorgeous !
Here Clematis are not as lavish as they are in areas with more rain, so any rose with any clematis is a win. 'Romantika' and 'Mary Claire' sounds lovely.
DeleteHappy you enjoyed the pictures, thank you!
a garland of roses!
ReplyDeleteThey are a joy.
DeleteIt's hard to say goodbye to the fresh spring flowers isn't it ? Maybe there will be some more June Gloom after this upcoming heat wave skips town. Your Dahlias are looking good !
ReplyDeleteUnexpectedly wonderful spring. It's been so much fun.
DeleteSuch a gorgeous garden! You are lucky it will only go into the 90's to maybe 100. Here in Phoenix it will be 118º for at least 5 days and, the real problem, nights that don't go below 90º. Ugh, the losses of my potted cactus will be great! So happy to see your beauty!
ReplyDeleteA joyful spring. I'm very, very grateful for it.
DeleteI was seeing the temps in AZ--scary. Wildfire smoke too--even worse. Stay safe. Much hotter there than here.
Can you bring your pots indoors for a few days? I feel sad for the wildlife all over the SW--so hard on them. We've had a lot of coyotes here -they are just desperate for water. I fill up my fountain at sunset, and creatures have emptied the basin overnight. I refill for the daytime songbird visits. Whatever it is in the night, glad to share the water.
A lot of great blooms. I really like Clematis 'Blekitny Anol' - new to me. We are having really nice weather lately in the low 70s but tomorrow is supposed to shoot up to 90.
ReplyDelete'Blekitny Aniol' is a very delicate pale blue except here where it instantly bleaches to white. Nice either way.
DeleteLow 70s--heaven! 90F -- it's that here today. :(
What an exciting post! So much color and beauty, and your photographs are all frameable. Happy June blooms celebration!
ReplyDeleteHappy you liked the pictures. Thanks! Happy flowers back atcha!
DeleteIt’s such a pleasure to see your photos and get a few glimpses of full plots, which look wonderful. I would love to take a walk around your garden myself. I’m sorry that your impending heat wave may damage the garden to such a great extent. We have that problem also, some summers, although during La Niña last summer the garden was quite damp and I lost some of my dahlias to rot. Some also developed mildew. The rain continues and I fear that some of my bulbs may not flower.
ReplyDeleteIt would be hard to choose a favourite amongst your photos. I wish I could achieve such clarity.
Happy you liked the pictures, thank you! "Quite damp" and "the rain continues" makes me sigh. Our rainy season was unfortunately very dry this year.
DeleteBest wishes for good weather ahead.
I love your plant combinations-- they really showcase the plants beautifully. And love, love, love how dramatic the Trachelium caeruleum. Here is the midwest, with the mild drought we were having, it feels like nothing has bloomed yet-- but it is happening slowly.
ReplyDeleteThe Trachelium is easy from seed, and the flowers seem to last for weeks in a vase. Recomended.
DeleteHope you've gotten some rain!
I love that Trachelium but have a feeling the hot days of summer in the Sacramento Valley area will kill that right away! Doesn't mean I'm not tempted to try, if you have any pointers....
DeleteUnknown, Trachelium is native to Algeria, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Sicily, so they may be able to handle considerable heat (given sufficient water, and perhaps a bit of shade in the hottest part of the day). It's not as hot as the Sacramento Valley where I am, but the Trachelium seems to handle the hot days we get quite well. Easy to grow from seed, so you could try without spending much.
DeleteThanks for the info...knowing that, I may give it a try; I'm a sucker for dark, dramatic plants.
DeleteYes, me too. The dark-foliaged Cannas, Aeonium 'Zwartzkop', the black-foliaged Lagerstroemias, Agonis 'After Dark', dark Mangaves like 'Night Owl', and so forth.
DeleteVery encouraging that this geum has bloomed for you! I've got three big plants that make a lovely leafy ground cover, no blooms in sight. So funny about that aechmea -- it does call attention to itself!
ReplyDeleteTwo of my Geum are blooming, one is not--that one is somewhat shaded. So maybe it is that they need quite a lot of sun to flower--just a guess!
DeleteI'm thinking of an "all orange" area--the Aechmea will be puzzling why it's not the center of attention. ;^)