August Bloom Day

I have got to start out this Bloom Day post with a couple of things I'm proud of.

As you know, if you've followed this blog, seed starting has not been a cakewalk for me. 

I have killed so many baby plants over the past couple of years! 

So, behold--2 plants that actually made it! 

(That's right, TWO! Can you be humble and proud at the same time? Humbly proud. 

It's a complicated feeling. Layers.)

First up:

The 'Frizzle Sizzle' pansy.

Isn't she a beauty? 

And here we have the New York Aster!

TA DA! 

[Vigorous clapping is entirely appropriate at this point.]

(Give me my moment, alright? Remember, 2 PLANTS that made it?!)

The seeds for these plants are super duper tiny--specks, is all.

And now just look at it! It's almost 3 feet tall and about read to start flowering! 

(I think--it's a fall-flowering plant, apparently.)

This survivor right here gives me such a happy feeling whenever I see it!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, here's the rest:

Coreopsis 'Moonbeam'

Very pretty, but very short stems for cutting.

I need some mini bouquets or dance flowers to put these in--they would really shine!

Same, plus a China aster.

This front pot--you can't go wrong with geraniums and sweet potato vine.

It always seems like the fancier I try to get with my flower pots, the worse they do.

This couldn't be any simpler, but I have been enjoying it this summer!

My 'Limelight' hydrangea is finally getting some blooms!

I'm wondering if it could actually use more sunlight.

This seems awfully late in the season for hydrangea blooms.

We've got frost coming in a month. 

Go Limelight Go!

'Fragrant Angel' echinacea, above and below

I have absolutely loved these, especially the green centers before they are all the way mature!

Love. I will plant a whole bunch more this fall if I can find them!

Let's see, roses haven't put on their fall blooms yet, sedums are still green (but coming), and I do have some sunflowers blooming out in my flower farm/cutting garden patch.

A handful of other stuff out there too.

What's blooming in your garden right now? 

July Bloom Day

A belated Bloom Day post for July. (Is there any other kind? HA!)

Despite my feeling like everything is a whole big mess o' weeds, I do have a few things blooming this month. Oh, and it IS a mess of weeds too. They are not mutually exclusive!

 These Shirley poppies keep coming and bringing me joy.

They're not great for cutting, but I still love 'em!

These lilies. 

Just can't get enough of the pink and purple-speckledy goodness.

These ones are planted out in front, down the line. 

Okay, these lilies are fine too, but you know--not like the pinks above.

They have been very useful for cutting this year.

Bachelor's buttons 'Blue Boy' keep pumping out the blooms.

I just went and deadheaded a bunch yesterday in hopes of keeping them coming.

Oops. More poppies. 

Double pinks this time.

And...we'll finish it off with a look at my snapdragon patch in bloom--with the dead weed field behind. We're hoping to get a sprinkler system put in back there and actual grass planted this fall.

So these are the snaps I bought as a flat from the grocery store (!) this spring. 

I noticed that they were the same variety ('Rocket') I had tried starting from seed, but were ever so much bigger than mine at home. Best $20 I spent all spring!

I love snapdragons!

With a good hard pinching at planting time, these are all putting up 4-6 stems, and the ones I 've already cut on have put up some new side shoots as well. 

If I could keep cutting snaps until fall, I would be so happy!

In any case, I'll take them for as long as they'll go!

I have a handful of roses blooming now, as well, but most of them have come and gone with their first flush. So just got them deadheaded this week as well. Hoping for a second round in about a month.

What's blooming at your house this month? 

June Bloom Day: Catmint, Mostly

 Hey, what do you know? I actually got my act together this month and took pictures for Bloom Day! Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day is run by Carol over at May Dreams Gardens, and it’s a way to document what we have blooming in our gardens. It was fun and interesting doing it as a gardener, but it is quite helpful for me now, as a flower farmer, to see what gaps I need to fill. Let me tell you a secret—right now, it’s all gap!

No, I shouldn’t say that—my catmint is blooming quite beautifully out front, and I do have a handful of other things starting to bloom. Just not enough to make very much with yet. The field-grown flowers haven’t started up blooming yet at all.

So I will start out front, with the catmint I was telling you about. If I remember right, it is ‘Junior Walker,’ a variety related to ‘Walker’s Low,’ which as the name suggests, is supposed to be smaller.

This should be beautiful by this time next year, as I will allow the peonies to bloom—in shades of blush and pink.

My blue alliums have also started blooming, though they are a little harder to get in a picture.

Speaking of peonies, check out the color-changing properties of this one that just finished blooming in the front corner bed:

I’m pretty sure this one is Coral Sunset. It started out that vibrant pink, then kept fading until just before the petals dropped, it was the pale yellow of the picture on the right. Unexpected, but I love it!

Other than that, the pincushion flowers have just started up blooming for me, the first of the roses, and a handful of irises.

What’s in bloom at your house right now? Any flowers that change their colors to tell me about?

You can see what’s in bloom in other gardens around the world by going here: May Dreams Gardens.

Happy Bloom Day!

April Bloom Day: Daffodils and Hyacinths

 

For those of you wondering what “Bloom Day” is, there’s a garden blogger who writes at May Dreams Gardens, who hosts a monthly roundup called Garden Blogger’s Bloom Day. On the 15th of every month, anyone who wishes can link up their blog and show off what they have blooming in their yard and garden right then. I have done it for years on my other blog, and would like to get back into the habit with this one. If nothing else, it’s nice to look back and compare from year to year. However, since I am 5 days late this month, I’m not planning to actually link up. Next month!

Get ready for picture overload!

Without further adieu, here’s what I’ve got blooming in my garden right now:

Front Flowerbeds

Front flowerbeds, on the right.

I am finding I especially love the white daffodils with pink cups. 

The mini yellows are pretty darn cheerful, though!

Front side of the front beds, hyacinths, tulips coming, columbine that came back!

Far front corner.

This little cutie is a checkered fritillary, under the plum tree out front.

Side Yard: Oval Bed

Oval bed—a few daffodils, with plenty of tulips, alliums, and perennial bachelor’s buttons coming.

I love all the different daffodils in this picture! This is the oval bed in the side yard.

Front Porch Beds and East Side

Hello to the pansies!—(and the weeds. Sigh)

A few hydrangeas, plus tulips and more pansies!

Almost blooming—east side tulips!

Yay! These lilies are coming back!

Back Corner Bed

Look at the bushy yarrow in front! Woohoo!

Tulips growing in the back corner bed, with way too much grass!

Back Yard

These daffodils are the ones I planted last fall; a mix of doubles. 
They are along the fenced side of the garden.

Lovely mix of hyacinths behind the greenhouse. Next year I need to add some other colors!

My crate tulips are coming up! I’m going to move them into the greenhouse this week, now that we’ve got the one side rolled up, so that I can take off the wire without fear of DEER.

These are around the base of the peach tree. Can’t wait to see them fully open!

One last patch of daffodils in back.

 I didn’t think these would come back this year, so this is a pleasant surprise!

Phew! Did you make it all the way through? I did warn you!

What’s blooming in your neck of the woods right now?

September Bloom Day

Boy, it's been awhile since I've done one of these posts! 

There has been so much else to do, my camera hasn't ever been the same since the fire, blah blah blah. Anyway, I'm ready to get back on the bandwagon! 

So, without further ado, here's a peak at what's blooming in my garden right now:

Sunflowers! These are in my cutting garden, and I have had way more than I could use or sell this year. Hoping to change that next year, with better marketing, but for now they have sure been a cheerful addition to the backyard!

Check out that gigantic bloom front and center! Loving that!

Also for cutting, these Bells of Ireland just keep going and going!

This is my first time growing them, and I am amazed at how prolific they are.

I've cut some to dry as well--they turn a beautiful ivory color when dry.

These bachelor's buttons are also part of my cutting garden.

I love the burgundy! I've also got blues, pinks, and purples still going out there, as well.

Moving up front now:

The English roses along the front fence have put out a handful of blooms this year.
Since I only planted them in April, I wasn't expecting much more than that.
I am already looking forward to the day when they will cover the fence with those gorgeous, peachy pink blossoms. This variety is 'A Shropshire Lad.'

In my front oval bed, the perennial bachelor's buttons are coming around again.

I had to get a picture of that huge bumblebee that was buzzing around the blossoms.

I've pulled out handfuls of dead or dying leaves and blossoms, and the plants seem to be reviving now. At first I was carefully cutting out the dead parts, but lately it has literally just been grabbing and yanking. The stems break off near the bottom and away we go.

Earwigs seem to love the inner layers of these, and I especially dislike earwigs, so I am happy to take away their habitat.

Same bed.

This lovely purple is hummingbird mint, or agastache.

Yes, I have seen hummingbirds sipping nectar from it on several occasions this summer.

It is so tall and airy. It's a bit too big for this bed as is, but I think as everything grows a bit more around it, it will be just right. 

Those gorgeous roses behind it have bloomed all summer, as well. They go from a soft yellow/orange, to sunset peach, to a cream with hot pink highlights.  I wish I knew what kind they were, but they were already here when we moved in.

So, that's just a little of what I've got blooming.

What's going on in your neck of the woods? 

Check out May Dreams Gardens for more Bloom Day posts.

And yes, I am late! (Usually they go up on the 15th of each month.)

October Bloom Day

Hello and welcome to my late Bloom Day post!

I am in northern Utah, USA, zone 5b.

We have had hard frosts nearly every night for 2 weeks now, though most afternoons are warming back up into the 50's or 60's. 

My blooms are just about done, but I do have a couple pansies still hanging on.

There are many reasons to love pansies.

Cold tolerance is near the top of the list this time of year.

I do have this as well: it's a leaf lily, created by my daughter. :)

Hey, I'll take whatever I can get at this point!

In the meantime, look what arrived last Friday!

A treasure box, full of BULBS!

I'm so excited!

Next spring is going to be so beautiful.

560 bulbs to get in the ground before winter weather comes to stay.

So far I have planted around 150.

Goodbye--I've got to get back outside while the sun is shining!

For other blooms in other gardens, visit May Dreams Garden.

Happy fall, friends!

September Bloom Day

Hello, and welcome to my Utah, USA garden!
I am in zone 5b, tucked away in a beautiful little valley.
After a full summer of hot dry days, we are finally getting some rain this week!

I knew I didn't have much blooming this month.
We just moved here in June, and I am finally getting flowerbeds marked out.
Next September should be a different story entirely!

When I went looking for blooms, other than the blossoms on my pumpkin plants, here's all I found:


Yes. One lonely petunia in a flowerpot on my porch, surrounded by dead plants.
Oh dear. That would just not do at all.
It was time to remedy that situation.
I had been wanting to visit a nursery that's just at the mouth of the canyon, so I packed up my youngest 2 kids (the older 2 were in school) and away we went.

Let me tell you, I did not buy nearly as much as I wanted to!
Just a few things to get me started.

 Pansies to replace the dead flowers in my flowerpots.

 
Pale yellow coreopsis 'Moonbeam' and deep purple bachelor's buttons.

I will confess, however, that was a week ago and none of them have been planted yet.
Life intervened.
At least they're getting watered with all the rain!
I'm fairly certain I know just what I want in this rose-filled flowerbed, but first I've got to dig up all or most of the roses to put elsewhere, amend the soil, weed, and also buy a few more things.
The last bit will be the most fun! :)
I've got my work cut out for me!


I'm linking up--rather late--to Carol's monthly post over at May Dreams Gardens.
To see more gardens, head on over there!