Cool weather has given way to the excesses of July: no rain for nearly two weeks and highs in the 90s. The ground is hard and cracked, the rain barrel is empty. Things are starting to go into a decline, but the worst is yet to come. In the meantime, there are still plenty of blooms to be found. It's rather strange to have a peony still with some straggling blooms while the Echinaceas are about to bloom any day now.
The biggest excitement is the Spigelia marilandica, blooming for the first time ever, as I finally figured out where it wanted to be.
It's quite a shocking color in contrast to the nearby Hydrangea macrophyllas. My experiment with an acidifying fertilizer has had mixed results.
Some of the bloom clusters are bluish, but most are the typical pink. The rest of the hydrangeas here are in bloom or very nearly there including Hydrangea quercifolia 'Little Honey'.
All the Geraniums are blooming now, except for G. maculatum, which has set seed. Geranium 'Jolly Bee' is the first of the long-blooming Geraniums to start the show.
A hummingbird has been visiting the penstemons near the feeder.
Although I haven't seen it because the view is blocked, I bet the hummer also has been visiting the honeysuckle.
The honeysuckle isn't the only climber that's having a great June. The Clematis have matured and are blooming like crazy.
The newest Clematis blooming is 'Aotearoa'.
The Clematis are pretty much on schedule.
Also blooming pretty much on schedule are the Campanulas:
and the lavender.
From the "shouldn't be in bloom yet" category:
these normally don't start blooming until July.
From the "I really don't know when it usually starts blooming" category, Malva sylvestris 'Zebrina'.
Finally, making their Bloom Day debut are Knautia 'Thunder & Lightning'
and Phlox paniculata 'Blue Paradise'.
I don't know if this is early for this plant or not.
Thanks go to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.
Also in bloom:
Alchemilla mollis
Aquilegia vulgaris 'Sunburst Ruby'
Asclepias purpurascens
Astrantia 'Roma'
Astrantia 'Venice'
Brunnera 'Diane's Gold'
Callirhoe involucrata
Campanula garganica 'Dickson's Gold'
Campanula persicifolia 'Blue Eyed Blonde'
Campanula persicifolia 'Grandiflora Alba'
Campanula persicifolia 'Telham Blue'
Campanula 'Samantha'
Clematis 'Betty Corning'
Clematis 'Evipo 23' (Cezanne™)
Clematis 'Evisix' (Petit Faucon™)
Clematis 'Henryi'
Clematis 'Natascha'
Clematis 'Rhapsody'
Clematis 'Silver Moon' Clematis 'Viola'
Clematis 'Vyvan Pennell'
Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'
Corydalis 'ex Du Fu Temple'
Dianthus 'Cranberry Ice'
Dicentra 'Bountiful'
Dicentra 'King of Hearts'
Dracocephalum 'Fuji Blue'
Geranium 'Blogold' (Blue Sunrise™)
Geranium 'Bob's Blunder'
Geranium 'Gerwat' (Rozanne™)
Geranium hybrid
Geranium macrorrhizum
Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac'
Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie'
Heuchera 'Firechief'
Heuchera 'Havana'
Heuchera 'Hollywood'
Heuchera 'Frosted Violet'
Heuchera 'Lime Rickey'
Heuchera 'Smoky Rose'
Heuchera 'Vesuvius'
Heucherella 'Burnished Bronze'
Hosta 'Dream Weaver'
Hosta 'Olive Bailey Langdon'
Hydrangea arborescens 'NCHA1' (Invincibelle Spirit™)
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Blue Billow'
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Penny Mac'
Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' Knautia macedonia Paeonia 'Vivid Rose'
Penstemon digitalis 'Dark Towers'
Penstemon digitalis 'Husker's Red'
Phlox maculata
Phlox pilosa 'Eco Happy Traveler'
Ruellia humulis
Stylophorum diphyllum
Veronica prostrata 'Verbrig' (Goldwell™)