Wednesday, July 16, 2008

July Bloom Day...and I'm only a day late! :) First we have common milkweed, it's been very prolific this year, which is fine with me! Smells great, and the bugs love it! (Especially the monarch butterfly.) Okay, not flowers, but I'd never noticed how the berries on my honeysuckle bushes look like tiny lightbulbs...strange.
'Neon Flash' spirea...

....dianthus (I'll check the tag for the name and edit it in later) Update-okay, maybe I don't know the cultivar, because I never did. It was purchaed as an annual with no name, but it comes back every year.)... ....'Lorraine Sunshine' heliopsis...
...red nasturtiums...

.....again not blooms, but these mulberries are ripening...
....though not very purple yet. I tasted one like this that was barely purple-tinged, and I think this may actually be a white mulberry tree because the berry was very sweet...
....which explains the enthusiasm from these guys! This is a cedar waxwing, and right now this tree is covered with them, all the time!
I really enjoy their whispery call, and the fact that they'll let me get fairly close for pictures. (They don't hold very still, though.)

Hen and chicks blooming...
...nicely!
The New Guinea impatiens looks happy...

....as does this 'Red Mini Hollyhock'. Red? Not even close.... ....same as this 'Red Fox' veronica. I suppose "Pink Fox" doesn't sound quite right, but it would be more accurate!
Mushroom, not bloom. (Although the mushroom is considered the "fruiting body" of the underground mycelum, so I guess it counts as fruit. :)
Thyme blooming (I believe this one is 'Minus', but I have several cultivars and I forget which one I took a picture of-sorry!) These flowers sure are tiny!


Here's another for the "not red" category, 'Cherry' Queen of the prairie. I like it anyway... ...and the "blooms" on this silky wild rye. I hope the seeds will germinate, because I want more of this!
Look at the bugs on this black-eyed susan...kinda cool how they match. The butterfly is a Pearl Crescent, and the slender bug is a Thread-waisted wasp. The wasps are listed as "solitary", but are also "parasitic"...so exactly how solitary can they be? Or is that why they don't have any friends? Just wondering...
Heh, and yet another flower that was supposed to be "red", 'Wizard's Cap' clover. I tried to find the catalog picture, but it's not on the Michigan Bulb web site anymore. Now, pink is a nice enough color, and I suppose some wizard might have a pink cap, but red was the color in the picture so that's what I expected. And it's not like red is some un-attainable flower color...*sigh*...alright, I'm done whining! :)
'Alexander' lysimachia blooming nicely...
...so is 'Golden Queen' trollius...

....even her "after flower" is pretty! And finally this cute annual grass is "blooming", and I'm enjoying the seed heads as much as the foliage!
Happy Bloom Day everybody! For more Bloom Day action, check out the Bloom Day founder, Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

22 comments:

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Lisa, I've tagged you in a meme to learn Six Random Facts about you. Feel free to play along, just list facts and don't tag others, or forget the whole thing. (I know some people like memes more than others; I just thought it was a fun way to learn a little more about bloggers I read).
~ Monica

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Lisa, I flubbed the meme URL. It should be this.
~ Monica

Unknown said...

Wonderful blooms! Funny how deceiving those pictures on the tags can be, isn't it? Good thing I'm not picky about my colors, that's happened to me plently of times. Your garden looks very happy!

gintoino said...

Great blooms. We have Hens and chicks in comun :-)
I had never seen mulberries in all my live, looks like an interesting fruit

Roses and Lilacs said...

I love finding gardening blogs.

I have some milkweed photos in my blog scheduled for tomorrow. I've never seen so many in the fields. Next year I'll plant a few seeds in my garden.

I hear such good things about Lorraine Sunshine, maybe next year;)
Marnie

lisa said...

Monica-I have done this meme, and the post is here. I generally don't mind memes in the winter when I'm not as busy outside. This year things are wild and wooly, so I'm glad I had that meme done already! :)

Cinj-It's happened to me a lot in the past where blooms don't look like the tags, but this year it's happened too much! Ah well, pretty blooms are always welcome regardless!

Gintoino-Mulberries are frankly delicious! Not actually seedy, though the stems kinda hang on. They're sort of chewy, and resemble blueberries in taste (to me). Terrific in pies and preserves, if you can beat the birds to them! :)

Marnie-I'm glad you came by! :) I really enjoy milkweeds, and there are MANY different cultivars. I'm hoping to get a real collection going, and luckily seeds are inexpensive! You would really enjoy Lorraine-totally "maintenance free", and the variegation on the leaves really stays!

Mr. McGregor's Daughter said...

I think "red" is like "blue" when it comes to flower color. It looks the right color only at night. ;^D Beware of that common Milkweed. I allowed it into my front garden & it tried to take over. I'm replacing it with a better behaved species, but I do miss its flowers.

troutbirder said...

Wow. For a disasterous spring in parts of Iowa your gardens have come through with some magnificent flowers!

Monica the Garden Faerie said...

Hi Lisa, Guess I was a day late and a dollar short, so to speak. Glad to read your random facts! It's interesting knowing a bit more about people other than what their garden looks like--though that's of course of utmost importance! ;-)
~ Monica

Carol Michel said...

A day late is good for you, Lisa! ;-)

But look how long it took me to get down the list to visit?

Thanks for joining in for bloom day and like Mr. McGregor's Daughter wrote, watch out for that milkweed!

Carol, May Dreams Gardens

Unknown said...

LOL! Your July GBBD theme seriously is "Plants that were supposed to be red, but aren't!" And you know how much that would make me angry, given how much I hate pink in my garden... *grin*

I love all of your plants, though, especially that common milkweed. I so wish I had room for that--I love those thick, rough-looking leaves.

lisa said...

Mr McGregor's daughter-LOL! Catalog writers are notoriously misleading/colorblind, I just fell "victim" more often this year. :) I should know better, actually. Fortunately my milkweed is in a bed I consider the "wandering garden" anyway, where a plant's survival is wholly based on its' ability to adapt and move itself/multiply. Only the daylilies and a few hostas stay put. When one plant gets too numerous, I either relocate, pot-up to give/sell, or pull out like a weed! I do this a lot with the ostrich ferns and lysimachias.

Troutbirder-We did have some flooding in southern Wisconsin, but I'm in extreme northeast Wisconsin on mostly sand, so I just have a lot of well-watered, happy plants! Less watering for me always gets a "yay"! :)

Monica-Heh, the plants and ideas are tantamount, to be sure! ;-)

Carol-Amazing how easy it is to have trouble keeping up with a MONTHLY posting! :) I'm definatley noticing the acceleration of time as I age (heh, or decelartion of MY perception! ;-) so perhaps that's the culprit!

Kim-I thought of your aversion to pink as I posted those pictures! Still frosts me a tad, mostly because I WANTED RED in those particular spots. I saw that stupid "pink fox" veronica at a nsy in Green Bay the other day, and it was pink as bubblegum! >:(
I just adore milkweed, and I want to eventually grow as many as are hardy here!

Aunt Debbi/kurts mom said...

I enjoyed visiting your flowers and such. Thanks.

lisa said...

I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

Anonymous said...

I love milkweed too! My seeds didn't come up though. I think it got too hot too fast. I saved some of the seeds though and will try again next year, probably in pots this time.

The Golden Queen Trollius is new to me. I love the color, and the seed heads sort of remind me of clematis.

lisa said...

I'm sorry to hear about the milkweed, but I bet your theory is correct. They may do better if you plant some this fall, I think they need a cold period to germinate. (Or put some in the fridge) The trollius is a moisture-lover, but a boggy area or creekside would do. Let me know if you need more milkweed seeds. :)

Frances, said...

Hi Lisa, I was reading the comments here and clicked on your meme answer to chuck's tag from long ago. I was astounded and impressed by the preparation that went into the post. Scanning old photos, even being able to find the old photos to describe your random things is awe inspiring, as was everything you told us about yourself. It sounds like you have lived a happy life, love motherhood, yes it's the best, and your work, a rare thing. Thanks for giving us that link for those who missed it the first time around. I hope we get to meet someday, maybe in Chicago next year?

lisa said...

Thank you! I had fun with it, although my scanner hasn't been the same since! :) Chicago next year? Absolutely! Are there dates set yet?

Frances, said...

Hi Lisa, I don't think the dates are set. Mr. McGregor's Daughter, Barbara, is in charge.

lisa said...

Awesome! I'll keep an eye out for details. I am SO there! :)

The Hunky Gardener said...

Your red mini hollyhock is musk mallow (Malva moschata 'Rosea' ) I grow it here because it is hardy to zone 3. It is also available in white. Rosea is pink in latin and rubra is red so I am not sure why it was listed as a red hollyhock? Thanks for visiting my blog Lisa.

lisa said...

Aha! I should have realized that the Latin name would hold the clue...thanks! White would be nice too...gotta find some of that! Your blog is fun, I'll be back! :)