Around the Garden Once More…June 26, 2020

We have had scattered showers every day for a week and the flower gardens are sprouting and blooming like its Spring all over again. Hosta has been blooming for a month; Canna Lily are starting to shine in brilliant orange, yellow , and red; summer annuals like Tickseed and Coneflower are unveiling hues of purple and gold; hybrid Day Lilies are at their peak; Verbena is sporting a cool lavender; and, Butterfly bush and roses are in the midst of an early summer revival.

The newest addition is one of my top ten wildflowers – the Cardinal Flower – which normally is a late summer bloomer but here it is with blossoms characteristic of the Lobelia family and a promise to grow to a 3 or 4 foot height as long as I keep the soil moist and the roots cool.

Is it a bird?, a plane?, no, it is a Cardinal Flower!

Hosta can not grow any larger than they are and I had to cut bloomed out stalks back for the first time. Soon they will be smaller than the ever emerging Elephant Ears which will dominate the summer garden.

A rare (to me) fully opened Hosta bloom… pure white and resembling its distant cousin – a Day Lily.

One particular variety of Hosta has started blooming with pure white open blossoms and look surprisingly like a Day Lily reminding me that Hosta are members of the lily family.

The Elephants are charging through the Azaleas intent on suppressing the Hosta!

While another herd of Ears circle around the azalea for a better look at the Hosta.

Here they are together with Hosta in bloom.

White roses abound in their second blooming phase of the summer. There are literally hundreds on one bush in various hues of pink and white and once this cycle ends, I will deadhead again to the first five petal leaflet and go for another round of blooms.

I have stayed away from chemical sprays to control Canna Leaf Rollers and Japanese Beetles. The Canna were sprayed with a biological control almost two months ago and there is no sign of the nasty caterpillar that rolls the emerging leaf into an edible home. I dunk Jap beetles into a mild solution of soap and water and daily counts have decreased from 30 two weeks ago to just one yesterday. They prefer Cannas, roses, and Crepe Myrtles in that order. Early morning is the best time to grab them as warm afternoons energize the little critters. I did encounter a black, hairy beetle feeding on a rose bud yesterday and it was much larger and not so photogenic as a jap beetle but he escaped before I could identify or douse him.

Here are a few of my growing plants for your and my enjoyment.