Early July... a few scenes from the early summer gardens... ~ handmade home

This year early July is about lilies... so far it's mostly the Asiatics but there will be plenty more varieties to come over the next several weeks. 'Graffiti' was the first asiatic to open and it continues to improve daily...

While not a fan of orange, there are colors such as the melon of this asiatic whose name I lost years ago, that I do enjoy a lot. Picture one shows it before it got rained on as we've been having a number of downpours this week. It didn't care for the rain (picture two) but nothing a few well placed stakes couldn't address (picture three) ...

I am generally not a fan of upward facing asiatics, preferring those that hang in a candelabra or turk's cap form. Having lost many of these over winter, I replanted this spring and many have yet to open... they will of course be a bit on the small side this season.

This pink asiatic goes well with The President clematis which is planted in the same area ...

This area of the garden looks quite a bit different than in past years since I added the path and pruned up the conifers... daylilies and asiatics are about to open and will accompany the regales and other lilies already in bloom.

I will continue to update as the lily season progresses... I actually have my new additions labeled and the labels haven't disappeared yet, believe it or not. Here are a few more old asiatics that have been moved about in this past fall...

If you check out this blog occasionally, you know I have been very pleased with my delphiniums this season. Many are starting to go over, but many more are only just coming into bloom. I am thankful that I got around to staking them as we've had some heavy rains and wind, but most have held up just fine. Please excuse more delphinium pictures but I can't help myself!

Another great plant for bloom this time of the summer are the clematis. I have no idea how many are in the gardens, but I'd estimate close to 40-50 plants. I wouldn't mind having a great many more. When one visits clematis areas in arboretums, they often are displayed one after another on lengths of trellises. This doesn't work aesthetically for me... to my mind clematis need to accompany or be an accompaniment for other plants. I use clematis heavily about the arbor and on the arbor fences and enjoy mixing several like minded plants together on a support.

Here are a few examples... The president blooms with asiatics and daylilies to follow...

This combo is surrounded by perennials of all sorts... texture is the main accompaniment as the perennials bloom earlier/later than the several clematis varieties... By the way, I tend to generally plant Group or Type 3 which bloom on new wood, as I like being able to get a fresh start each season.

Betty Corning and Roguchi (not pictured) are two small flowered clematis that I particularly like for their long bloom period. It appears that some of the large flowered clematis have invaded the Betty Corning below... the jury is still out on whether this will be allowed or not. I've had good luck moving clematis and if I decide I don't care for this, these large flowered group 3's can be moved without missing a beat.

There are matching rustic trellises on either side of the arbor with Jackmanii and Avant Garde growing on them... here peonies, delphiniums, spuria iris, and phlox work well with the clematis plants.

Josephine has bloomed so heavily this season that her weight in blooms caused her to collapse from the support. I've tied it up as best I could but I'm certain there is damage to some of the stems which oftentimes leads to clematis wilt. I did treat all the clematis with Bayer Rose and Flower three way protection in the spring and so far there has been no signs of wilt on any of my plants, unlike past seasons... this may be a good test and I should treat a second time soon as protection is good for six weeks only... the accompaniment here is again delphiums, astilbe 'Younique Pink', 'Caliope' pelargoniums, and of course Picea omorica or Serbian Spruce......

It's difficult to see, but a young Acer palmatum 'Trompenburg' (dark red) grows in front of this clematis trellis and the colors work very well together along with an assortment of conifers...

Let's visit the rock garden by the greenhouse...

One of the new experiments in this area is the cattle tank full of non-hardy succulents... they are really filling out and add much interest to the rock garden area...

Lets move to the oval bed containing a number of my best named daylilies. On the near end of the oval bed is a 'Varied Directions' larch which is starting to take off with a passion... these can be quite immense eventually and I either need to do some training or find a better home, although it seems to be especially happy in this location and I think I can make it work...

The larch is actually in front of the crooked post above... (need to get that straightened)... if you look very closely, you can see some of the arms it's throwing out. To give some idea of its potential, I've included a photo from a friend's gardens below... this is going to take some careful consideration in the future as we're talking a good 25' in diameter!

Among my earliest blooming daylilies are the Joels which I have in two locations in the gardens, one of which is the oval bed. This is a favorite because of the thickness and texture of petals which remind me of the tactile experience of magnolia tepals...

'Joel' is backed with Helmond's Pillar' barberry and clematis cultivars...

The second location for 'Joel's is behind the stone wall of the garage where I limbed up the four Acer griseums in order to make it easier to view the daylilies as well as the exfoliating bark of the maples...

To the south of the oval bed is what has traditionally been an annual garden. This year we tried something new, mixing my personal hybrid daylilies with bright yellow marigolds. I think the colors are going to work well together and better yet, the textural contrast is more exciting than I imagined it would be...

On the west end is a nicely contrasting grouping featuring 'Annabelle' and 'Invincibelle Spirit' hydrangeas with a 'Tolleson's Blue' Weeping Juniper backed by a large Service Berry tree (Amelanchier canadensis)...

I'd like to point out this lone tall specimen of Verbascum 'Banana Custard'. It's a biennial and I haven't planted it in years. Some years several plants will show up but this year it's just the one, seeking protection next to the straight trunk of a Katsura tree...

I also wish to point out this 25+ year old specimen of Cimicifuga which is just now coming into bloom. I love old plants that purvey great character after having stood the trials of time. This plant has a girth of about 10-12 feet and flower stalks are up to seven feet in height.

Passing the east entrance to the azalea walk and moving beyond the stone wall, one enters the area known as the 'football field' which hearkens back to a time when two little boys lived on the property... that was a long time ago and the so called field is considerably smaller than it once was. This time of year texture and shades of green are the main interest here. Feeling the need to add a bit more interest, I created from rusty iron 12' diameter rings what I call "trearrings"... while not appreciated by all passersby, it is at the very least a conversation piece...