6.08.2008

scenes from the garden

I don't know what it is this year—perfect weather, plenty of rain, the planets aligning—but the garden looks spectacular. Even the grass looks great. Of course, if it stays 90 degrees like it's going to be today, it will probably dry out and I'll be complaining about that. But for now...perfect.

rock soapwort
Rock Soapwort, a new favorite—kind of low-growing and creepy and looks really nice spilling over a stone wall.

yellow tree peony
A yellow Japanese tree peony. Like regular peonies but without the ants.

mystery flower
A mystery flower—I can't remember what this is called. (Thanks to Camilla and Patricia for identifying this as Verbascum chaxii and I believe it is the 'Bold Queen' variety. There's also one called 'Milkshake' with flowers that are pure white; mine are a bit yellower)

chive flowers
Flowering chives.

white rhododendron
White rhododendrons—the wild kind—which are much prettier than the cultivated ones. This looks amazing when it's just starting to get dark—it glows.

9 comments:

Camilla said...

verbascum? That's my suggestion. It's one of my favourite flowers and I wish wish wish I still had a garden to grow it in. I'm feeling the lack of a garden really hard this year.

Anonymous said...

Hi Janet - I agree with Camilla that it's a verbascum - chaxii, I believe. All of the flower pictures are beautiful, such a treat. Keep cool!

Tracey said...

Beautiful pictures! I agree with the gardens this year. We are a bit later in the Upper Midwest, buts promises to be a glorious garden year!

Anne K. said...

The photos are absolutely gorgeous. I instantly fell in love with your rock soapwort, and am vowing to follow your lead in adding it to my garden this year. We added a stone wall last year and something "creepy" is exactly what we need!

And I agree that even the grass looks good this season. For us, I'm giving credit to the new rotary lawnmower -- so much more gentle on the grass and mulches those nutrient-rich clippings right back into the ground -- love it!

Enjoy your garden. It's lovely.

janet said...

Thanks to Camilla and Patricia for helping to identify my mystery flower. It's a very English flower (and perhaps named after Queen Elizabeth) so I'm not surprised that Camilla knew what it was. And Patricia, who just happens to be my SIL and loves all things garden-related, of course knew exactly what variety it was :)

And Anne, you might check out some of the creeping thymes for your rock garden - they're also 'creepy' and form a soft dense carpet.

Anonymous said...

Lovely! Makes me want to visit Pennsylvania! Why is it I always think of snow when I think of Pennsylvania?????

janet said...

Hmmm, maybe because it's snowed as early as October and as late as June. Thankfully not in the same year, but still. Some years we do get quite a lot of it.

Anne K. said...

It's funny you'd mention creeping thyme because I actually do have some of that in the garden. And I LOVE it! It's one of the "Steppable" line of potted herbs that seem to be in all the nurseries these days. I put in five pots amid the stepping stones in the new flowerbed and it started shooting out runners almost immediately -- I think it's a winner!

I checke my local sources for Rock Soapwort but to no avail. I'll have to try an online source so I can still get it in this season and maybe we'll have blooms next year.

robinirene said...

your chives look like shooting stars! very art nouveau, i think. i adore your blog; thank you for the endlessly helpful embroidery tips!