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Our July garden has several plants that we inherited from Lois and Bob when we bought their house in 2001. A dominant feature in the back perennial border is the plant above. (The backdrop is our neighbor's new brick garage.) It grows taller than me, and has the lovely double dahlia type flowers. A summer thunderstorm will bend it over and then we have to tie the stalks to a support. The seeds attract birds in the winter. We don't know its name. If anyone does, please leave a comment!
Purple cone flowers are a prairie staple and there was a small stand of these in the border by the driveway when we moved in. They are multiplying rapidly, and we added some plants to the back border as well. Goldfinches love the seeds and they delay nesting until the seed heads start to form, despite the handiness of our thistle feeder.
What would summer be without black eyed Susans? These provide more seeds for our hungry bird population in fall and winter. All of these came from a single plant we put in about three years ago.
Over 75 percent of the back yard is shaded and we are always looking for ways to add color to the staple shade garden of vinca, hostas, etc. Some years the coleus just sits there, but this year the plants have exploded in size and color. Maybe they like being in a pot instead of competing with the maple tree roots for food and water.
Caladiums also provide some much needed color in the shade garden, but the plants are expensive. We bought these three last year at a garden center, and when the leaves died in the fall, I brought the pots in and set them in a basement window. When spring came, I watered them, set them outside and enjoyed a minor miracle--they sprouted!
We call this one the Gold Lily. It's a daylily type but it blooms later than all of the others. It was here when we arrived, and we have divided it and there are at least three specimens scattered in the borders now. It reminds me of the Mid Century lily that was introduced in the 1950s, but I'm not sure if that is what it is.
This tall charmer is another find, a resident of our "back of the garage" section and also in the yard next door. It's the tallest daylily I've ever seen--these blooms look me in the eye. We moved it to the side fence so we and our neighbors can enjoy it more. It blooms profusely over a long season from mid-July into August.
This month of July has been a 'time out' from blogging, and I appreciate the readers who have e-mailed, inquiring about my health or even my whereabouts. There's a lot of catching up to do, but I wanted to start by posting some garden photos that have been languishing in the blog file for a while, now. Above is part of our front bed in mid-June. We finally started putting the plants close enough together for an impact. Impatiens and hostas were the stars in this scene.
For Mothers Day in May, Norm gave me this lovely hydrangea. This is an everblooming variety and we love it's clear blue color.
About three years ago I found this daylily at a garden center and had to have it: its name is Judith. The pink salmon blooms were long-lasting this year.
One of the joys of inheriting another person's perennials in the garden is the occasional surprise. This was our 5th spring season at our present home, and we had never seen this pure white asiatic-type lily before. It came up in a clump of yellow Stella D'Oro lilies and had only two blooms.
Norm loves "old fashioned" roses, like this single pink rose here. It's a hardy bush we acquired two years ago and even though we don't really have enough sun for most roses, this one blooms from early spring until frost near the front porch.
In addition to old fashioned roses, an old-fashioned yellow rose is Norm's absolute favorite. We have had this one for about 3 years in the back border, and it blooms all season as well.
We have started a columbine collection and last year added this yellow one to it. This year it bloomed early and late in the rock garden at the front of the house. 
A new addition to the backyard border this year was the Red Carpet Lily. We enjoyed these in early June.
A main stay of our back yard garden is the daylily bed that Lois had already established. Last year Norm dug them up and divided and re-set them, and they rewarded us with profuse, beautiful flowers in June, starting just after we returned home from the family reunion.
Our July garden has several plants that we inherited from Lois and Bob when we bought their house in 2001. A dominant feature in the back perennial border is the plant above. (The backdrop is our neighbor's new brick garage.) It grows taller than me, and has the lovely double dahlia type flowers. A summer thunderstorm will bend it over and then we have to tie the stalks to a support. The seeds attract birds in the winter. We don't know its name. If anyone does, please leave a comment!
Purple cone flowers are a prairie staple and there was a small stand of these in the border by the driveway when we moved in. They are multiplying rapidly, and we added some plants to the back border as well. Goldfinches love the seeds and they delay nesting until the seed heads start to form, despite the handiness of our thistle feeder.
What would summer be without black eyed Susans? These provide more seeds for our hungry bird population in fall and winter. All of these came from a single plant we put in about three years ago.
Over 75 percent of the back yard is shaded and we are always looking for ways to add color to the staple shade garden of vinca, hostas, etc. Some years the coleus just sits there, but this year the plants have exploded in size and color. Maybe they like being in a pot instead of competing with the maple tree roots for food and water.
Caladiums also provide some much needed color in the shade garden, but the plants are expensive. We bought these three last year at a garden center, and when the leaves died in the fall, I brought the pots in and set them in a basement window. When spring came, I watered them, set them outside and enjoyed a minor miracle--they sprouted!
We call this one the Gold Lily. It's a daylily type but it blooms later than all of the others. It was here when we arrived, and we have divided it and there are at least three specimens scattered in the borders now. It reminds me of the Mid Century lily that was introduced in the 1950s, but I'm not sure if that is what it is.
This tall charmer is another find, a resident of our "back of the garage" section and also in the yard next door. It's the tallest daylily I've ever seen--these blooms look me in the eye. We moved it to the side fence so we and our neighbors can enjoy it more. It blooms profusely over a long season from mid-July into August.
