First, the garden is in full bloom. I love July, and especially this July when the weather has been so great. It’s the big bloomining month. The daylilies are out, and so are the hydrangea. I took this picture this morning.
The yellow daylilies to the far right are called First Knight. I bought two more pots of them a couple days ago and planted them near the old dogwood tree. The tall pink daylilies behind the statue are Prairie Blue Eyes. The tardiva hydrangea is getting ready to bloom. And the very dark daylilies in the center front are my favorites, but I don’t know their name. They came from a farm in Byron Center about six years ago, and I planted them in the Portland garden. When I moved, I dug up a small toe and planted it here in Grand Rapids. It has moved a couple times before I found a permanent home for it, and now it is no long an “it” but a “them.”
This little nook is coming along nicely. I dug up the russian sage. It was ungainly and just didn’t have the look I wanted here. I gave it to a neighbor. The pink dawn climbers are climbing. I hope they take over the supports by the end of summer because I’d rather see roses that white vinyl supports there. The moonflowers are budded out, and I expect to see dinner-plate sized flowers this weekend. I planted a nikko blue hydrangea where the russian sage used to be. I’d love to see electric blue mopheads by this time next year.
I started collecting rocks for the garden and using them to create little vignettes. I raided the fence line in the park, and the drip line on one of the storage buildings. I went down to Plaster Creek on my bike and brought rocks back in my basket. And, um, I picked up some rocks that were between a fence and a sidewalk. There were thousands of them and I figured that the organization or company that owned the building on the other side of the fence would not miss five rocks. I’ll go back to the creek today or tomorrow. But here is what I am doing with the rocks.
I’ve got bricks that I will do something with, too. But I think the stone borders are interesting and add a certain sweetness.
Garden 337 