The Garden in the first days of June

Is it just me, or is June passing by at lightening speed? 

With a second chest cold keeping me from my garden, I found that the early summer flowers came and went before I had much of a chance to take any pictures. Already the peonies are almost finished and I have very few records of them.

Let's take a look at what I did manage to document in the first days of the month.

Baptisia nicely anchors the corner of the front garden.

As you can see, it is quite a sizeable perennial.

In the center of the front flowerbed, there is a pretty clematis that only reaches 4' in height. 

I like its small size so much that I have decided to collect more of these shorter varieties.

I have two clumps of Oriental poppies. I find their vivid, orangey-red color clashes with the blues, pinks and purples that dominate the garden in June.

So next year, I am going to move them to a new spot in the backyard and replace them with these soft, pink poppies that I saw on a recent garden tour.

One of my favourite plants of the moment is this Penstemon.

And just behind it I have a delpinium.

The Korean Lilac by the white picket fence was spectacular this year, but all the other varieties of lilacs were a bust! I had very few blooms in the back garden, so I had better do some pruning to renew them. 

This year I had more peonies than ever. 

As always, they look amazing for a few days. Then rain sends them sinking to the ground.

Gas Plant, Dictamnus fraxinella

The gas plant in the front garden.

The shrubs along the driveway have put on a nice show this month.

This one has a lovely honey scent. 

(This shrub and the previous one were here when we moved in. 

Sorry, I do not know their names. If you do, please be sure to let me know.)

A John Cabot Explorer Rose overhangs the driveway as well.

In the back garden, there is Dame's Rocket that has self-seeded itself everywhere. 

(That's Beauty Bush in the background.)

It get a bit messy looking and is prone to mildew when it finishes flowering, so I yank most of it out. I always manage to miss enough plants for the Rocket to reseed itself for next summer.

Beauty Bush

There are several shades of Spiderwort including mauve and white.

Tall, feathery Thalictrum Aquilegifolium in half-shade.

Tiny Epimedium in full shade of the back garden.

The geraniums are almost finished flowering.

Last year, I was so excited to have one foxglove. This year I have almost ten! 

So what's blooming in your garden? I will be around to visit and see.

I am going to link this post to May Dreams Gardens Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. 

I will also link to Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time. 

To see what is blooming in other gardens around the world, please click the links. 

Roses & Roses that don't Look like Roses

Ironically, as we head towards the hottest part of summer, there was a definite chill in the air at dawn this morning. I hate to the 'f' word, but with the nip in the air, it felt like fall. I am sure when a cloud of humidity descends over the city in the middle of July and settles in for a few weeks stay, this cool early morning will seem like a distant oasis from the relentless heat. 

The light was wonderfully golden this morning. As we took our morning stroll, the dogs and I disturbed the big brown mosquitoes from their resting places. I swear these retched vampires are the size of small birds! At least you can see them coming and feel them landing.

In the garden, there is a general changing of the guard. The last of the peonies have finished and the soft pink spirea have faded to a deep tan color. Roses have stepped into fill the void. The hostas have hoisted their mid-summer flags and the deep pink spirea are filling in nicely for their pale pink cousins.

'Graham Thomas' here and in the opening shot.

The deep pink spirea

In the front garden, there is red Monarda with their crazy mop heads.

The evening primrose is still going strong.

 At the side of the house there are big white daisies...

and little white daisies (Feverfew).

There is also a tiny Moonbeam coreopsis in flower.

Along the front of the picket fence, the 'Fairy' is beginning her magic.

Keeping the 'Fairy' company, are a few roses that look more like apple blossoms than standard roses. This is the Musk rose 'Robin Hood'.

There is also the Polyantha shrub rose called "Marjorie Fair'.

A "clearance" clematis hangs down over the picket fence.

Just inside the picket fence is this little soldier 'Vigorosa Raspberry'.

My favourite is still got to be the 'Mary Rose'. 

And you can't beat this workhorse. Canadian Explorer series rose 'John Cabot'. 

The back garden is quieter. There is too much shade for it ever to be a riot of blooms.

Still, there are more subtle forms of beauty worth taking a moment to appreciate.

 The work of the new veggie beds is almost complete. This is a project that 

seems to have dragged on forever!

Hopefully soon, there will be more zucchini than I know what to do with. More about that later...

'Carefree Beauty'

For today, I end on a rosie note.

Today I am going to link to the Creative Exchange and later in the week to Cottage Floral Thursday at Fishtail Cottage. To see other great posts, simply click the links.