The Garden on Life Support

Can we really have passed by the middle of July already? Where has the summer flown? 

It has been hot and really, really dry here in Ontario. We have had had no significant rainfall for weeks. I keep the garden going with the lifeline of a garden hose. 

In the front flowerbed, the roses are still hanging in there.

Here is the garden at the side of the house in early July.

A humble spirea.

The garden hose doesn't reach these ditch daylilies that grow along the property line, 

but then again, they are pretty unstoppable.

My hydrangeas however, are less impressed with the weather.

As I strolled around the garden taking pictures, I couldn't help but take note of all the things I did and didn't manage to do this spring. I had every intention of giving this clematis proper support, but somehow never got around to it. 

Now it has flopped over onto itself. Oh well, there is always next year!

I also didn't manage to tackle the this bed which is now overrun with this very pretty pink flower. 

My procrastination means that it is an even bigger job now. Hopefully, I will get to it next month. 

We did install this birdhouse that my husband and I designed and built a couple of years ago. Each of the two floors and the roof are a separate piece and are stacked together to make the whole birdhouse. This hopefully makes it easy to take apart and clean.

In the back garden there are lots of phlox in flower as well as annual poppies, lilies, bright-red monarda and dainty white and yellow feverfew.

I think this might be the summer that the euonymus that now covers half of this arbor makes 

it all the way around to the other side.

I planted sunflowers seeds, but only one plant grew! I seem to have terrible luck growing flowers from seed. I am not sure if my failure is due to the fact that I bought my seeds at a discount sale or if I am planting them to deep or if there is something else I am doing wrong. 

Despite my poor success rate, I was able to coax butterfly weed, nasturtiums and 

love-in-the-mist out of the ground.

I also have lots and lots of tomatoes. Last summer the dogs discovered they loved cherry tomatoes. They ate some and dropped others. Now, I have tomatoes growing in all manner of odd places.

 It is just a small handful to start, but I am already I am daydreaming about the fresh salads and the toasted tomatoes sandwiches I will be able to make in a few week's time.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I will be around shortly to say hi.

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.