Garden in the First Half of July 2021

In the first half of July, the garden is lush, dominated by lilies, day lilies, drumstick allium, delphinium. 

At the bottom of the picture (above) and a yellow marigold, yellow dahlia, and on the right, leaning over the grass is a drumstick allium

The picture (above) has purple delphinium, lavender delphinium, orange calendula, lilies, yellow marigolds, a red daylily and an orange daylily.

The dahlias and marigolds are beginning.  The zinnias have not done much yet.  Below is a red daylily with a white delphinium,

:~:

 I thought these bugs were the cutest little things.  They look like fairies!

Then D said they are "Woolly Aphids" whose favorite job is destroying apple trees.

:~:

We have had a lot of rain this year.  I wonder if that's why the lilies are so magnificent.

Years ago, we bought an investment house that we called "The Flower House."

The house had been lived in by an old woman who loved to garden, but the gardens had been neglected for a couple of years and were becoming quite overgrown.  While we were clearing the woods, we were amazed when we saw this:

We had never seen it before.  It is monarda didyma, also called bee balm.

This magenta one is quite special!

The lavender version is called Oswego Tea.

It is in the mint family, and the leaves are fragrant when touched.

Hummingbirds love it, and so do hummingbird moths.

We have two shrubs that we knew are hydrangea, but they never bloomed.

What a shock - one bloomed this year with four flowers.

I never heard of blue and pink on the same plant, but we're loving it!

Alas, we do not know what coaxed them into bloom.

Apple tree, lilies, and bench.

Between the apple tree and the bench is the strawberry and garlic garden.  You can see the garlic scapes bending over.

The first snapdragon was July 13.

The drumstick allium has lasted the entire month of July.

  

It is constantly covered with bees and wasps and other little pollinators.

The first lupin we have grown!

To its left is the seed head of a giant allium.

The big leaves are hollyhocks that will bloom later in the month.

The blue-green leaf is cerinthe.  It will bloom later in the month, too.

The strappy leaves that look like grass are daylily leaves.

The first sweet pea bouquet was July 2.

The leaves are hosta and spotted leaves are pulmonaria.

The sweet peas are still blooming in August!

The second half of the month brings spectacular dahlias and snapdragons.

Check back. . . 

2021 Garden Pics

March

April

May Part 2 and Part One

Part one of June

Flowers of June

Part two of June

To see 2020 garden pics:

Second half of September

September 1st half.

Second half of August

First half of August.

2nd half of July.

First half of July garden.

Garden at the End of June

And the first half of June is here.

You can see the end of May, 2020, here.

Here is the first week of May

Daffodils 2020

The middle of April is here.

First week of April.