The Bouquets of Spring and Summer 2021

We had a wonderful spring and summer filled with flowers.  
We began in April with daffodils and forsythia.

April 10

 April 12

The late daffodils are ending in May

May 6

May 6

This includes azalea.

 May 15

The rhododendrons are blooming in June.

 June 2

Oooh, and the peonies!  Backed with hosta leaves.

June 14

A rose purloined from a neighbor's bush.
June 15

The spiky purple flower is allium.

June 19

Aaaaahhhh - the sweetpeas have begun.

The dahlias are doing well, too.

 June 30

July brings great variety.

An arrangement of white zinnias 

with drumstick allium and garlic scapes.
July 7

Dahlias, snapdragons, hosta leaves.

July 17

Sweetpeas.
July 26

Gladiolus, white marigolds, white and pink snapdragons, red zinnias, red dahlias.

July 26

Snapdragons, hosta leaves.

July 26

Snapdragons, glads, dahlias.

 July 26

OOoooh  - the sweetpeas. . .
July 26

We found ourselves with more flowers than places to put them.

Such a problem!
July 27

The lisianthus is still blooming - 

here with white zinnias and

white snapdragons.
 August 21

The glads are so dramatic!               

 September 11

More lisianthus with white snapdragons 

and one pink dahlia.

 September 11

We were very lucky with frost this year.  It will be November 3 for our first frost.  This is very late for us.  Last year was September 18.

Lisianthus, dahlias, zinnias, snapdragon.

October 14

Lisianthus and zinnias.

October 14 

So fun to have bouquets this late in the year.

I had sorted through the 79 favorite bouquets to find these 23.  They brought joy.

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.

Garden in the First Half of June - 2021

Winters in upstate NY are long, cold, and snowy.  We look forward to plants and flowers and sitting out in the yard enjoying them and listening to the birds.  It's the joy of June.  There are few biting bugs.  The temperatures are mild but not too hot.

The daffodils are finished and so are the tulips.  It's the season of the iris and the peonies.

. . 

Along the base of the hedge in the background (above) is a border of hosta.  Between the hosta are pulmonaria, but they are finished blooming.  There are also begonias.

 . . . . 

We have white bleeding heart.  

But the greatest joy of June is the strawberries.  Years ago, we discovered Mara des Bois berries from France.  Although they have spectacular flavor and are lovely, often completely red inside, they are not grown commercially.  We learned why!  Within a day or two of picking, they are spoiled, mushy, moldy.  So - you have to eat them!  And they are wonderful.

In the first half of June, after cleaning, we ate or froze 28 cups (That's 7 quarts!).

If you are wondering how much property we have, the lot is 99'x90', with a house, garage, sidewalks.

D has become an expert at space utilization!

Along the front walk are iris on the right and daylilies on the left.  

Near the steps are chives (Thanks, Karen).

In the foreground above are three different types of allium.

The tomato plants are blossoming, and there are a couple of tomatoes.

We are growing Cherokee Purple (a reddish/black), Azoychka (a blush yellow), and one new to us - Berkeley Tie Dye (a pink).

I have saved a lot of pictures for another time, including alliums, peonies, astrantia, Itoh peony.  There were 13 that I selected but did not use here. . . Not counting the hundreds. . . 

And to whet your appetite for the next post, here's our first dahlia.

2021 Garden Pics

March

April

May Part 2 and Part One

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.

May Garden - 2nd Half - 2021

I'm not feeling inspired, so here are the pics.  When the mood strikes, I'll rearrange them and add commentary.