This is the first year I haven’t bought any garden flowers – no hanging baskets, no geraniums, absolutely nothing.   It was cold with snow flurries until mid-May so the pop up nurseries had a pathetic selection of small and withered looking plants.   We went straight into hot humid weather and I was waiting for them to go on sale but then never made it to any of the big box stores or nurseries. 

On the plus side I don’t have to water, especially welcome in this record breaking heat.   On the minus side, I miss the beauty of having baskets, even the humble geraniums, but I’m trying to focus on my hardy perennials.  Due to the late spring it was a bad year for lilacs (exactly 3 blooms) and peonies (a poor showing, only one or two on the new bushes) and some of the rose bushes did not fare well.  The ones on the north side are very sparse and two had to be dug out entirely.   On the other hand, the rest of the roses were abundant and the lavender was so plentiful it deserves it’s own blog.     

Here’s a recap since May.    A carpet of blossoms on my daily walk.

My 50 cent purple iris was a beautiful bargain once again.

The daisies showed up early.

Second year for the prolific purple clematis.

The older purple clematis is still hanging in there.

The fuchsia clematis.

Purple salvia and pink roses make a colorful contrast.

The heirloom roses were bountiful.

And so were the Pink Knock-Outs,

and the newer lavender bushes are doing well.

Stay tuned for The Lavender Blues next week…

And speaking of blues, the hydrangeas were more cooperative this year – some lavender hues and my favorite blue tones, aided by a generous dose of aluminum sulfate to acidic the soil.    I wonder how much you have to add to get that brilliant blue you see in gardening magazines? 

The garden is my backyard oasis, a tranquil respite from this crazy COVID world.   How is your garden growing this year?