Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ July 2016

Lily 'Honeymoon' shining under blue skies with the blue larkspar

Welcome to Havenwood! Our one-acre garden in Pennsylvania zone 5 is bursting with all the high summer favorites for July. It has been a beautiful summer around here! It has been unusually dry, but it is hard to complain as the temperatures in the 80s everyday make it perfect for pool going with the kids. :) I need to get out and do a bit more watering, but this is surely one of the most pleasant jobs in the garden.

July at Havenwood ~ GBBD July 2015

The Rose Garden

Hello all! Welcome to our Pennsylvania garden in July! Come take a look around...

Front Curb Planting (aka The Front Woodland)

Our daylilies are all in bloom this week in our curb strip

July has brought the daylilies (Hemerocallis). The catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low' is just finishing up around our corner, but still has twinges of blue and lots of attraction for pollinators.

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD July 2012

Lavender and purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in the Driveway Garden for July

Welcome to Pennsylvania in July! It has been a hot dry summer here this year, as it has been in most of the US. My gardens have had very little supplementary watering this season. Everything was looking tired around the edges until we had a garden clean-up this past weekend.

Gardening in Pennsylvania~ June GBBD 2012

The Driveway Garden: Lavender, pink lilies, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and blue fescue (Festuca 'Elijah Blue').

Welcome to our small garden in Pennsylvania, zone 5. We are still quite a bit ahead for the year in our bloom cycle. Many flowers are blooming now that usually wait until July. The lilies are just getting started, as are the daylilies (Hemerocallis).  Some roses are finishing their bloom, though Rosa 'The Fairy' is just beginning. And there are Clematis vines blooming everywhere.  Here is the quick tour at Gilmore Gardens...

Clematis 'Lil' Nell' growing on the back gate, and the steps, and the banister... I love it. Such a dainty white and pink striped flower.

End of the Month View ~ November 2011

Hydrangea 'Limelight' by the backyard fence

November has been a busier one in the garden and, having thoroughly enjoyed it, I am sad to see it coming to an end. The fall is such a forgiving time to be in the garden up rooting things, tinkering here and there, creating new schemes that no one else will know about until next year.  And of course there were the bulbs.

It has been a beautiful fall, very warm and temperate. A cold front is blowing in this evening and we are expected to have a little snow tomorrow.  Knowing the changing weather was coming motivated me to get out in the breeze this afternoon for some more seedling thinning and weeding. My fingers were freezing, but it was really nice to be out!

Hill Garden on Thanksgiving Day

Edging out another foot of sod from the front of the garden beds made for plenty of labor at the beginning of the month. I love a clean edge at this time of year, as well as in the spring. It does not always happen, but I enjoy it when it does. I planted more creeping phlox (Phlox subulata) in the new area, as I really like it as an edging plant. It is evergreen, which is probably my favorite reason for growing it besides its flowers in May.

Allium tuberosum on the Hill

The Circle Lawn

 Much of my seedling thinning is happening on the Shade Path (the area near the gate in the photo above), and in the curb planting strips across the sidewalk. Columbine (Aquilegia) and forget-me-nots (Mysotis) seedlings are everywhere.

Clematis 'Fairy Dust' still hanging on to a few last flowers

Cherry Corner garden

This picture does a great job showcasing the improvement that can be made in daylily (Hemerocallis) foliage by pruning it after flowering. The large green clump was pruned to the ground with hedge shears, while the pile at the lower left corner was not. Quite the difference.

Sedum 'Autumn Joy' under the weeping Cherry tree

I love how it brings out the red in the Cherry bark

View of the Shade Path to the back of our property

The evergreens are coming in to their own. Most moments the garden is looking more brown and black, but there are a few of those sunny moments left that illuminate the left over color. Here at the front is that famous pair again, Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) and native aster Doellingeria unbellata. I spend a couple afternoons edging out some more sod from the beds on this side of the garden also. I filled in mostly with Geranium macrorrhizum 'Bevan's Variety'.

Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium)

New Curb strip planting from May

 More plant filling work in the new curb areas, hoping to make spring a little easier. The hillside by the fence is finally starting to look like something after three-and-a-half years. I am going for a tapestry effect, just throwing all sorts of plants at it hoping something will grow. The Ajuga reptans at the back seems to be fitting the bill.

Thanks to Helen at The Patient Gardener for hosting the End of the Month View. I love how her posts walk through the garden, taking stock of improvements, etc. So, here is my first go at her concept.

Pruning Daylilies in Mid-Summer

Herbaceous pruning (cutting the foliage of perennial plants) has a few uses. Often, it is used to delay the bloom of a plant, or to make it have better branching instead of just one main stem. This is known across the pond as the "Chelsea Chop", because gardeners in the UK can plan on cutting their perennials around time of the Chelsea Flower Show. (The show is usually held at the end of May.)

Another good reason for pruning perennial foliage occurs later in the season. During the hot months of July and August, perennial foliage often starts to look old and tattered. For many years, I sighed and assumed that yellowing leaves meant my garden was passing into its fall foliage already.

Before: Hemerocallis waiting for their trim in the Front Woodland

A few years ago, I started experimenting with cutting back (also known as "dead-leafing") my hardy Geraniums, lamb's ears (Stachys byzantine), lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and Hosta. Even that took a bit of courage at first, but my plants looked better for it!

Then I read Tracy DiSabato-Aust's thorough treatment on herbaceous pruning in her book, The Well-Tended Perennial Garden. New challenge: the bold step of cutting some plants to the ground. This was supposed to regenerate their foliage. But would it really work?

After: Post chop. Hedge shears made quick work of the entire Front Woodland.

I love daylilies early in the year. Their flowers are beautiful (sometimes scented!), their foliage covers the ground quickly in early spring and they are generally undemanding. Once they are done blooming however, I begin to despise their tattered appearance. In past years, I have torn off just the yellowing leaves under the base of my daylilies (Hemerocallis). This year, I decided to be brave and cut down the entire foliage clump when they had finished blooming.

After: Front Woodland with Hemerocallis nubs.

 I was very pleased with the overall appearance of the Front Woodland once I had cut the daylily foliage down at the end of July. It looked kept. Rather a satisfying bit of restraint at the most jungle-like time of year.  And with the Sedum 'Acre' ground cover in this garden, there was less bare mulch seen than I anticipated. I rather hate bare mulch. Better than dirt, yes, but that is what drives me to cover it with plants instead.

And for those of you wondering: Just a couple of weeks later, they are sending up new foliage. We have had some rain this week, which has helped them to recover quickly. The hope is that they will have new, fresh looking foliage all the way til frost.

Before: Cherry Corner

In the case of our Cherry Corner Garden, my decision to chop the daylilies worked out even better. The black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia) were barely visible at all above the mess of foliage. Once it has been cut down, I was delighted to be able to see the yellow flowers dancing above the annuals. This is the best this garden has looked yet at this time of year. 

After: Wow! I could not tell there were that many susans back there!

All that was left was a wheelbarrow load of foliage. After a long afternoon/morning of herbaceous pruning, I usually park this sucker in the garage and deal with unloading it later. Are you as lazy as I am?

Happy pruning!

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day ~ July 2011

Welcome to the Mid-Summer edition of Gilmore Gardens!

After a week of rather intensive pruning and planting, the garden is ready for its start into high summer.

   The Cherry Corner garden is in its warm/hot stage, with a half-dozen different varieties of daylilies (Hemerocallis), and annual bedding filling in the front margin where the grape hyacinths began in the spring.  Heuchera 'Palace Purple' and Lysimachia punctata 'Alexander' both play the important role of grounding the daylilies, giving them a place to appear their best. Their mounded foliage also covers for the somewhat crazed fountain foliage of the Hemerocallis.

Double version of Hemerocallis fulva

Hemerocallis 'Autumn Minaret' is beautifully scented. Something like Lily of the Valley, to my nose anyway.

Unnamed red daylily

The first of the Rudebekia, Black-eyed Susans.

Close-up of Cherry Corner's annual planting.

View from Cherry Corner toward the Hill Garden

View over the Front Walk

 The Front Walk is getting its summer make-over. Red dahlias have been added already, as well as some annuals to fill in for the growing Japanese anemone plants. A few allium christophii heads still sparkle here as the nepeta is also finishing up its first bloom, awaiting a hair cut. Red-leaved cannas will soon be added. Red annuals by the front steps keep the hot colors going along the whole front of the house.

Rather a nice July 4th combination: Allium christophii, Nepeta 'Walker's Low' and red dahlias.

From the front steps to Cherry Corner.

View from Cherry Corner to the Shade Path

When transitioning from the hot summer bedding to toward the cool green backyard, the Shade Path is a good intermediary step.

The Shade Path has had its foxglove cleaning for the year, moving on to its next display.  After a few years of not being happy with the summer bedding here, I decided to try two shades of pink this year. Darked-leaved begonias with a light pink flower and magenta impatients go well with the light purple Hosta flowers. I prefer to plant my annuals in large groups or swaths, instead of in a row.

Hydrangea quercifolia blooming in front of Hostas

Close-up of Hosta, Impatients and Begonias. Japanese forest grass Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' at left.

View from the sidewalk toward the back yard. Clematis 'Lil Nell' on the gate.

Hydrangea quercifolia

White variegated Hosta and hardy ivy by the back steps.

Clematis 'Lil Nell' seed pods on the gate.

Now on to the real business of July: relaxing! What would a garden be without a green place to rest in on a hot summer's day? This is our little outdoor living room for the summer. Sometimes it has a baby pool and sprinkler, sometimes just a hammock and some library books. Having dessert by the fountain is my personal favorite. And anything is better with a few flowers!

Gerbera daisy in the pot with an asparagus fern. An overwintering success story! (Finally!!)

Thalictrum pubescens (or a meadow rue very similar) in our Back Woodland.

Geranium 'Rozanne' in the Driveway garden.

 Hope you find a cool spot to enjoy this July!

Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Gardens for hosting GBBD!

See more of Gilmore Gardens: 
The Hill Garden in July (Roses!)
Foliage Follow-up for July (More green spaces)

July Scenes from the Front Woodland

The Front Woodland is in the sidewalk strip at Gilmore Gardens. It is just a couple of years old, but is filling out quite nicely this year. It has progressed from the daffodils of April, to the foxgloves and irises of May/June, to the daylily display of July.

A baby tulip tree can be seen sprouting up in the middle of the daylilies (above), which will give shade and balance our tall house when the old maples are gone.

These daylilies have all grown from one large clump that came from my husband's childhood home. They are the common orange daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) which you may see along country roads at this time of year. 

Here they are planted with Hemerocallis 'Stella d' Oro' and across the sidewalk from the blue catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low'.

I like the combination of colors here more this year than I did last year. Last year I was ready to rip out this whole lot of orange flowers. I guess I have stretch my color boundaries, especially in not minding that a few pink geranium flowers pop up in this area from time to time!

It makes for a much nicer walk along the sidewalk, anyway. Quite colorful.