Too Much Heat, Not Enough Rain

Heliopsis

Our area in Virginia is in a drought watch, which means we should minimize nonessential water use. Several areas in Virginia are in a moderate drought because of so little rain and very hot temps in the 90's most days.  But summer plants are blooming. I have four of these heliopsis plants that I planted four years ago when we moved here.  They bloom reliably, and the deer don't touch them.

Coreopsis

I planted four coreopsis plants last year in the garden near the stand of trees, but only two are blooming this year.  The deer did not bother them last year, but they nibbled on them this year.

Gladiolus

This late blooming gladiolus was a surprise.  It seemingly appeared out of nowhere in July .  There are no gladiolus that I know of anywhere in or near our yard.

Eastern Red Cedar

 This Eastern Red Cedar was another surprise. It suddenly appeared under the stand of trees in June.  I suspect that all the rain we had in the spring helped everything bloom and grow, and this was just waiting for the right conditions.  There are two baby cedars that appeared behind it.

The Heat is On

Yarrow

 We finally got the heat the other parts of the country has had. I love hot sunny weather. 
It has been in the 90's many days in the last two weeks.  The hottest we recorded in our yard was 98.  But the good thing about all this hot weather is that we have had low humidity around 40 to 50% most days. It reminded me of Phoenix weather somewhat, although the humidity was usually much lower there. Here is a stand of red Yarrow in the far backyard. The deer won't touch it.

Red Hot Poker

My Red Hot Poker plants are blooming like crazy in the heat and sun.

Highbush Blueberries

The highbush blueberries are finally fruiting.  There are still some green ones near the center of the photo.  The two bushes were in the yard when we bought the house. They don't produce many berries and we let the animals eat them.

Eastern Bluebird

Speaking of blue, we have a pair of nesting bluebirds under the deck.  This male of the pair is sitting on the deck railing. This photo was taken out of my family room door.  Every time I tried to get closer to the window to get a better photo, he would fly away.   

Cosmos 

I always buy a few annuals to complement the perennials in the yard. Here is a photo  of one of several cosmos plants I bought.

 

Summer, Finally

White Astilbe

 

Summer has finally arrived here in northern Virginia. We finally broke out of the low 50's at night and  above 70 during the day. The almost daily rain and clouds seem to be gone. We have had three days of sunshine in a row now.  We have had very low humidity, 30 to 40 percent which is unusual for this area. The white Astilbe has just bloomed under the trees in the side yard among the pachysandra.  The pink Astilbe in the same area bloomed three weeks ago and has just finished.

Hairy Beardtongue

The hairy beardtongue (Penstemon Blackbeard) in the far backyard area has been blooming for a few weeks. I think it is showy, pretty and delicate.

St. John's Wort

There are several St. John's Wort bushes that line the far backyard.  This is a close up of the bright yellow flowers that can be seen out my kitchen window even though they are a half an acre away.

Red Hot Poker

I have three torch-like red hot poker plants (Kniphofia uvaria). This herbaceous perennial likes well-drained soil and full sun.  They are attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, but not to deer. Almost everything in my yard has to be deer resistant, as the yard is regularly traversed by deer.

Salvia

There are salvia plants in the same garden as the red hot poker plants, and they have finally come into full bloom.

Finally June, Hopefully Summer

Spirea bushes, Catmint plants

 

Well, we had another week and a half of rain, but finally the sun came out three days ago. Now if we would just get out of the low 50's at night and break 70 during the day, that would be nice. All the spring flowers seem to like all the rain. These spirea bushes and catmint plants line the front of the house.

Brunnera Jack Frost

Although the delicate blue flowers have finished their blooming on the Jack Frost brunnera plants, the leaves have greatly increased in size and are the showy part of the plants now.

Salvia



There are a couple of salvia plants in the garden below my kitchen windows that finally bloomed.

 

Pink Astilbe

There are several pink astilbe plants that have just showed up in a shady area among the pachysandra and other plants.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Spirea Japonica

 It has been rainy, cloudy and cool for two weeks now.  We have only seen the sun two days during that time.  Despite the weather, the spring flowering goes on.  There are several spirea bushes in the front and side yard that have just started blooming.

Wild Strawberry

Wild strawberries have appeared in the very back garden that lines our property.

Autumn Ferns

These are some of the Autumn ferns under the treed area in the back yard.  The lady ferns photo that was in a previous post are in front of these autumn ferns and have really filled out that area.

Highbush Blueberry

There are two highbush blueberry bushes in the back yard that were here when we bought the house. We never see the ripe blueberries because they are all eaten very quickly by any animals that come through the yard as soon as they appear.

Clematis Samaritan Jo

The clematis vine is so beautiful now that it is in full bloom.  It brightens up a corner of the house where there is only part sun because there are two maple trees to the left of it.  It helps hide our trash cans behind the trellis fencing.

A Cool Mother's Day

Bearberry Cotoneaster

 

It was cool, cloudy, rainy and windy this mother's day. It has been this way for 8 days.  We had to turn the heat back on for a couple of days this past week because it went down to mid 40's at night and was in the lower 50's several days with cold rain.  Unusual weather for May like the above cotoneaster plants.  I have never seen them in neighborhood yards, and I have never grown them until I planted these two years ago. They have red berries in the fall and are evergreen in this area.

Bearberry Cotoneaster

 

Here is a close up of the bearberry cotoneaster flowers.  There are may varieties with different color flowers.

Nepeta Blue Lagoon

 

The nepeta plants (catmint) are blooming behind the spent daffodils.

Dogwood

Finally, the three white dogwood trees in the yard have bloomed.  This photo was taken out of a bedroom window.

Miniature Rose

I bought this miniature rose at the grocery store last year to have in the kitchen.  When it was done blooming, I planted it in the yard next to some holly bushes that the deer don't bother going by.  And here it is blooming this year!  It reminds me of my mother's face: delicate, beautiful, clear,  with a touch of pink.  Although she passed away many years ago, I miss her still.  I am dedicating this flower in the garden to her.  Happy Mother's Day to all mothers.

What Season is it?

Perennial Bachelor Buttons

 

We had a couple of 80 and 90 degree days this past week.  It was sunny and warm, and we were all wearing shorts. And yesterday the high was 53 degrees with a cold rain.  Same grayness and rain today, but it did get above 60 degrees.  The perennial bachelor button plants all bloomed with the heat.

Bachelor Buttons

Here is a close up of the perennial bachelor buttons.

Clematis

The clematis vine also blossomed this week in the warmth.  This clematis is called Samaritan Jo.

Clematis blossom

Purple Iris

A neighbor gave some of her iris plants two years ago.  This is the only one of the plants that has bloomed this year.

Spring Galloping Into Summer

Laurel

 

After two somewhat warm spring weeks at the beginning of April, we have had much cooler temps these last two weeks. It has been in the mid to high 30's many nights with frost on two of those nights.  The temperature  has struggled to reach 60 most days. Now the weather is supposed to charge into summer this week with highs in the mid 80's to 90.  I need to get out the short-sleeved shirts and shorts.

The above photo is one of the many cherry laurel bushes we have in both the front and back yards.

Viburnum

This is the only snowball viburnum bush in the yard that just bloomed this past week.

Lady Ferns

The lady ferns have really grown and filled out in the last two weeks.  They are surrounding the hellebores plants in the backyard under the trees.  We also have some in the garden on the side of the house under the trees there.

Azalea

This is one of the older azalea bushes on the side yard that bloomed a week ago.  We have some in the front that have not bloomed yet.  Most azaleas are blooming in the neighborhood, as well as most dogwood trees.  The three dogwood trees in our yard have not yet bloomed.

Rushing Into Mid-Spring

Brunnera Jack Frost

 

My Brunnera plants are in full bloom.  We were in the 30's at night this past week and then suddenly we warmed up to the 70's during the day.  What a change!  The weather forecast predicts high 50's at night and mid to upper 70's all next week. Although the early cherry trees are finished blooming in the neighborhood, all the late cherry trees are in full bloom.

Close up of Brunnera flowers

I love the blue color of the Brunnera flowers, a blue not frequently found in flowers.

Tulip

This is a tulip from a pot of tulips I bought at the grocery store last year.  I have not planted tulips because of the many deer that roam through the yard. But my husband insisted on planting the bulbs I was going throw out, in an out of the way place, where the deer don't seem to roam anymore at the base of some holly bushes.  And low and behold, they are blooming and have not been eaten! 

Daffodils

These are late blooming daffodils that are in four of the yard's gardens.

Catmint

The early blooming daffodils have died off and catmint is emerging behind them.

Ferns coming up around the hellebores under the trees

 

Close up of late blooming daffodil

        

Everything is Blooming

Backyard

This is a partial view of my backyard with two flowering pear trees that were in the yard when we moved in. It seems the whole neighborhood burst into bloom in the last three weeks, with pear trees, cherry trees, forsythia bushes and daffodils everywhere. I heard the first birdsong on Easter day.

The pachysandra on the side yard has just about finished blooming.

This is the first violet I've seen in the yard among the pachysandra.

We have two saucer magnolia trees in the yard. This is a blossom from one of them.  We had a couple of nights of freezing temps, and it killed most of the blossoms.

This is one of the several Brunnera plants in the yard that have just burst into bloom.

There are several rhododendron plants in the yard that are just appearing through the soil.

These plants are perennial bachelor buttons that just appeared above the soil in the side yard. It will be three or four weeks till we see the blooms.