Love this multi-season interest groundcover combination at the Grand Ideas Garden. Maybe the Ajuga on the Lot needs some company.

On-the-go Gardening

Stepped out into the garden to harvest some fresh salad toppings. Can’t believe the snow peas are still producing! Must be our so far mellow summer.

On-the-go Gardening

This month’s Bloom Day, a garden blogger’s day to share his/her blooming plants with the rest of the world, is happening the day after I’ve arrived home from a trip to Portland, OR. I am so inspired by the gardens/gardeners there and have so much fun info to log! But first, here are the current, blooming stars on the Lot.

What’s Blooming

July is the month for lilies, coreopsis, and coneflowers on the Lot. Last season multiple varieties were added to the South facing bed at the front of the house. Here’s an overview shot.

And a few details shots of the various plants blooming in this bed…

On the West side of the Lot we had a downspout creating a wet area near the house foundation. This spot also receives some hot, afternoon sun. This year I added some little natives called monkey flower (Mimulus ringens) at the point where the downspout ends. The plants are used to seasonally wet and sunny conditions. So far they are doing well and are in bloom!

Another native I introduced to a hot, seasonably wet area of the Lot is swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata). Hopefully the butterflies will soon find the blooms on this new addition to the Lot. The leaves are also found to be an important food source to the Monarch butterfly.

In some of the shadier areas of the Lot, the ligularia, astilbe, and mouse ear hosta are all in bloom.

The East fence bed in the backyard of the Lot is splashed with color from some more coreopsis, balloon flower, tall garden phlox, and pretty planters Ms. A put together containing some annuals for pollinators.

Here’s a Himalayan Cinquefoil making it’s debut. It has struggled a bit this spring with stalks collapsing and a touch of powdery mildew. However, it’s still offering up some of its red blooms this month.

A small coneflower called Buttefly Kisses (Echinacea purpurea) began peeking out from underneath the cascade of clematis leaves.

In the alley bed, some spiderwort and sedum are blooming. The bees are loving those!

And the afore-mentioned collection of lilies include this one…

And last but not least, the cucumbers and pumpkin plants are beginning to bloom. Here is a bee loving a pumpkin blossom.

Make sure to visit May Dreams Gardens to enjoy all the other plants blooming this month!