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| July Garden Welcome to my Long Island garden! It is time for another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-Up for the month of July. After a long winter and cool spring the summer temperatures have been in the mid to upper 80's with mostly sunny, dry days. It is one of the best months of the gardening season to take in all that nature has to offer with majestic blooms and striking foliage. For this month's meme I tried capturing the grounds through different eyes using various wide angle and macro lenses. Come along and take a walk with me as we tour my July garden. |
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| Hemerocalis 'Pardon Me' Daylily |
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| Sunny Perennial Border |
In one of my favorite changing parts of the garden, the perennial border, you can see many more daylilies getting ready to bloom along with spikes of purple 'May Night' Salvia, two varieties of Astilbe and Lamb's Ear. There are also Platycodon (Balloon Flower) to the left which will bloom next month.
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| Heuchera 'Caramel' (Coral Bell) Blooms Above is a close up of the delicate spikes of Heuchera 'Caramel'. A friendly dragonfly (below) decides to stay and visit for a while on the bloom of a Salvia. |
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| Dragonfly Visitor with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens |
The water of the pool and multiple bird baths on the property invite these mysterious creatures to stay around and they love to land on the taller flower spikes in the garden. I have always had a fascination for dragonflies and they are very much welcomed here.
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| Patio Side Garden |
Around the bend from the perennial border is my evergreen and perennial section with a Weeping Norway Spruce as the focal point along with Double Knock Out Roses, Nepeta, Sedum, Heuchera, Dwarf Fountain Grass, Juniperus 'Gold Lace and 'Blue Star'. A row of 'Emerald Green' Arborvitae serve as a backdrop to the garden.
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| Back Shade Garden Going towards the back of the property on the way to the pool is my shade area. Nestled under the canopy of the 'Star' Magnolia are groupings of hosta, leucothoe, sweet flag, spreading yew and Japanese Forest Grass with Spirea 'Little Princess', Viburnum and Holly in the backdrop. It is a hidden retreat that I can get lost in for hours at a time. |
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| Heuchera 'Caramel' |
Venturing into the shade garden further, you can view a close up of Heuchera 'Caramel' with Hosta 'Patriot ' peeking behind it in the background.
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| Hosta 'Big Daddy' and 'Evergold' Sedge |
Here are my 'Big Daddy' hosta with their majestic blue tinged foliage and white blooms against 'Evergold' Sedge, which stays evergreen all year round.
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| 'Hosta 'Patriot' Flower Bud with Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens |
Getting up close to this 'Patriot' Hosta bloom you can see the detail of the flower bud as it unravels into a flower.
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| Foliage Combo: Spirea, Leucothoe, Hosta and Astilbe 'Visions' |
Getting deeper into the shade area is a view of 'Rainbow' Leucothoe in the backdrop with Hosta, Spirea 'Little Princess' and Astilbe 'Visions' Purple...
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| Astilbe 'Visions' Purple |
with a close up of the Astilbe blooms.
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| Sun Garden with Sedum 'Dragon's Blood' |
As we move along the back of the property we come across the pool area and gardens.
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| Poolscape Gardens |
Originating back in 1996, the pool gardens have grown into what you see here today. After Hurricane Sandy the Eastern White Pines that were behind the pool were destroyed and the new Western Arborvitae planted just last year are filling in just fine.
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| Backyard Perimeter Gardens |
To the left of the pool area are more gardens wrapping around the side perimeter of the property. The Plum tree in the center was planted three years ago and had a growing spurt this spring.
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| Spirea Double Play 'Big Bang' Bloom |
Around to the front yard is a glimpse of one of my newest additions, Spirea Double Play 'Big Bang'. The blooms on this variety are huge in comparison with other spireas and the plants are now established after their first season and doing well.
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| Coreopsis 'Zagreb' |
Coreopsis 'Zagreb' in my front sunny area has a very long bloom time lasting from June until frost, making it an exceptional perennial. Following around full circle we arrive back into the shade gardens where garden boy hides among the hosta and our tour comes to an end.
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| Hosta, Arborvitae, Spirea and Rhododendron Shade Garden |
I hope you enjoyed the walk through my July gardens. We got through the tour just in time as some well needed rain is starting to fall and replenish the gardens. Please visit our hostesses Carol at May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day and Pam at Digging for Foliage Follow-Up. I am also linking up to Creative Country Mom's new Home Sweet Garden Party. Thank you for the visit and if you leave a note I will know you dropped by to say hello and I will be sure to visit you as well!
As Always...Happy Gardening!
Author: Lee@A Guide To Northeastern Gardening, Copyright 2014. All rights reserved
