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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
Enjoyed the tour in your garden, everything is growing fine and looks so nice in the sun. I envy your Hostas, so beautiful without holes of slugs and snails.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for visiting and commenting Janneke. The hostas have been doing well this season after the long and cold winter...one advantage of a lot of snow!
DeleteEverything looks absolutely beautiful! Many images here from which to draw inspiration! Thanks for sharing. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your kind words Jenny. I enjoyed my visit to your blog and am glad you stopped by!
DeleteWonderful blooms. Love the heucheras and I especially love that dragonfly!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dorothy. I am enjoying my Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro Lens and the dragonfly was kind enough to stay and pose for me!
DeleteIndeed, the weather has been wonderful, and your gardens are just gorgeous, Lee.
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much for the tour!
You are very welcome Lisa and thank you for dropping by and leaving a comment...much appreciated!
DeleteHi Lee! Wow that dragonfly photo is amazing! and I love the hosta bud. Such a great idea for a photo. Beautiful gardens as always. Enjoy your July!
ReplyDeleteHi Kate. It is fun to just walk around the garden and photograph everything that comes to mind. Sometimes the most random shots end up becoming my favorites! Thank you so much for visiting and for your comment and happy July!
DeleteYour garden looks fabulous in July! That dragonfly shot is spectacular--I know they can be tough to capture on camera. I envy your pool--summer swimming is one of my favorite things to do. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteHi Beth. Thank you so much for visiting and commenting. I would like to experiment using a telephoto lens to capture them from afar and see how that works. Enjoy your summer!
DeleteYour gardens look lovely with all the color and texture combinations. Very lush and full.
ReplyDeleteCher Sunray Gardens
Thank you for visiting and commenting Cher. I enjoyed visiting your gardens as well!
DeleteHi Lee. I just saw your comments on my blog and fixed the problem why they were not showing up. Glad I did to see your garden and all the wonderful blooms. The garden looks great and I bet the cooler weather this year is helping. I saw your reply to Beth on using a telephoto lens. I almost always use a 300mm when shooting dragonflies - but I am usually about three feet away from them many times. I recently did quite a few of them on my new blog and there was no way to use any other lens to get those pictures since many were a lot further away. If I use a macro lens, too much of the dragonfly is not in focus if getting in close. I shoot them very early in the morning too so they stay on the plant for me. You must have done that too. Very nice image, it is a hard shot to get.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comment and advice Donna. I will try experimenting with the telephoto lens. I am enjoying using all the lenses to capture the garden in a different light...no pun intended!
DeleteTouring your gardens was a delight. I appreciate your plant names. Everything looks lush and beautiful. The dragonfly and Hosta flower photo were amazing. My space is very new and empty and I struggle with the design components that will give me 4 season interest and express my own personality, so I appreciate your posts with tips. =)
ReplyDeleteThank yo so much for visiting and for your kind words. It is so nice to hear that my efforts to include as much information as possible are appreciated! Enjoy your weekend!
DeleteYour July garden is absolutely lovely! I adore all sorts of lilies, including daylilies, ‘Pardon Me’ is gorgeous. Most of my daylilies are finished flowering, only a few left. Lovely shot of the dragonfly, not something I see in my own garden.
ReplyDeleteHi Helene. Thanks for dropping by the garden and for your comment. I can see you are having a wonderful growing season there and I enjoyed visiting!
DeleteWhat a great dragonfly shot and your pool looks so inviting! Thanks for sharing your lovely post at Home Sweet Garden Party! You are on of this weeks featured posts! I hope you can join us again this week too! It will be open this afternoon at 4pm! {www.creativecountrymom.com} Hugs...Brooke
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Brooke for hosting and featuring my post! I look forward to visiting more of your garden parties. :)
DeleteWhat a beautiful garden and would expect no less from the blog listed as #2 to sign up for GBBD. How I'd love a huge framed print of that dragonfly. I think you should have played a mystery image on the hosta buds, as it wasn't my first thought.
ReplyDeletePlease visit my first ever GBBD as it has quite a back story I'm sure you'll enjoy.
Best, Patrick
Thank you for visiting and for your lovely comment Patrick. I will be sure to visit your blog. Have a great day!
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