Friday, July 15, 2022

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day & Foliage Follow-Up: Long Island Summer Garden!

Welcome to my July Garden!
Welcome! The summer has flown by and the July garden brings temperatures in the mid to upper 80's, with and lots of blooms! Things are busy in the horticultural world but the rest of my time is spent in the garden doing some deadheading and enjoying those summer blooms. Every moment is precious, as the summer flies by way too fast. Come along with me for a tour of my July Long Island garden!
Patio Garden
In the patio garden is a mixture of evergreens and perennials, including Blue Globe Spruce, Weeping Norway Spruce, Blue Star Juniper, Echinacea Pow Wow, Astilbe, Platycodon (Balloon Flower) and Hosta 'Golden Tiara', which are  now in bloom. The  pollinators just love going from flower to flower.
Mandevilla Vine
In a planter by the back door is Mandevilla in full bloom and it will continue to bloom throughout the summer and into fall. It just keeps on giving!
Tea Time!
The welcoming committee is sitting among the Hosta and greeting  those who enter the garden...
Hydrangea Let's Dance 'Big Band'
and this Hydrangea Let's Dance 'Big Band' is thriving in a planter on the patio with just the right amount of light. This newer cultivar is hardy in USDA zones 5-9, is reblooming and only reaches a height and width of approximately 2 1/2 feet. Give it morning sun and afternoon shade for its best performance.
Endless Summer Hydrangea
Endless Summer Hydrangea is blooming too along the back fence line.
Patio Garden: Echinacea Pow Wow 'Wild Berry'
Here is a close up view  of the Echinacea Pow Wow 'Wild Berry' with its vibrant deep pink blooms throughout July and into August. I enjoy the blooms...
Happy Pollinators!
and the pollinators do too!
Hemerocallis 'Sammy Russell'
'Sammy Russell' Daylily is blooming in the perennial border along with Echinacea, Astilbe, Lamb's Ear, Echibeckia and Salvia.
Echibeckia
The Echibeckia is doing well in its third season. It is a hybrid cross created between Rudbeckia (Black Eyed Susan) and Echinacea. The key is it likes full sun, moderate watering and good drainage. The upright pinkish-white blooms of Lamb's Ear are along the front of the border and contrast nicely with the orangey-yellow blooms of the Echibeckia behind it.
Sedum
Along the northern border with southern exposure is Golden Creeping Sedum, which stays low at just four to six inches in height by twelve-fifteen inches wide and produces these wonderful bright yellow blooms that will last for several weeks.
Poolside Garden
Along the pool garden, miniature Hosta are blooming in the foreground with Sky Pencil Holly and Caramel Coral Bells in the backdrop.
Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears' Bloom
Here are the blooms of Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears' up close!
Pool Garden
While most Astilbe bloom earlier in the summer, this cultivar, Astilbe 'Sprite' produces delicate light pink blooms that appear  later in the summer from July through August. In the foreground are Daylily 'Stella D Oro'.
Hemerocallis 'Stella D Oro'
Gardening Tip: Once the Daylily are done blooming, I rejuvenate them by removing dead stalks and pulling out all the expired foliage. They will re-sprout new foliage and produce more blooms for yet  another round!
Back Island Berm Conifer Garden
Come around to the south side of the garden. The back island berm consists mostly of  a variety of evergreens, including Hinoki Cypress 'Compacta', Mugo Pine, Juniperus Gold Lace and Dwarf Japanese Andromeda along with flowering shrubs Crape Myrtle, Dwarf Variegated Weigela and Dwarf Hydrangea with perennials Ajuga, Coral Bells and Sedum mixed in. 
Heuchera 'Palace Purple' (Coral Bells)
This is Heuchera 'Palace Purple', which is blooming this time of year, but I enjoy it mostly for its burgundy foliage, which lasts well into winter.
Dwarf Rudeckia 'Little Goldstar'
If you are seeking a Black Eyed Susan which stays more compact and stays in its place, here is Rudbeckia 'Little Goldstar'. It stays at a height and width of  14-16 inches, is hardy in USDA zones 4-8, and thrives in partial shade. This one is going on its fifth year in the garden.
Weeping Japanese Maple 'Red Select'
Along the pool patio is Weeping Japanese Maple 'Red Select', a more compact form of Acer which is ideal for smaller spaces...
St. John's Wort
and in the back shade garden is St. John's Wort with its delicate yellow blooms and red berries.
Heuchera 'Caramel' and Skip Laurel
The Skip Laurel are bouncing back after a terrible winter two years back and finally pushing out enough new growth to fill back in. Hopefully Mother Nature won't be too harsh for the winter of 2023!
Front Walkway
To finish out the tour, let's venture around to the front entrance and driveway border gardens. Along the front walkway is Weeping Eastern Redbud 'Lavender Twist', which is all about the foliage in summertime and fall. The bright lavender blooms are gorgeous in springtime and put on quite the show, but it is the luxurious heart-shaped foliage that I adore! Weeping White Pine, Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar and Coral Bark Maple can be seen in the background to the left.
Echinacea 'Cheyenne Spirit' (Coneflower)
Last, but not least, is a wonderful Coneflower called 'Cheyenne Spirit' that produces multiple color blooms on the same plant ranging from pink to orange, yellow and cream... 
Driveway Border
and a combination of Coreopsis 'Zagreb' and Nepeta 'Walkers Low'. These two perennials are personal favorites for all summer blooms. In the backdrop of this planting is Skyland's Golden Oriental Spruce and the burgundy foliage of Weigela 'Spilled Wine'. In the distance is Weeping Japanese Maple 'Viridis'.
Thank you for Visiting!
I hope you enjoyed your visit and as always, I look forward to your comments and seeing what's happening in your garden! Special thanks go out to our hostess Carol at May Dreams Gardens, who makes it possible to see blooms on the 15th of every month with her meme Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Also, special thanks to Pam Penick at Digging who has hosted Foliage Follow-Up for all these years, a meme I will still continue to honor. I am also linking with some other wonderful hosts and hostesses at Floral Friday Fotos, Friday Bliss at Floral Passions, Macro Monday 2, Mosaic Monday at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf, Nature Notes at Rambling WoodsImage-in-ing weekly photo share every Tuesday with NC Sue and Gardens Galore Link Up Party every other Monday with Everyday Living. I am also happy to join the Weekly Photo Link-Up at My Corner of the World on Wednesdays and Garden Affair at Jaipur Garden.  Are you looking for some gardening inspiration? If so, visit my author page and books! 

Friday, July 1, 2022

This Month in the Garden: Summer at Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park-A Virtual Tour

Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park
Come along on a summertime virtual tour of Bayard Cutting Arboretum, a beautiful 691 acre state park  located on the south shore of Long Island, New York, about 50 miles east of New York City and bordering the Connetquot River. The park includes numerous theme gardens and continues to evolve yearly as new species of rare and unusual plants are donated. Bayard Cutting Arboretum is also the home of one of the most extensive conifer collections in the region, housing over 1600 specimens. 
Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park Manor House
The landscape architectural firm of Frederick Law Olmsted designed the grounds for William Bayard Cutting, attorney, financier, real estate developer, sugar beet refiner and philanthropist in 1886. The 68 room mansion, called Westbrook, was designed by architect Charles C. Haight for William, his wife and four children as a summer home. After William's death, the mansion and grounds were donated by Olivia Cutting and daughter in memory of William to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, which declared the land as a state park in 1912.
Dwarf Conifer Garden
Alongside the mansion is the Dwarf Conifer Garden, with an assortment of evergreens including Dwarf Norway Spruce, Hinoki Cypress, Mugo Pine and rare selections such as Weeping Arizona Cypress and Gold Rush Dawn Redwood. The collection displays a huge diversity of conifers that have been sourced from across the country. Many native species such as Eastern Red Cedar, Pitch Pine, Eastern White Pine and Bald Cypress also reside in the gardens.
New Pinetum: Lilac Tree
There are many paths to take leading to the various collections. Along the New Pinetum, the Lilac tree is in bloom...
River Walk
and the River Walk along the Connetquot  River is so relaxing, especially when there is a gentle breeze.
Conifer Garden
Always an amazing sight are the enormous seed cones on Norway Spruce during the summer months. The female cones are red, while the male ones are brown.
Woodland Garden
For a relaxing walk, stroll down the paths of the Woodland garden and travel the wooden bridge over a babbling brook. There you can explore giant Hosta and ferns, which are indeed happy in their environment.
Woodland Garden
Here is another view.
Woodland Garden: Liquidambar styraciflua 'Variegata' (Variegated Sweet Gum)
On the path, one will come across this glorious Variegated Sweet Gum, which displays leaves that look almost prehistoric in nature.
Woodland Garden-Hosta Curly Fries
Hosta 'Curly Fries' lives up to its name with crinkled narrow golden foliage. Hardy in USDA zones 3-9, it stays small at just about six inches tall by sixteen inches wide.
Woodland Garden
In the woodland garden is a combination of Hellebores, Hosta and Astilbe, with ferns in the backdrop.
Woodland Garden
More ferns along with golden Hosta also make for a nice look!
Woodland Garden: Calla Lily
Here is White Giant Calla Lily, which is being grown in the woodland garden. It is borderline here (hardy in USDA zones 7-9), but can be possibly overwintered in a sheltered area. At three feet high by wide, its blooms are gorgeous! In cooler climates, these rhizomes can be easily dug up and stored in dry peat moss. Keep in a dry, dark location that is no cooler than 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
Woodland Garden
This groundcover really caught my eye and I had not been familiar with it. It is called Houttuynia, also known as fish mint, rainbow plant or chameleon plant and although it is pretty, it is an aggressive groundcover and should be used carefully! It is hardy in USDA zones 4-10, prefers medium to wet soil and produces these showy flowers in summer.  
Mahonia (Oregon Grape Holly)
Welcome to the Holly Walk and view various types of holly, including Oregon Grape Holly, Nellie Stevens Holly, Steeds Holly, and Winter Bounty among others.
Holly Walk
Coming around the Holly Walk, you will come across this more formal garden with manicured circular yew hedges... 
Holly Walk
and blooms of Nepeta and Coreopsis.
Southern Magnolia
This Southern Magnolia is gorgeous when all in bloom and the huge flowers are all so fragrant!
Four Season Garden
Last, but not at all least, is the Four Season Garden, which happens to be my favorite! An accumulation of plants perfectly positioned along a winding path provide blooms and interest for every season of the year. There are benches along the way for stopping and taking in the view.
Four Season Garden
This garden is simply so inviting...and constantly changing.
Four Season Garden
On the way out, a surprise was to be seen. An Osprey's nest along with Osprey overlooked the park as it appeared way up high on the mansion's chimney. It is so nice to see this protected species thriving here on Long Island.
Osprey Nest

I hope you enjoyed This Month in the Garden and tour of Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park. Be sure to stop by on the 1st. and 15th. of each month as I continue to share gardening tips, information and horticultural adventures! Bayard operating hours are 9-5 Tuesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays and winter holidays. For some views of Bayard in the fall, visit Bayard Cutting Arboretum State Park Autumn. To visit their website, go to Bayard Cutting Arboretum

 For gardening information visit: My Author Page and Books

As Always...Happy Gardening!😊

Author: Lee @A Guide to Northeastern Gardening,© Copyright 2010-2022. All rights reserved.