Friday, July 15, 2011

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day ~ July, 2011

My most favorite summertime chore is deadheading flowers in the cool of the evening.

After dinner, a garden stroll, wielding my trusty scissors... I lop the heads off all the spent blossoms, encouraging them to smile at me all over again.

Around this joint, Columbines rule the roost. 
I just love how they cross-pollinate to deliver fun, new colors each summer.

Do you deadhead your Columbines? I've found the blue ones, in particular, will flower all summer long, if I keep torturing them with the scissors.

Bumble on the Catmint May Night Salvia (Good catch, Kim! :-)
We're receiving more rain this year than ever before. Flowers are jumping for joy. The garden is abuzz with hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

Wild Roses
Mom's wild roses pouted for several years after transplanting. With these ideal gardening conditions, they finally agreed to put down roots and embrace their new surroundings.

Mom's Legendary Day Lilies
Truth be told I'm not a fan of Day Lilies. (Lazy one day bloomers... :) But, I guess there's a legacy aspect to gardening. The Lilies, along with the wild roses and peonies, are transplants from my Mother's garden. Her Peonies are older than me.

Salvia and Yarrow
I prefer a wilder look ~ so it feels as if you're strolling through a meadow untouched by gardener's hands. (And, we all know that meadows are filled with weeds so I can pretend like I planned it that way!)

Maltese Cross
I'm doubly nuts for hot, hot colors like this Maltese Cross.

Wine Cups
But, I guess that's the beauty of gardening, isn't it?

How every yard is a reflection of who we are and ~ through our choices ~ a lovely story to tell.

Pay a visit to Carol of May Dreams Gardens ~ creator of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. From her website, you can stroll through an astonishing number of brightly blooming blogs.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love the way you characterize deadheading. The mosquitoes scare me inside most evenings, but your lyrical description encourages me to lather up with the OFF and head out into the twilight :)

Noel Morata said...

aloha,

what a beautiful garden, love the sign in the front...the wine cup flowers are dazzling :)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Patricia;
We're struggling a bit with mosquitoes this year - due to the plentiful rains. And, we're whining because of it since most of us don't have screens on our windows. Under normal conditions, there's no need for such things in a high plains desert.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Aloha, Noel!
I keep the temperature for Hawaii on my Google landing page. (That's way more meaningful during the winter months. :) Anyhoo... Park City, UT and Kihei are the exact same temp today. And, what a perfect 78 degrees it is! I hope this finds you enjoying a lovely sea breeze.

Gardening in a Sandbox said...

I love the Columbines but despite cutting them back they do not rebloom for me. It is great that they do for you all summer. Beautiful blooms for GBBD. V

Alison said...

Your Columbines are very pretty. A few of mine are still blooming, but I am waiting for them to make seedpods, so I can harvest the seeds. Maybe next year I'll try deadheading them religiously, and see if they rebloom.

Christine @ the Gardening Blog said...

I also love the deadheading ritual!
Your garden looks fantastic! The Daylilies are stunning.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, V;
Columbines grow wild out here so maybe they're a little more hearty than the hybridized varieties?

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Alison!
I like to plant big clumps of them so the seeds can inter-mingle. I ended up with a gorgeous yellow/purple combo this summer - from a pure yellow and purple variegated variety.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thx, Christine!
If you'd like some day lilies, just say the word. I thin them every year. :)

jan said...

Your soggy spring has resulted in lush beauty! Really, lovely flowers!

Town Mouse said...

Happy bloom day! Oh, everything looks great. Congratulations on the columbine reblooms, mine might do it if it rained, but alas, I'll have to wait for spring...

growingagardenindavis said...

Just lovely...I'm especially fond of the columbines...I will begin deadheading pronto!

Unknown said...

Yeah... we can't do columbines year-round here, either. They seem to almost melt away after they're done blooming in the spring! (That is, if powdery mildew doesn't take them out first. *sigh*) So it's especially nice to see yours.

By the way, are you sure that's catmint that so entices the bumble? I could swear it looks more like a salvia to me... but it's 2am, so I may just be flat out wrong. lol.

Wally said...

Gorgeous!

unikorna said...

Spectacular photos. I only have a few roses in my garden so you are putting everyone to shame :).

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thx Jan;
I can't get over how lush and green everything is around here. The wildflowers along the hiking trails are just amazing.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Town Mouse;
Spring columbines are the best anyway. They never re-bloom with as much vigor as that first flowering!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thx, Leslie;
I have messy gardens so I just let the seeds fall where they may. And, then invite gardening friends over every summer to dig up the 'seedling volunteers' for their own gardens. It's a fun way to share the love...

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

I stand corrected Kim! :))

I have soooo much catmint on the property (keeps the deer and elk at bay) that if I see a blue flower I automatically assume it's catmint. You're right. That bumble bee is digging the May Night Salvia.

Larry said...

Really enjoy your post today... wonderful organization and color! Larry

Anonymous said...

Glad I noticed this on google .

Rose said...

I think your daylilies are beautiful, and how fortunate you are to have such a legacy from your mother. I agree that gardening is a reflection of who we are--one look at my garden, and you'd know I'm not a perfectionist:) Thanks for the tip on the columbines; this is the first year mine have bloomed, and I'd love to have them bloom again.

Janie said...

I do love all your different colors of columbine.
It's been a great Utah garden year with all the rain.

William said...

Absolutely lovely post. I love the sign you have in it!

Melanie J Watts said...

Beautiful Kate. The sign is lovely.

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Thx, for paying me a visit Larry! Cute little boy you have in that profile pic. :))

Happy bloom day!

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Rose;
If you're interested in more day lilies I'd be happy to send you a care package. And, yes, it is really cool to see parts of my garden flourishing that have little to do with me. Always brings a smile to my face when I see her more formal flowers peeking up out of my messy garden design. Even if they do look a little out of place... ;>)

Kate/High Altitude Gardening said...

Hi, Janie!
And, great wildflower year, too. I'm seeing entire drifts of Sego Lilies on my horseback rides in the foothills. After our long cold spring this weather is truly a blessing. :)

Carolyn ♥ said...

Love your description of dead heading... one of my favorites too!

Marguerite said...

It's funny but I've never deadheaded a columbine in my life. It never even occurred to me that you could cut them and they would come back. Now I think I'll have to try it.

Wanda said...

I'm always inspired to work on my garden after reading your blog. Happy summer!

Jenny said...

Lovely!

Susan said...

Lovely flowers! I love the sign in your garden.