Late June Blooms in the Pacific Northwest

Remember last week when I showed you the foxgloves and roses, but said the “next wave” was coming? Well, it’s here! The new flowers are starting to come into bloom, bringing brighter and wilder colors.

The first thing that always appears is the orange ditch lilies. It’s funny, because every Spring I’m so in love with the pinks and blues and I swear I’m going to tear out all the orange and yellow that’s coming down the pike, but as soon as summer starts and the orange and fuschia and purple and indigo take over, I fall in love with the brighter colors all over again.

I wish I could take credit for all this, but I didn’t really do it. I mean, yes, I built this bed and planted these plants (there was nothing here when I moved in five years ago). But it was mostly just a matter of answering two questions. First, “What didI bring with me from the old garden that attracts butterflies?”, and second (to be repeated several times each season), “What do I have on hand that I stuff in that bare spot?”

This bed evolves every year. I add things, things die. It’s a great bed for tinkering.

I love how the orange mixes with the pink and blue as summer starts to heat up.

This adorable little rose is an Apothecary’s rose, and is a recent gift from a friend. I have them in the herb bed right now, but this fall I will move them to a better home. They’re going to get way too huge and swamp my cooking herbs! The little blooms are so pretty, aren’t they?

The gazebo “thing” is right in the corner, between the butterfly garden and the not-yet-defined-bed-that-I-haven’t-figured-out-but-is-full-of-foxgloves garden. I do love the foxgloves. I’m going to have to transplant a bunch of them, though, because I’m going to have to fix that bed one of these days.

OH yes, and lest you think I am some kind of superwoman who can keep her garden picked up at all times, I will remind you that I do, indeed, have children.

While there’s still gray skies more often than not here in the Pacific Northwest, summer is definitely here.

What about you? Do your gardens change their colors for summer?

Best,

P.S. For the fellow plant enthusiasts, here’s the main things pictured:Ditch Lilies: Hemerocallis fulvaRose Campion: Lychnis coronariaYarrow: Achillea millefolium ‘Cerise Queen’Catmint: Nepeta x faassenii ‘Walker’s Low’Brazilian Verbena: Verbena bonariensisApothecary’s Rose: Rosa gallica var. officinalisFoxgloves: Digitalis purpurea

P.P.S. Linking up toTuesday Garden Party at An Oregon Cottage.