Tangled Branches: Cultivated

happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Halftime

This started out to be a post about what was blooming at the end of June. Then it was going to be a post about what was blooming at the midpoint of the year. (Did you know that the first half of 2007 ended on July 2 at 1 PM?) And now? Well, Happy 4th of July to those who celebrate it!

The first few days of July have been unusually cool, which is actually OK with me. I've had the windows open the whole time - airing out the house and saving on air conditioning. But we could use some rain. Plants, both wild and cultivated, are starting to take on that dry end-of-summer look.

Enough about the weather, what was blooming at the end of June? This is one of my more inspired plant combinations. Plain old shasta daisies with a big yellow daylily whose name I do not know. I bought the original plant long ago at the late lamented Chantilly Farm Market. (That was such a great place. There's a Mattress Warehouse there now.) I don't remember whether the daylily had a label even when I bought it, but I don't think so. I like the form of these old daylilies better than many of the new ones, which are so ruffled and heavy with short fat scapes. This one, to me, says "daylily". The new ones don't talk to me very much.

But if had to choose a newer ruffled one, I like 'Apricot Petticoats'. I would call the color cantaloupe, not apricot.

The annuals started from seed are looking good now. I'm still having fun with Cupheas. The one in the background here is from the Thompson & Morgan mix called 'Summer Medley'. They say the species is C. miniata, but I've just about given up on Cuphea taxonomy. The petunia is Chiltern's 'Giants of California', but only some of these are the size, shape, and colors I remember from the now unavailable Burpee's 'Giants of California'. Those were uniformly large plants with uniformly large ruffled flowers in mostly pastel shades. A few of these new ones from Chiltern fit that description, but many are just rather ordinary-looking.

Back in the woody and perennial category, the 'Blue Satin' Rose-of-Sharon is blooming blissfully beetle-free. I still can't believe my good fortune there.

I really should try to eradicate the Passion Vine - it's such an aggressive spreader. It's now escaped to the other side of the neighbor's fence, but I don't think she knows/cares. It will greedily take every inch of territory it can get, but when it's in bloom, I don't care.