The theme of this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is TRANSIENT.
I have usually understood the word to mean something or someone moving from one place or condition to another. What could be a better example than the water from the rains or springs, gathering in the hills above, then moving slowly or swiftly down a North Carolina mountain stream.
I look forward to June each year as a time when my chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) comes into bloom. My unidentified heirloom variety is approaching full bloom.
It seems to be a promising choice for In a Vase on Monday. The blue vase is one we purchased in Japan all those many years ago and has stayed with us over five moves.
Last winter I pruned the vitex heavily and it has responded with vigorous new growth. It promises to be a banner year. One of the wonderful attributes of this plant is that it responds so well to deadheading. If I can get up high enough (my Arranger has strict rules to keep me low on the ladder) to remove the spent flowers, it will rebloom completely. That is a winner; it came from a second generation cutting from my aunt and was originally in my grandmother’s garden.
The bees love it as much as I do.
Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and others have put in their vases this week.
Today I am pleased to be able to share three plants which have just recently come into bloom in my garden. Each of them is contributing a new color to enjoy.
Gladioli are not supposed to be hardy enough to overwinter here in my part of North Carolina, and yet this one has survived two winters in the ground, has multiplied, and now looks very healthy.
Several years ago I visited a daylily garden in Northern Virginia and remarked to the owner how much I liked a particular specimen. She immediately got a shovel, dug it up, and gave me ‘Obsidian.’ Great gardeners are like that; they love to share.
I am still in the hunt for a dark lavender garden phlox. ‘Flame Lilac’ is a short phlox just coming into bloom now. It’s not quite as dark as I would like, but it is a beauty. I will keep hunting.
Just a week short of summer and there are sweet flowers opening now. It is fun to take a Friday walk in the garden and see what is new.
June is one of the traditional times for weddings, and that means beautiful brides. In my garden it is time for a ‘Blushing Bride’ which is in its glory now. How fitting, then, to bring a few cuttings of this delightful hydrangea for our vase this Monday.
My Arranger put in a few bits of new cleyera foliage to add to lead crystal vase.
Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see what she and so many others are sharing this week.
Today was a lovely day in the garden. I completed some trimming and deadheading chores and then strolled around the garden. New colors are making their presence felt. Let me share just a few of them.
These are all members of the ‘Endless Summer’ family of hydrangeas. Although all of them were rather severely damaged with a late frost, they are able to flower on new wood and are loaded with blooms.
Vitex agnus-castus Chaste Tree
I am very excited to see the first lavender blooms on my vitex. I expect to see armies of bees in the near future. I cut back my three vitex trees rather severely over the winter, and they are bounding over with new growth. It’s going to be a good season.
More color is coming now from Society garlic, an annual Mandevilla vine, and the first coneflower this year.
And finally the first daylily, aptly named ‘Early Red.’
The theme of this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is ORDER.
It is important that things we enjoy are kept in order:
A late Monday afternoon after nice rain over the weekend, just in time for In a Vase on Monday. My Arranger calls this creation”A Little Bit of This and That.”
The “that” part is from Hydrangea ‘Endless Summer’ that has weathered the heavy rains well. Complementing the hydrangea blossoms are “this” Society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea), with a background of ‘Sunshine’ Ligustrum sinense.
Please visit Cathy at Rambling in the Garden to see her lovely vase this week and that of the many followers of her meme.
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