Tag Archives: early summer

Green things growing

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O the green things growing, the green things growing,
The faint sweet smell of the green things growing!
       ~Dinah Maria Mulock Craik (English poet)

greengarden

Profuse rain and warm sunny days have turned the world green. Plants grew a foot overnight and the tender veil of new leaves in the spring woods was suddenly transformed into a verdant velvet curtain. O the green things growing indeed.

herbcircletrees

I am amazed at this spring, this conflagration of green fires lit on the soil of the earth, this blaze of growing, and sparks that puff in wild gyration . . . ~D. H. Lawrence

In a few weeks, flowers will fill the garden beds but for now, they are lush islands of leaves with a few sparks of floral color. Not all of the foliage is green though – deep reds, bright golds and warm bronzes have come into full leaf as well.

There are a few bright spots of contrasting colors as spring flowers give way to the early summer blooms of alliums and flowering shrubs. (Click on any photo to see a larger image)

Deutzia ‘Chardonnay Pearls’
Allium‘Purple Sensation’
Azalea near the garden gate
Azalea closeup
White azalea flower
Variegated Weigela flower

Some of the perennials have begun to bloom, bridging the floral gap between spring and summer.

Columbine ‘Wiliam Guinness’
Spanish bluebell
Japanese fern ‘Regal Red’
Geranium ‘Joan Baker’
Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Album’
Geum x ‘Peach Daiquiri’

In a few days, the garden will change again as the roses and peonies and foxglove add their drama to the scene, but for now I will treasure the blessing of green things growing.

All photos and text ©2018 Lynn Emberg Purse (except where noted)

Perfect young summer

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What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade. ~Gertrude Jekyll

Summer is truly here, the solstice bringing long days of light along with copious rain and heat. The last of the May flowers are finished, and early June has suddenly pirouetted into young summer. The garden burgeons with lush green growth.June garden circles

Green was the silence, wet was the light, the month of June trembled like a butterfly.     ~Pablo Neruda

Our native Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ threatens to swallow the bench at the bottom of the garden, drinking long and hard of the rain brought by frequent thunderstorms.

<em>Hydrangea arborescens</em> 'Annabelle'

<em>Hydrangea</em> fairy

Always generous with her blooms, ‘Annabelle’ generously provides a few clever nests for the leafier moth  (Olethreutes ferriferana) – there are plenty of leaves and blooms to spare.

Long trails of Italian clematis clamber and flow along fences, down shrubs and across other perennials while the perennial residents of pots rise up to meet them. (Click on any photo in the mosaic to see a larger image.)

The daylilies are beginning to flower. A stand of ‘Lynn’s Delight’ was given to me by a friend years ago and and is the first to blossom each June; black annual poppies are poised to bloom in tandem.

‘Lynn’s Delight’
Hemerocallis‘Lynn’s Delight’

Every day, new daylilies open amid the roses, bringing a surprise of color to each morning walk.

True lilies continue the show throughout the garden; one of my favorites is the soft peach down-facing ‘Tiger Babies’. The peach theme continues with roses.

On this June day, the buds in my garden are almost as enchanting as the open flowers.     ~Francis King

The grape and lemonade bed is moving into its glory of lemon yellows and deep purples.

June is almost over yet the freshness of young summerJune hilltop with yellow foxglovefilled with blue skies,June skies

lush blooms, June hillside

and rich greens Hostas and ferns at woodland edgecontinues to enchant. May you enjoy the final days of a lovely June and celebrate the entrance of the fireworks of July.

And since all this loveliness cannot be Heaven, I know in my heart it is June.  ~Abba Woolson

(All images ©2017 Lynn Emberg Purse, All Rights Reserved)