Progress on the hillside, part 5

Harebell has been blooming all summer

As I mentioned last time, I didn't expect to do more work on this area until fall - but I've anticipated fall by a few weeks.

After a hot dry August, the poppies and other wildflowers growing across the bottom of the hill were done, so I decided to go ahead and dig them all up. This bottom strip had mulch and other organic material piled up, but I had to dig under it to remove the old landscape fabric. Now it seems so flattened, but the hillside is back to it's normal gradual slope at the bottom leading into very steep at the top. I did this work last week before the rains, so I was coated in dust!

Looking northwest

Looking southwest

I planted three new coneflowers, two echinacea purpurea 'Pow Wow Wild Berry' and one echinacea 'Double Scoop Cranberry'. The sale section at local hardware stores is nice late in the summer!

Pow Wow Wild Berry coneflower

Double Scoop Cranberry coneflower

I also moved two penstemon that were below the hot lips salvia, one is a Rocky Mountain, the other was the unknown variety. They were getting buried under the lupine, which has grown much larger than I expected (and is now suffering from powdery mildew, but I think that's fairly normal for lupine here).

Enthusiastic lupine, done blooming now

That leaves a lot of bare ground, but I'm waiting until I can get more meadow plants to see how far up the slope I want to plant them. I've been growing Oregon stonecrop offshoots in pots so some of those will end up here too.

Everything else is growing well and the raspberries have gone crazy, I'm picking a lot more than I expected for the first summer. They need wires, but first I have to drill holes for the fence posts. No pictures of the raspberries, apparently I forgot to take any on that side of the hill.

Red satin coreopsis

Thrift

Yarrow, reblooming

Hot lips salvia has bloomed all summer

Oregon stonecrop and wild strawberries

I like how the rock stream is turning out, need to plant the lower section and then I want to extend it across the flat below the slope as plants instead of rocks. Maybe a stream of native lupines growing across the meadow that I'm working on plating down there (thus the plastic visible in some of these pictures).

Rock stream growing in

New section of rock stream to plant

The grapes above the slope are also growing wildly, they're providing quite a bit more shade than expected over the top of the slope. They'll be pruned more aggressively next year, and I have plans to re-do the grape trellis to move it slightly back from the slope.

Aggressive grapes visible on the right

Now I just need to keep the weeds under control until some of my plants get bigger!

Progress in the rose garden: late summer

I've taken pictures three times now and not gotten around to writing about the rose garden - and then the pictures get old because flowers come and go so quick! I just looked back at my last post about this area, it's been over 3 months, and the plantings in front of the roses look completely different.

I love how quickly some of the perennials are growing in, and what a long blooming season the roses have. They'll likely still be blooming in October. 

Looking north

In the middle

Looking east

Lower section, looking east

Most of the seeds that I planted in late winter grew well, especially the thyme. I transplanted them in a few different batches but found that those that were transplanted earlier have grown larger. Here's the full list that I grew from seed:

• Calamintha "Marvelette Blue" 
• Calamintha "Marvelette White"
• Nepeta nervosa "Pink Cat"
• Veronica hybrida "Blue Bouquet"
• Mother-of-thyme, thymus Serpyllum
• Columbine Blue Star, Aquilegia caerulea
• Columbine Origami Red & White, Aquilegia x hybrida 'Origami Red & White'

Aquilegia, hiding behind the fern leaf lavender

I was tempted by a creeping bellflower in July and planted two of them: Campanula portenschlagiana ‘Catharina’

Bellflower, reblooming

My only recent plant acquisitions for this area, early in August were five bearded irises: Hemstitched, Slovak Prince, Speeding Again, Jesse's Song, and Italic Light. All blue, except the last which was a freeby, and all either reblooming or scented or both.

Oops, always more plants - also a few succulents that my mom sent home with me in June and I had growing in pots until recently. Those are at the top of the lower section of roses, which gets a lot of foot traffic so I hope they are tough enough. I'm pretty good at not actually stepping on them though.

Mystery succulents

A pretty mystery

I've been very pleased with how long most of the new plants are blooming for, or reblooming. There has been nice color all summer, and will be fun to see how early it starts next year - and how big everything gets when it's full grown.

Yarrow, reblooming

Creeping phlox, reblooming - and thyme

Heron's bill, slow growing but keeps blooming

I did some deadheading of the roses and raking up fallen leaves and flowers this week, but foresee a lot more to come in the fall. At least I should be able to stop watering soon!

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - August 2016

Salvia

I don't know where the last month went but it's time for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day again. Thanks to Carol at May Dreams Garden for hosting the monthly roundup!

We're in the hottest part of summer, the grass is all brown and early summer blooms are definitely gone. I'm envious of all of the hydrangeas around my neighborhood and making plans to plant some, but I do have quite a few perennials in bloom.

In my rose garden, where all of the plants are new this year except the roses.

Creeping bellflower

Catmint

Yarrow, calamint in front and Heron's bill in the back left

A few last flowers in my shadier bed below the roses.

Hollyhocks fallen over the lavender

A very late foxglove, planted in the spring and just now blooming

Fireweed with very interesting fasciation

Flowers in my vegetable garden, where it's nice to see blooms because my vegetables aren't doing that great this year.

Dahlias are loving the warmer weather

Aquilegia,bought on sale in the spring when it was almost done blooming, now reblooming

Lupine, reblooming

On the sunny back hillside, again mostly new plants this year. I especially love the aquilegia because I planted them from seed and didn't expect blooms until next year.

Aquilegia

Thrift, armeria meritima, has been blooming all summer

Harebell, campanula rotundifolia

A drought resistant lupine, 'Hot Lips' salvia and a glimpse of penstemon in front

Yarrow reblooming

Seeing these all together, I'm surprised at how many of my flowers have been blooming and reblooming for months. I'd like to add more fall blooms though. What's in bloom in your garden in late summer?

In bloom this week: Aug. 2, 2016

Coreopsis 'Red Satin' and Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun'

I have a fondness for blues and purples, so much that I have a hard time buying plants that will bloom in other colors. A little white is necessary for balance, pink and red tag along with purple, plus those are classic rose colors and I love my roses - but yellows, oranges and dark reds are rare in my garden (and my wardrobe).

Here's a few of those rare colors in bloom now:

Zinnia, outside the front fence

Zinnia, outside the front fence

Achillea millefolium 'Desred', in the rose garden (also planted on the sunny hillside)

Calendula in the rose garden, a volunteer from the neighbor's yard

Gladiolus between the shady bed and bottom of the rose garden

Coreopsis 'Red Satin' on the sunny hillside

Gaillardia 'Arizona Sun' on the sunny hillside

Oregon stonecrop on the sunny hillside

Crocosmia on the sunny hillside

Crocosmia on the sunny hillside

That is almost every single plant in my yard with yellow, orange or dark red flowers! Here's a bonus with dark red foliage - well ok maybe almost purple!

Ornamental maple