The Miller Garden in June-Page 2

The Seasonal Page:

JUNE...

Here come the roses and daylilies!

Page 2

The buxom beauty shown above is the rose 'Electron.' It is an old variety but still available on the market. The bush is medium-sized and bushy, with tough disease-resistant foliage and LOTS of thorns! The fragrance is light. It is a variety that you can neglect and it will still be attractive. That little blob on the top petal is a ladybug. I haven't sprayed the roses yet so they show signs of insect damage on the leaves. Seeing these little guys makes me afraid to spray for fear of killing them also.

I never remember whether this is Scabiosa 'Blue Butterfly' or S. 'Butterfly Blue' (that's probably an aster). Either way, it is charming and a relative newcomer to the perennials market (a few years now). It has a really long season of bloom if you keep the old flowers picked off and since it's so beautiful, I'd wager that it won't reseed itself! The foliage is rather close to the ground so it can be used in a frontal position as well as in the center of a perennial border. Just make sure it doesn't get shaded out by taller foliage around it. There is also a pink cultivar on the market.

At the front edge of the oak bed, this Gaillardia 'Burgundy' is beginning to open. The blue Nepeta 'Six-Hills-Giant' is getting a bit out of hand and should probably be divided before it consumes the poor Gaillardia! The flowers of the latter are more like a dark russet/brick color and the plant has been a very reliable performer for me for several years in this same spot. Even after the petals drop on Gaillardia blossoms, the spent flower head is quite attractive. This is in a southern exposure with sandy soil.

I was so captivated by the wine-colored foliage on this oxalis, that I pulled up a few from the neighbor's and planted them in the oak bed. They are a native weed, but no less attractive than the Euphorbia dulcis 'Chameleon' that I paid a fair amount of cash to obtain! Last year I failed to pull most of these up before they set seed, so I have more than I'd like this season. The prickly leaves to the upper right belong to Echinops ritro/Globe Thistle.

So far this year, I've only had two Papaver somniferum bloom. We've had them in various colors over the years and hope to see more after weeding out the back bed. They are really gorgeous and often go by the name of Peony Flowered Poppy or Lettuce Poppy. This photo is from one or two years ago. The other colors are red, salmon and lavender-pink. Technically, someone could call the feds on a person for having these in their yard, but I've seen them every year on the Bainbridge in Bloom tour (when I've gone) and I doubt anyone wants them for anything other than their beauty and decorative seedpods. You can order seed from Thompson and Morgan's.

Anyone who has grown this will recognize these flowers immediately. It is a Chocolate Cosmos/Cosmos atrosanguineus...nothing like anything else in the Cosmos family. It springs from fleshy tubers much like a dahlia and has the infuriating habit of dying over the winter. This one is in its third season, but isn't exactly a huge clump (started from a 4" pot). The flowers glow like this with light and are a bit somber without it. The fragrance is just like a cup of hot chocolate and always stuns visitors that don't really BELIEVE! In a spot that it likes (with good drainage but not dry) it is hardy in Zones 7-9. The greenish-rosey blobs in the left background are the changing flowers of Euphorbia martinii and the blue flowers are the little corm, Brodiaea. This group is at the South edge of the oak bed.

'Alison' is one of the first daylilies to blossom in the back yard. It was purchased as a tiny thing in a collection from Lamb's nursery in about 1991 and used to be located in the West Perennial bed. I think it's a triploid and it seems to be a bit on the short side ... it should eventually be moved to a frontal position. I was really smitten when it first opened because it was the most spectacular daylily I owned at that time.

Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, or something like that! I loved this...the Hosta is 'Aureomarginata' and it is being festooned with blossoms off Rhododendron 'Old Copper,' which is one of the last to bloom. Beyond that fence is our lower pasture and the view of the Olympic Mountains.

That small tree-trunk belongs to the flowering dogwood near our front entry. The hosta was grown from a seed taken from a 'Frances Williams,' which has a variegation on the edges. It is a H. sieboldiana type. This is one of the handsomest seedlings from the batch I grew (but no contrasting edges in the bunch). The pod was pilfered (with permission) from a flower stalk on some gallon-size hostas at the nursery where I later worked (a couple of years later).

Each year I expect to lose these over the winter, but I think this is their third or fourth season in the barrel planter on the deck. The plant is Osteospermum and I think the variety was 'Tresco Purple.' There is a dark blue cone in the center of many Osteospermum flowers and they are completely fascinating and "other-worldly" looking! This would be reliably hardy in Zone 9, but is an iffy proposition here.

As you walk through the alley bed from the front walk to the back, you have to move your head to the side to avoid this blossoming stem. It belongs to the Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchaud.' Each season the flowers get higher and higher and I think it's time to prune it back heavily next year so that I can really appreciate the blooms without having to climb on the roof of the carport to do it.

I replaced the original picture, but another view on the carport side of the alley bed. The yellow trumpet flowers belong to the subshrub (technically, probably a perennial) Phygelius aequalis 'Moonraker.' I noticed that the stems of the Cape Fuchsia (Phygelius) had gotten out of hand, but did not prune them, hoping that they would weave through the clematis which you can't see in this shot (above the Phygelius). When you stand nearby, it looks like soft yellow waterfall. The large leaves to the left belong to an Oakleaf Hydrangea. The daylily shown near the bench is a tetraploid variety... 'Gala Bells?'

This was taken about two or three seasons ago and gives you a better view of the golden leaves on the Lonicera 'Baggesen's Gold.' The Clematis is 'Etoile Violette.' As with the other clematis, this one has grown higher and the first bloom on it this year is over my head. It can be cut back severely each season and will blossom on new wood.

If the carport were a darker color, you could better appreciate those plumes on the Goatsbeard/Aruncus dioicus. This is situated at the back of the oak bed where it gets shade from the oak tree and some runoff from the gutterless carport roof! I wonder if the Goatsbeard would be quite so happy without that extra water. Feeding it alfalfa pellets and compost last year certainly increased its girth!

This little annual originally came to me in the soil of planters inherited from a family that moved to Germany and couldn't take them along. It is Nigella/"Love in a Mist" and is a charming, delicate thing. The flowers are rather fleeting, but each one produces a fascinating seed pod, complete with ruffs and prickles. They have a burgundy striping on them and they really are more showy than the flowers. The foliage is as delicate as air fern. If you don't want these prolific seeders, they are easily pulled.

It was recently necessary to prune some lower branches off the Rhododendron 'Grosclaude' at the northwest corner of the house. I had tried in vain to show these on the rhododendron page, so now you can really see how bright the indumentum underneath the leaves really is!

This is another picture taken from the photo "archives" and shows a single poppy petal in its bed of flowers. The little daisies are Erigeron karvinskianus /Mexican Daisy and the smaller ones are from a volunteer baby's breath (Gypsophila repens type?).

Another photo from last season. There are three or four varieties of daylilies open in this shot with Catmint weaving them all together. The one in the lower center is 'Pink Damask.'

This shows the East side of the oak bed during the third week of June. Those heavy stems toward the back belong to Buddleia 'Petite Indigo' and you can see a flower from it, complete with butterfly on the garden links page. The red daylily in the front center is 'Wally Nance III.' The purplish spikes to the left are Salvia 'East Friesland.'

Just behind 'Wally Nance III' and even showier is Daylily 'Red Volunteer' (can you imagine having something this glorious volunteer in your yard?). It was purchased from Oakes Daylilies in Corryton,Tennessee and is one of their "babies." The flowers are rather large and quite breathtaking.

Another beautiful variety from Oakes Daylilies...this is Corryton Pink. Most of the "pinks" in daylilies tend to be infused with yellow like this one, but they are beautiful all the same. I love the darker throat and contrasting ribs on this flower. The small pink blooms in the background are the subshrub, Dorycnium hirsutum, which is about to get a radical surgery! Because of its size and all the rain and wind we've had, it has flopped all over the lawn. It is only for the sake of the bumblebees that I have left it this long. They just LOVE the plant, and I have counted 18-20 working on it at once.

This clump of Brodiaea is so congested that you kind of lose the form of the flowers. Each stem has an umbel of starry blue blossoms, much like a miniature agapanthus. Brodiaea grows from small corms that are planted very shallowly...maybe about 4". They reseed themselves freely and are charming wherever they pop up. They are also nice for cutting, while they last.

This is another daylily cross from the group I had and I'm sure it looks like all the others to anyone but its "mother!" I liked this picture though, so put it in anyway. All these are planted near the barberry hedge behind the carport so that they can pick up the dusky burgundy hues of the barberry leaves. If I planted this next to something truly red, it would probably look rather somber by comparison. To get actual "red" seedlings I wonder if I should have used two reds, or crossed a red with a brighter gold or yellow instead of a soft primrose colored one. I still like those cute little primrose stripes down the petals. They carry from a distance much better than the color of the flowers alone.

I haven't ever gotten a picture of this that does it justice. It's Daylily 'Edna Spalding,' a hybrid that the great hybridizer named for herself. It's the most wonderful frosty light pinkish color and really glows in the garden. Edna was striving for true pinks and whites and her hybrids provided a foundation for those who later bred for blue and lavender. All this she did from her humble back yard on a small scale. Another of her babies is 'Luxury Lace.' I have a good picture of that one somewhere...maybe later I'll just put together an all daylily page. This year, it's been potpourri!

This is a pretty tetraploid daylily called 'Silver Fan' and it was an early hybridizing attempt for white. Even though it fell short of really being white, it's a beautiful color and has a coolness about it that is very appealing. I was shocked to see these three flowers because it was the first bloom it had this season and three at once really catches your eye!

I love this lily. It was purchased from B&D Lilies in Port Townsend, WA and the variety is 'Snowy Owl.' It grows in the ash bed and that's Achillea 'Coronation Gold' in the background. The grouping of salvia and baby's breath shown below are nearby.

I already showed some Salvia superba on this page, but couldn't resist another photo with the gypsophila in the mix. This Baby's Breath is a dwarf variety that I am especially fond of because of its reliability and long season of bloom. The larger, popular baby's breath plants don't always persist for me. I think the name of this one is Gypsophila 'Compacta Plena.' It is just starting to bloom and will have more color in another week.

Partly weeded and partly beaten down, the path to the arbor is now passable so we braved the journey to see how it looked under and inside the arbor space. That plant next to Lynda (on the left) is gone now. I think it was a Malva alcea 'Fastigiata.' They have beautiful silvery-pink flowers, but seed themselves generously and are hard to dig up after they get established. I really didn't want them growing all over between the cement pavers of the arbor pad. We did spare a hardy geranium and temporarily a daisy, until it blooms. The spike of verbascum and the campanula to the right are volunteers also, and will probably be removed before they continue seeding their way throughout this portion of the border (something the Verbascum chaixii has already done!). Hopefully, by the end of the summer, the bark pile AND the old van will be gone from the background. :-(

The Madonna Lilies in the ash bed (Lilium candidum) probably aren't totally ecstatic about their placement, or they would have multiplied more (they prefer a sweeter soil)...but so far they come back and are always lovely. The fragrance is light and sweet and reminds me of SOMETHING ELSE! that I can't place. Is it phlox? At any rate, it's really a beautiful scent and you can't get too much of it. Looking at the pollen granules spilled all over the white petals of the lowermost flower almost makes the pollen look good enough to eat (I think maybe I'm spending too much time in the garden).

If this looks a little too colorful, it probably is. The lawn had just been cut before the picture was taken and looked pretty drab. I cheated slightly and upped the saturation just enough to make it greener. I'll bet you wouldn't have known if I didn't tell you. The photo on the front page was not tampered with, but the film was different, as well as the lighting. I wish I could get that clear a shot of the mountains again. I usually lose them in a haze in photographs, unless they are taken at sunset. The dark brown to the left (at the front of the flowerbed) is a partially used bag of steer manure and you'll notice a bit of bark is down on that end. Eventually, there will be a nice barked edge along the whole lawn and it will look SO much better!

I wish you could see the whole clump of daylily 'Butterpat.' It has more buds than I can ever remember. All the buds you see in this shot are from that one clump. It is a short variety, very floriferous and a nice delicate shade of yellow that can be used in so many places. It wasn't an award winner for nothing! The bright yellow heads behind belong to Achillea 'Coronation Gold.' They will hold color for so long, that I finally get sick of them and cut them off just for a change (not quite, but almost)!

Isn't this pretty? I think I will have a better picture back in a couple of days and will replace this one, but you get the idea of what the flower of daylily 'Bonanza' looks like. I always try to imagine what it would be like to be the hybridizer who first lays eyes on some of these stunning creations. What a thrill! This is an older variety and it has the nice quality of not looking ugly after the blooms are spent. Some of the glorious new hybrids look like soggy dishrags the day after they bloom and really need deadheading so as not to detract from the border. This one is not like that. A couple of other oldtimers that are tidy all the time are 'Hyperion' and 'Autumn Red.'

I called this picture "Floral Soup" because of all the textures and colors. It is composed of a dianthus flanked by catmint (Nepeta 'Six-Hills Giant') and aging blooms of Euphorbia martinii. Eventually, the euphorbia will get brownish and I will cut off all the flowering stalks and reveal the nice new leaves of the current season. This plant looks good all the time!

I love the lavatera family, but I haven't decided about this one. It is floriferous all right, but to my eye the pink flowers clash slightly with the woolly sage-green of the foliage. The name of this is Lavatera thuringiaca. It is near the arbor and will soon have the weeds removed around it to give it some breathing room. It functions more like a shrub and needs to be cut back each spring. I had its famous cousin in the back... Lavatera 'Barnsley'...but I think it has reverted to the solid pink species this season.

A stunning color break in her time, 'Catherine Woodbery' continues to hold her good looks! Everything about this blossom says "cool" and the blending of the soft lemon and pale pinkish-mauve looks good enough to eat. If that's not enough, she's fragrant as well.

This will probably be the end of the June page since it's time to start on July. I tried to capture the color of this daylily as best I could, making adjustments in Photoshop. I think this is as close as I can get with the photo I started with (too much red, etc.). The variety is 'Chicago Royal Robe' and the color is luminous! It's a medium sized plant and could benefit from being moved closer to the front of the bed where I have it, but it still shines. I think it was purchased at Costco in a box and was labeled "Chicago Royal Globe." I don't think it's supposed to be "globe" but have seen it listed that way in a Dutch Gardens catalog. They come up with some interesting names at times! If I'm wrong about this...someone please correct me!

Return to Page 1: The Miller Garden in June

This page last updated on July 4, 1998.