June is when things really start going in the garden. Almost every day there is something new opening up. Dork that I am, when I see a plant that is blooming for the first time I say hello to it or “look at you!” Yep. Garden nerd.

Foxgloves really going strong now:

Gosh they are pretty! Tall, too. Some of them are almost 4 feet! In front of those are my verbascum – or mullein:

These got very tall as well this year. It’s the second year for them. I read somewhere they are biennial, but I’m wondering if the hybrids are just straight up perennials. I really hope that is the case considering the issues I had with getting the foxgloves to grow.

Star of Persia Allium:

Not quite fully opened yet, but getting there. Like all allium, the foliage dies at the bottom before the plant blooms. I did trim that away, but not before I took the picture. Oopsie.

I have two peonies in the front by the sidewalk that get really full sun. This year, they only had 3 blooms on each plant.

I don’t know if being by the sidewalk with road salt is hard on them, but I’m going to try weekly feeding of these in hopes that they will do better next year. Plus, I’ve started spraying it with neem oil to keep the powdery mildew away.

It’s still irispalooza around here. I was thrilled to see Black Night come up:

Last year I did a lot of moving and dividing of my irises. Then a woodchuck or squirrel or somebody ate a bunch and dug up a lot, so I didn’t know which rhizomes were which. I thought this one was a goner.

Irises in the back:

I don’t know the name of this one because it was a mistake plant that was sent to me. Pretty, though.

Brindled beauty:

Another new iris called Wild Irish Rose:

How gorgeous is that?!

I had this rhizome covered with wire mesh to prevent it from being eaten or dug up and was rewarded with this!

Two new peony bushes that I got on clearance last fall.

Then I forgot to get a picture of the other one. Not sure how that happened, but I’ll show it to you next week. It’s pink.

Roses are starting to make their appearances as well. Fair Bianca – my David Austen rose:

And Zepherine, which is a climber:

I had two of these on the front of the house. They are supposed to do well without full sun, but apparently it just wasn’t sunny enough for them. So I moved them to the back where the stump of our magnolia tree is and they seem to like that a lot better. They are next to the new peonies, too.

Have a great weekend!