Happy Thursday sweet friends. Summer has definitely come to our Appalachian Foothills! Heat indexes have been around 108 with temps yesterday at 96!
“Sing to the Lord, all the earth! Tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”
1 Chronicles 16:23-24 (ESV)
Normally I would invite you to join me for a walk in the garden, but it is so hot that I recommend staying inside with the AC and scrolling through the photos and reading the commentary in comfort.
All of the photos were taken over the last ten days. Standing in the corner and behind the cottage garden fence, there is a partial view into the main garden. ‘Autumn Fire’ sedum is in the foreground and behind it are three ‘Double Play Doozie’ Spireas that will bloom throughout the summer and into autumn. The old Schwinn adult 3-wheeler’s basket is planted with vinca!
Our longest blooming daylilies, ‘Endless Beauty’, keep blooming after the others call it quits! It is rose pink with a lemon ruffled edge and a large green throat. The bloom is 7.5 inches in diameter.
We have been planting sunflowers for several years, but this year has been a challenge. The plants are not as tall as normal and they are struggling to survive. This particular bloom is very different, which seems to be fitting for this summer’s sunflower season!
I love zinnias and we have them planted in three different garden locations. The cottage garden has a couple of short rows that are planted next to the Sunshine Cottage. We order seeds in January and plant when the ground warms up and the threat of frost is over. Behind the fence is one of our two Chaste (Vitex) trees!
The Chaste tree is a magnet for bees. As soon as you get close, you can hear their buzzing. We estimate that there can be at least one hundred at any given time. I disturbed the group that was on this section but they returned quickly!
‘Rose Mallow’ hibiscus is a hardy perennial, often called dinner plate hibiscus. It is named for its huge, 7-9 inch wide circular blooms!
A smaller variety of panicled hydrangeas are known as ‘Little Lambs’. They are more compact and great for smaller spaces.
The two ‘little lambs’ at our garden entrance are changing from their lime green to creamy white. We are susceptible to high winds during summer storms that will beat the blooms down to the ground. RM built wooden cages last year for support!
‘Lake Norman Sunset’ daylily is lovely with its pastel coloring of pink with white midribs and green throat. The blooms are 6.25 inches in diameter.
June brings the old fashioned gladioli into bloom! My grandmother always had them in her small flower garden, so they bring back sweet memories!
I bought the bulbs from Lowe’s in 2019 and each year they put on a glorious show of blooms!
I rarely cut ‘glads’, but enjoy seeing them from my kitchen window!
‘Echoes of Mercy’ is a lavender-rose daylily with a purple eye above a green throat, with blooms that are 5 inches in diameter!
Growing behind the cottage garden fence is Crocosmia, a gift from my precious friend, Martha! It is a member of the Iris family and attracts hummingbirds. Butch and I have both seen the ruby-throated male enjoying its nectar. On this past Sunday’s post, he shared some great shots of the male hummingbird.
The Sunshine Cottage porch was decorated for Independence Day with bunting, but with pop-up thunderstorms and wind, it would have been damaged. Hopefully, we can put the bunting back up before the holiday. Our potted plants have been suffering from too much rain and not enough sun. Now they are constantly thirsty!
I haven’t had much success with dahlias, they seem finicky. But every year, ‘Dahlia Avignon’, with its snowy white petals, purplish stripes and speckles, offers a few stunning blooms for my enjoyment!
‘Bold Awakening’ is always the first daylily to bloom! It is a cream yellow with purple eye above a green throat with blooms that are 6.5 inches.
“Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas.”
~Elizabeth Murray
Thank you for your visit and gracious comments. Wishing you a delightful week!
Linking with: Pieced Pastimes, Between Naps on the Porch, Katherines Corner, Follow The Yellow Brick Home,
Life and Linda
What a lovely stroll I had in your gardens this morning, from my AC sunroom.
We, too, are hot, hot, hot, along with humidity!
I need to add another lily or two to our gardens. I may find some today. You were my inspiration! Thank you!
I love all your flowers, especially your zinnias. I don’t have any this year; they all drowned. I may see if our local nursery has any potted ones for me to set out on the porch.
Have a beautiful Thursday. And thank you so much for all your stunning garden inspiration.
Thank you, Nancy. Sitting under the AC is the best way to view the garden! Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Lovely as always!! Goes hand in hand with my morning quiet time. Love to you both ❤️
Thank you my friend ❤️
Dear Pam,
Your garden is stunning. Those Day Lilies are spectacular! I love them but the deer eat all the buds off if I don’t spray them every night. 🙁
Have a blessed weekend!
Thank you, Lynda. Oh my, those pesky deer can be destructive. Happy weekend!
Wow! Glory! Your garden is so full of beauty. Where do I start? It has reached a peak and it’s so full of Gods design. Everything in it shows His love for beauty. Boy would I love roaming it. You must work from morning to night to have this beauty.
Thank you, Alice. Your comments are so appreciated! Yes, it is a lot of work, but it keeps us busy!
I loved my morning stroll through your garden. Such beautiful flowers!🌺
Thank you, Rachel for your sweet comments!
Pam the beauty around you is glorious. You are so blessed to be around such beauty. Thanks for always sharing with us. Have a wonderful day. Hugs. Kris
Thank you, Kris for your sweet comments! Happy weekend!
Oh my! It’s such a symphony of color! I am in awe of the variety and how healthy and happy all those blooms look. Such an art to all this! I do have some of that Crocosmia, which I put in a bad spot because now I can’t see the hostas they cover — but the blooms are so pretty, I don’t care! (Besides, they cover up all the half-eaten hostas by the deer!)
Thank you, Jeanie! The deer seem to love hosta. Crocosmia attracts pollinators, which is a win!
It is all so beautiful Pam! My favorite is the pink glads, breathtaking! Try to keep cool~
Thank you, Jenna! It has been cloudy here today, the temps are lower due to the cloud cover. Take care!
Pam, I so enjoy walking through your garden, and getting the different perspectives as explained. I like the view from the cottage back to the landscape, as well as that last photo view toward the landscape. The entry into the landscape with those Little Lamb hydrangeas is beautiful too.
I do not know my daylily varieties, but did my best to id them in my first year (they came from the previous owner’s prior home and had been transplanted here). Two of mine are short, two are taller. Your blooms are spectacular, and so large! I’m happy to read that you found gladioli from Lowe’s that have done well. that’s good. I love their old-fashioned look. Your crocosmia looks fantastic. Mine is just starting to bloom this week. Like you, I have a coneflower that looks weird like your sunflower (but separate from that twin specimen I shared this week). Mother Nature at its best – surprising us each and every year, no matter how in control we try to be!
You and Butch have done a beautiful job designing and maintaining your gardens. Thank you for the tour. I love them!
Thank you, Rita! I know how hard you have worked to make your gardens so beautiful. We are ten years in with our garden and there are always surprises, failures, and some wows. Our sunflowers are stunted and the blooms are small. We bought seeds from Johnny’s just like the past years. I am disappointed, sunflowers make me smile! Butch works so hard! The cicadas caused a lot of damage last year and this year Japanese beetles are everywhere. We will persevere as long as we can. I appreciate your comments. Happy gardening, my friend!
Your garden is beautiful Pam and Butch. You have vibrant colors and it’s so well planned out it looks like a mini botanic garden. I love you daylilies! They are so colorful. The rose mallow hibiscus is a lovely color. With the constant storms, it is difficult to decorate because of the wind risk. I enjoyed my stroll through the pictures. It’s going to be another scorcher! Stay safe! Clara❤️
You are sweet and thank you, Clara. Yes, we had wind last night with a passing thunderstorm and there were limbs Butch picked up this morning. The work never stops, but we enjoy our garden ❤️
Good morning, Pam! Your June garden is gorgeous! You have so many beautiful varieties of day Lillies. I love the pink colored ones. The dahlia bloom is pretty, too. We have been in the same boat as you. We had so much rain and now it is super hot. My flowers are struggling plus the Japanese beetles have arrived. The last photo you shared of Sunshine Cottage is so beautiful. I hope that you have a wonderful day, sweet friend! Try to stay cool!
Thank you, Shannon. The Japanese beetles have invaded us. They are eating the leaves on our zinnias. Just a day in the life of a gardener! Happy weekend, friend!
I’ve never seen that variety of day lilly. It’s so pretty!
I love its coloring! Thank you for visiting!
Pam….Thank you for sharing a walk through your beautiful gardens. I love all of it. I couldn’t help but think of places I could plant this one and perhaps that one and then reality sinks in and I just don’t have any more room in my garden. sigh! so I will have to share virtually with you. Hugs my dear friend.
Thank you, Kari! I love your secret garden and its size is manageable! Happy Weekend, my friend!
Pam, everything looks so beautiful and thriving despite the heat. We sure got lulled by our long, cool spring! Watering my potted plants has been my main activity the last few days. Summer in the South…gotta love it!
Thank you, Roxanne! I need to deadhead zinnias this morning, but it was so hot by daylight. Happy Weekend 💕
It is all too much glory to take in in one sitting,so I observe until I can absorb it all…
such beauty. Your Eden is such a visual blessing during this heat-wave and I cannot
thank you enough for the effort and love expended to create and share it all with us.
I’ve put Little Lambs on my shopping list….
Thank you, Mary. The heat is very oppressive. I needed to work in the garden this morning, but it was already so hot by daybreak I stayed inside. Take care of yourself💕
Beautiful blooms and garden tour Pam! I’m sorry for the late visit, I hit the ground running at 6:30 yesterday morning to try to beat the heat and do some overdue garden chores and deadheading. The Japanese Beetles have skeletonized our roses and are starting in on few zinnias we have. I was a soaking mess and done in by 10 am…it took me the rest of the day to recover indoors. It’s been challenging in the garden to go from all our rain to extreme heat and blistering sun. Our Endless Summer Hydrangeas are on the decline and Limelights are just putting on blooms. I love your ‘Little Lambs’, a much better size to maintain. Beautiful daylilies too…so glad your ‘Lake Norman Sunset’ is thriving! Wishing you a wonderful weekend, stay cool! 💗
Thank you, Mary! I should have been deadheading this morning, but it was already so hot, I talked myself out of it. Happy Weekend 💕
What a gorgeous garden! Your plants are so far ahead of mine in Wisconsin which makes me wonder what blooms in your garden in August or September if everything is in bloom now.
Thank you, Amy! Autumn Fire Sedum will begin to bloom in August. Zinnias will bloom to frost. Annuals begin to wane in the oppressive heat by August. I appreciate your visit and Happy Weekend!
I agree, it’s so terribly hot here too. Safer inside scrolling. I love seeing your June garden Pam, your hard work shows, it’s absolutely beautiful. I love seeing glads in the garden, if I were lucky enough to have them I wouldn’t cut either. I’ve never tried growing them. Wishing you and Butch a lovely Weeknd. Stay cool.
Thank you, Emily. I love the old-fashioned glads! Happy weekend to you!
Heat sounds wonderful to me at the moment Pam as we shiver in the freezing cold winds blowing in from the Antarctic here in Australia.
Your blooms are lovely to see in this wintery season.
Blessings to you sweet friend, Jennifer 😊
Thank you, Jennifer. Stay warm, my friend!
Your blog is like an oasis. You and Butch, your love for God, your stable marriage and life together, the beauty you build and share with the world, it is all so comforting to me. May God bless you both always!
You are so sweet, Cheryl. Thank you!
Elegance in every petal – your garden has a way of spreading much joy!
Thank you, Mary!
Such a pretty garden. I have the ultimate black thumb so all my flowers are fake. Stopping in from the Saturday Sparks link up, and am enjoying finding new posts to read and follow. Have a wonderful week!
Thanks Jennifer for stopping by my June garden! Wishing you a wonderful week!
Your garden is stunning! My garden is very shabby chic. I am intrigued by the Chaste Tree with its Bees and the Endless beauty lily – I would like my lilies to last longer.
Thank you, Maryleigh. It would be nice if all the flowers bloomed longer. The Endless Beauty is still in bloom!
Pam, your garden is stunning – even with all the challenges you have had! All the flowers are beautiful and I especially love the dahlia and the lambs ears, and the glads are so pretty. The last two photos are just gorgeous and I hope the Japanese beetles leave some zinnias behinds. Happy Monday and thank you for the wonderful tour of your gardens!
Thanks so much, Kim. Gardening always has its challenges. Too much rain or not enough. Insects are always a problem. Japanese beetles are some of the worst.
I hope your week is going well, my friend!