Bogturtle's Garden- June 11-20, 2023

As I repeat myself, all the time, Daylily 'Happy Returns' is much preferred by me over the color of 'Stella d'Oro'. That more widely used sort may rebloom even more than my 'Happy Returns' but I am not sure. What I call the 'curse of the Japanese Gardener' comes into play, here. Maybe it's my sandy soil, and other commercial places have underground irrigation, but my daylilys always get dried out tips. My wife notices things like this even more than I do. 

Itea virginica 'Henry's Garnet' apparently turns a fine, dark red in Fall. Never here. Disappointed to hear that some person I don't know was turned off by the flowers. They said those look like worms. What a downer. If there is a fragrance, I have never noticed it. I may replace this with a brighter photo. Sun makes everything look better. 

A female Box Turtle was making its way across the lawn. Probably to eat some kind of almost flavorless berry a sort of weedy strawberry relative makes. That weed seems to be the Barren Strawberry, Walsteinia fragaroides.The Turtle is female, since, even from where I sit for dinner, I can see the eyes are not red. 

Mixed in among the vines hiding the side of the pool from where we park, Honeysuckle Lonicera heckrotti is now blooming. A common, and supposedly highly fragrant sort. And yellow has shown up, so I will guess this is variety 'Goldflame'. The closeup was from on the garden side, and the second of how the jungle looks from the pool.  The gray leaved Lychnis coronaria 'Alba' is prominent in the photo, and way across, a single head of Lychnis chalcodonica, I think, the Maltese Cross, is glowing red.

 

The snip feature on my computer is the greatest item. I was able to stop the little video, the trail camera captured, last night and snip a still of one of the Gray Foxes that show up almost every night where we throw table scraps. 

My wife makes constant use of scallions and they must also be called evergreen bunching onions. I have been waiting for these to go to seed. I have not had to buy new seed for several years. These are in a rectangle of 2x10's and are, generally, unmolested by any wildlife. 

My small vegetable patch, behind the necessary wire fence, is doing well but I am too busy to weed, and while the weeds are not slowing the vegetables down, it looks a mess. 

The Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa, is super easy from seed. Mine are all true pumpkin orange or paler and will be moved into the wild, mostly untended area by the bird feeder. Some are also in a planter. 

There are many clones of the American native Hydrangea called H. quercifolia, the Oakleaf Hydrangea.  The great classic is growing where we park the vehicles. 'Snow Queen' is not at its very best yet, but this more dwarf clone is near its best at one end of the yard where I walk around to behind the pool. Sprayed with repellent spray, as that large doe Deer is here into the early morning getting to many a plant not protected. 

Of all the Morning Glories I have tried Knowlian's Black is the earliest to bloom, and while hardly black, I am not sure it, after generations, is adulterated by any of the lighter colors I have had here. It, a small, really unrelated orange one, and Heavenly Blue are the only ones I think are here this year. 

This is a cloudy photo from my phone. I will try to replace it. Hypericum kalmianum, probably. Right at the beginning of the walkway to the front door, it has difficulty spreading with the Azaleas right there, but introduced into the little rock garden, it being a suitable sort of plant for such, it has made a true pest of itself, with running underground rhizomes impossible to get to with all the rocks.

Tried to take a picture of Oakleaf Hydrangea 'Snow Queen'. Probably at its best this 6/16, but my phone seems to have taken a video???? So I made a snip and show that here. The plant was probably released by Princeton University, here in NJ. It is now overshadowed by the Wintersweet, which has nothing to commend it except the fragrant, tiny blooms in deadest Winter. The Oakleaf Hydrangea has on odor.

Another snip of my sadly weedy fenced in vegetable patch. Last Summer, for some reason, my Swiss Chard, to the right this year, failed. Now it is doing great. And sad things of the past can amuse now. The Kale always does well, but Groundhogs inspired the fencing, and with the Deer and Rabbits always about, I would get nothing, if not for the fencing. Certainly not a winning economic game I play when I want to grow stuff for myself. 

Confident this, shown below, is Magnolia grandiflora 'Bracken's Brown Beauty'. Hardy enough to live well in S. Jersey, and named for the brown indumentum or felt like covering on the undersides of the leaves. Yet that is, strangely, not to be seen in this photo. Just behind the lattice that backs the little rock garden.

Interesting combination of green and white, with the Astilbe in bloom, now, and the white edged green Hosta nearby. This might be Astilbe 'Bridal Veil'.

A good choice as a groundcover is what I think is commonly called a Leadwort, and having the ridiculous name I hope I spell correctly. Ceratostigma plumbaginoides has these true, cobalt blue little flowers. Does not come to mind how long it blooms, but occasionally, the foliage takes on beautiful reddish tones before being lost for the Winter. 

The Hypericum again.

The Hydrangea Vine in a special clone. Out covering the fence where we have the recycle and trash containers. So one plastic jar is loose, in the photo. The foliage of this form has an unusual glow, so this clone is called Hydranginoides 'Moonlight'.

Only today, after years, did I notice the odor of these flowers. Not bad, not wonderful.