July is the start of garden fireworks among the prairie plants in Northern Illinois, and my front mini/faux prairie garden has made the transition. The above photo shows the Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) coming into full bloom and a non-native Allium in bloom, with the native Allium cernum forming buds below it. Also in bud are the wands of Liatris spicata.Among other bloomers in the front sunny garden are the native Verbena hastata. (Click on photos to enlarge
While it is a native, attracts butterflies, butterflies and blooms for a long time, the foliage quickly becomes mildewed or bug ravaged. Another long bloomer in the sun is this Malva zebrina.
Clockwise from left are Alchemilla mollis, Astrantia species, Hydrangea macrophylla 'Penny Mac,' and Astilbe 'Veronica Klose.'
Astilbe 'Visions' is past its peak bloom and the Columbines are winding down. 
The big, bold beautiful native Spikenard, Aralia racemosa.
Believe it or not, this plant dies completely to the ground each year. All the rain has caused it to assume shrub-like proportions. Here's a closeup of the flowers.
Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine' and Geranium 'Rozanne.'
Hydrangea quercifolia 'Snow Queen' with the Daylily 'Chosen Love.'
The first of the Phlox paniculata to bloom, 'Nicky.'
This is Phlox maculata not Rosalinde.
Campanula 'Sarastro' is still going strong.
This is the first time blooming for both Clematis 'Rhapsody'
and Clematis 'Madame Julia Correvon.'
Some people don't like Hosta blooms, but these on 'Maui Buttercups' are great.
Last Bloom Day, I thought this plant was nearly done flowering, but this Calycanthus floridus 'Athens' has just kept right on blooming and has more buds on the way.
These 'Black Dragon Strain' Trumpet Lilies are nearly done, but their scent still perfumes the whole garden.
Campanula 'Samantha'
Finally, just about to bloom, is Actaea racemosa (Bugbane).
Things still in bloom from last month:
Heucherella 'Burnished Bronze'
Heucheras 'Hollywood,' Heuchera 'Raspberry Ice,' and 'Smoky Rose'
Clematis 'Silver Moon'
Clematis 'Betty Corning'
Aquilegia 'Sunburst Ruby'
Aquilegia 'Leprechaun Gold'
Stylophorum diphyllum
Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac'
Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke)
Dicentra 'Zestful,' 'Candy Hearts,' and 'King of Hearts'
Campanula persicifolia 'Alba' and 'Telham Blue'
a lone double Thalictrum thalictroides/Anemonella thalictroides
Also in bloom:
Hydrangea macrophylla 'Bailmer' (Endless Summer)
Ruellia humilis
Most of my Daylilies, which will be the subject of a post
Hosta 'Candy Hearts'
Heuchera 'Palace Purple'
Astrantia 'Rainbow' and 'Primadonna'
For all the Bloom Day fun, click here to go to May Dreams Gardens, brought to you by Carol, rock star of garden blogging. Thanks, Carol!
42 comments:
Lovely, MMD, really lovely...you have a few native plants that I wonder if I ought to try. But the whole sufficient rainfall issue makes me pause! Like aralia. Wow the Verbena is good looking and would no doubt also get mildew here!
Don't you love the combination of good natives and well mannered exotics! That and pushing the native envelope to see if plants from far distant states can grow!
I added a link to you by the PPPP photo...we are its biggest boosters.
I do like your garden, MMD!
Gail
Your GBBD blooms are lovely MMD. I love all the variations of purple you have in your garden. This year I just planted Verbena hastata in my garden and I have to agree, it has started showing signs of insect damage as well as mildew. I tried spraying it with a fungicide, but so far have seen no improvement. Oh well it still blooms beautifully.
I can't believe you still have columbines blooming. I responded to your poppy comment on my blog.
It all looks so cool and inviting! I have the mildew problem with Verbena bonariensis but it doesn't seem to affect the blooms. I tend to let them grow until I can't stand it any longer and then yank them. They're such assertive reseeders here, I can always count on having more.
You have a real talent for combining colors and foliage! I suspect you plan your garden design a lot more carefully than I do mine. I need to take lessons from you!
Very, very beautiful! I enjoyed these photos so much :)
Hi MMD, what lushness abounds with those temps and good rain. Lucky duck. I am in love with the hosta Maui Buttercups, I have never seen it before. Maybe if we ever start getting back to our normal rainfall new hostas could be added here rather than xerics from High Country Gardens. I bought calycanthus Venus at the UT bloom day, hope it is as pretty as yours, fragrant right? Love those trumpet lilies too, do you ever save seed? Hint hint. Like Gail, you are loaded with purple, is that your favorite plant color? It cools things down in the garden, but it sounds like you are already nice and cool. Lucky duck. ;->
I love all the purple...you have so many variations of one of my favorite colors! Is the Malva invasive for you? I bought seed a few years ago and got scared off by someone saying it takes over...but I so love the look of it!
How could I have forgotten to get some campanula in my garden? Oh my my my....
I like your picture of the Hydrangea "Snow Queen" with the Daylily in the background. The Hydrangea has such wonderful leaves
Regards
Karen
Gorgeous, MMD. I love Malva 'Zebrina.' And the blooms on your corydalis are so delicate---like little gems.
I agree with the other commenters--your garden is lush and beautiful!
MMD, I was going to do a post on all my purple blooms later this week, but I can't top this! Your garden is always lovely, and I like all the information about native plants.
Between you and Gail, I just HAVE to plant some phlox next year!
Lovely blooms MMD. I particularly like your Phlox. Mine are only just about in flower, so I've saved them for the next Blooms Day
Not only do you have lots of pretty blooms but you know what they are. I am so impressed. I just love the scent of lilies. I must plant some for next year. Are the ones you have shown your favorites?
How did you know purple was my favorite color? What a beautiful garden you have, thanks for sharing. Isn't it wonderful when you think a flower is done blooming and it keeps going?
Wow, so much pink and purple! Believe it or not, I just received a spikenard! Mine is tiny and looking a bit bedraggle in its' container. Yours is a beauty. Great pictures and glad to hear you are getting moisture. Very dry here.
Gail - my soil is so well drained that what I grow should be growable on your clay with inadequate rainfall. Only when we have excessive rainfall do things get large. Normally, that Aralia tops out at 3 feet high. I like mixing the plants up all together, sort of a United Nations of plants in the garden. Thanks for the link & the compliment!
Perennial Gardener - every year I think about yanking the Verbena, & every year I keep it because of the flowers. I think the trick of it is to hide it in the back of a bed so that only the flowers are visible.
Kathy - looking over my records, I found that I frequently still have some Columbine blooms into the middle of July. I think deadheading them helps prolong the bloom.
Cindy - I have nature to thank for a lot of the design. I tend to have plants growing where they survive, as opposed to where I tried to grow them.
Thanks, Amy!
Frances - I highly recommend Maui Buttercups - it's slug resistant. It's small enough that you could grow it in a pot to keep it well watered. I think Calycanthus 'Venus' is more beautiful than 'Athens.' I don't know if it has the fruity scent of 'Athens' or the spicy scent of the species. I do love purple, but I also love ruby & chartreuse. I normally deadhead my Lilies (yes Zen deadheading is my thing), but I'll try to collect some seed for you. They aren't Black at all, but have maroon on the outside of the petals. We've had great weather so far, but today has seen the start of the 90s. Yuck.
Leslie - Malca is a prolific seeder, as opposed to invasive running plants. It's true, I'll never be without it, but it is easy to yank the superfluous seedlings.
Benjamin Vogt - a garden without Campanulas? Horrors! I hear there's an improved Campanula that's similar to 'Sarastro' only better (can't remember the name). The improved 'Samantha' is called 'Royal Wave.'
Artist's Garden - Snow Queen might be my favorite shrub. It's got it all, winter interest, big fragrant blooms, red fall color, big bold foliage. I think it is my favorite.
Hi, Colleen - an added bonus to the Corydalis is that the flowers are fragrant. What I really want is the chartreuse foliaged form, Berry Exciting, or would that be too much?
Rose - there are so many Phlox cultivars now, I don't know how you'll choose. I also have David, David's Lavender & Laura. I think I want Rubymine too. Do I really have that much purple
VP - usually my Phlox David is also in bloom by this time, but it got pruned by deer, so it's just in bud. Nothing yet on 'Laura.' I can't wait to see yours.
Lisa - don't worry, I have a Daylily that I know is a Chicago one, but I don't know which. The Trumpet Lilies are the only ones in bloom now. I have one Asiatic that bloomed between bloom days, and the Oriental 'Black Beauty' won't bloom for a while yet. I can't decide which I like better, the 'Black Dragon Strain' or the 'Black Beauty.' I think I need some Orienpets.
Cinj - I love those plants that are like the guest who doesn't know the party's over. Even if it's just one flower left, they make me smile.
Wow, it is beautiful there now. I love the way you've show how the plants interrelate (is that a word?) Happy Bloom Day, SBG.~~Dee
Wonderful plants, beautiful blooms, great plant combinations, and excellent photos MMD.
I'm lusting after those hydrangeas! I thought I had DH sold on replacing some overgrown burning bushes with hydrangeas in our front foundation planting, but in the end we compromised on hacking the things down to 2' of bare branches. (Is it wrong to hope they die? ;) Maui Buttercups is a beautiful hosta, lovely blooms as well.
Lovely, lovely, lovely!
Wow, what a lovely and colourful display you have for GBBD. Love your little prairie garden! The coneflowers are in bloom here too now. Liatris spicata I can't grow as the slugs will eat the whole plant in a week or so. Verbena hastata I do grow and love too for its pretty flowers. Know what you mean about the mildew and bugfest but I still grow it. Do you grow verbena bonariensis too? That's not prone to mildew and bugs, it is a butterfly magnet too and it grows very tall,flowers for a long time and would look good in your prairie garden!
Cute Corydalis, I recently bought one too, a true blue one, very pretty.
Happy GBBD!
Varied and many.
Like you, I let my one and only Hosta flower this summer. I was curious what it would be like, but worried what it would do to the quality of the leaves. Did you notice any deterioration?
I am still picking off spent flowers from the Campanula persicifolia, and some look good. How about yours?
I am not familiar with C. 'Samantha'. Looks interesting.
You many have earwigs, but it seems no lily-beetles, judging from the picture.
And what a collection of Coral Bells! Any pics of the leaves anywhere? What is a Heucharella? Baby-heuchera I presume. Have you come across the H.'Pewter Moon'? A cross between H.'Greenfinch' and 'Palace Purple'. Mine is still very tiny. Heucheras are native of your area I believe. Are they easy to grow for you? I keep losing mine, here on sand. I am told that it has to be split every two years, but there isn't enough even for one plant.
Your Daylilies are on a par with mine, which are only just beginning, unlike the Southern States, where people have been enjoying them for quite a while it seems. And yes, go and rubbish Stella. I can't wait to see garage fore-court pix ;-)
What a beautiful tour you've given! Hopefully you're able to enjoy your gardens!! :-) Thank you so much for your helpful ID on one of my daylilies! I left you a response and a web address of a great place for daylily ID. :-) (Did I detect a familiar daylily behind the hydrangeas?)
Dee - it's hard to decide whether to show individual blooms or group shots. Sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, sometimes it's just more efficient to do group photos. (And yes, interrelated is a word & a good one for prairie plantings.)
Garden Girl - don't you know that rule of gardening that states that the things you want to do die invariably resprout? Burning Bushes are invasive. Oakleaf Hydrangea is so much better. How's that for incentive?
Nancy Bond - thanks!
Yolanda Elizabet - the trick to growing Liatris is not to mulch them. They don't need it & the lack of mulch will discourage slugs. I don't grow Verbena bonariensis for two reasons: it isn't hardy here, unlike Verbena hastata, and there are concerns about its invasiveness due to prolific seeding.
Joco - the only way Hosta flowers might cause leaf deterioration is if the spent flowers fall on the leaves & rot there. I always deadhead mine promptly. Every other day deadheading continues on the Campanula persicifolia. It's still going strong. C. 'Samantha' is a small trailer with fragrant flowers & a fairly long bloom time. Heucherellas are a cross between Heucheras & Tiarellas. They are smaller than Heucheras & have Tiarella-like blooms. I may have to do a Heuchera post. They're sprinkled throughout my posts throughout the seasons.
Shady - I glanced at that website, but it has only 1 of the Chicago series & that's the one I need the ID on. The Daylily behind the Oakleaf Hydrangea is 'Chosen Love,' and the one behind the Mopheads is 'Evening Sea.'
Everything looks great especially your astilbe. I have never been able to grow that successfully. The purple is so pretty.
Thank you for such a wonderful tour of your garden. I do like your Hosta blooms. I would like to identify mine so I will have to consult the book you mentioned on my blog. Thank you for that.
I also like your prairie area. I've always loved that look.
Phillip - that 2d Astilbe has 2 things going for it: it's 'Visions' which handles dry soil better & we've been having above average moisture since last August. Most Astible struggle in my garden in most years.
Cindy - I've recommend "The Color Encyclopedia of Hostas" so many times, I'm going to have to buy it. The great thing about the prairie look is that it's so easy if you've got full sun. There's a prairie plant for every soil type.
Beautiful, as always! I wish we'd gotten half the rain we had last year, it really does make a difference, even watering by hand, the plants just don't prosper as much as they do when it rains.
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing. I particularly enjoyed your mini prairie. I have been trying to do something of the sort but it has been overtaken by a perennial native sunflower and I just don't have the energy to weed it out.
Maybe some people don't care for hosta blooms, but I love them and am even featuring some on my GBBD post. I do know that the hummingbirds here love the hosta blooms and visit them early in the morning and late afternoon for a meal.
Gorgeous... your whole garden seems like it's a vision in purples, pinks and whites right now--is that the case, or just happens to be what you showed on today's Bloom Day post? Either way, it's beautiful.
I have a plant on my GBBD post that looks a lot like your native verbena. I thought it was the invasive purple loosestrife and pulled it out.
I love the plummy color of that clematis. And I'm always ga-ga about lilies. All the delicate pinks and lavenders look so cool and inviting.
I'm still enamored of your Ruellia humilis, mentioned in your last entry. I couldn't find any local sources for it. Where did you get yours? Thanks!
~ Monica (in Ann Arbor)
Hi, Nancy - the plants seem to prefer rainwater to dehumidifier water. Then there's that thing about lightning & nitrogen. I don't know why we're getting all your rain. Wish I could send you some!
HMHs - it's hard to do prarie plants in a small space because so many of them get huge or try to take over. Just make sure you deadhead those sunflowers so they don't cause an even bigger problem next year.
Blackswamp Girl - I didn't realize it at time, when Gardening Gone Wild did the color workshop, that my garden does change colors thru the season. This seems to be pink & purple time. In August, there will be more ruby/maroon.
Robin (Nesting Place) - I looked & your plant is Verbena hastata. Don't feel bad about pulling it. It's foliage always ends up looking awful. I should post a photo of the mildewed one out back.
MSS - "cool & inviting" - that must be why the midsummer garden is all purples & pinks. At least it looks cool out there, even if it's not. Clematis 'Mdm. Julia Correvon' ages to a dark magenta. It's supposed to combine with the pink of Clematis 'Comtesse de Bouchard,' but that one stopped blooming already. Maybe next year.
Monica - I think I got mine at a native plant sale. If you leave me a message with your email, I can get your address & send seed if I can collect it. There's more than enough of them here.
Beautiful range of purples mixed with whites. I just love the variety-I'm not sure I knew that many purple flowers existed!
MMD - that Malva is so pretty! I traded for some seeds and winter sowed them but nothing germinated.
Bonnie - thanks, I guess I really like purple. If I could grow Delphiniums, there'd be blue in there too. Sounds like it's time to invest in some Sea Holly.
Gina - have I got Malva for you! I'm pulling out seedlings left & right. If you want, I'll pot some up for you to plant this fall.
Love the color scheme of all these flowers in this post.
Thanks, Mr. Brownthumb. Color is important to my sense of well being.
Geez, it has taken me long enough to get to this post! You know I think your gardens look great. Lots of beautiful blooms. Your hard work is paying off.
Thanks for joining in for bloom day.
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
Seeing all your lovely blooms makes me want to stroll through your garden and have you tell me things about each plant. It could take a while :) Beautiful blooms MMD. We have the Verbena hastata growing wild around here and I love it. I'll have to take notice to see if the wild plants get mildewed. You've reminded me that I found a couple of Malva zebrina self-sown plants that I need to move out where they can get some light. My perennials need thinning!! I'm imagining you happily deadheading as you wander through the plants. You have a beautiful garden, and I love the colors.
Carol - no worries, you had a lot of blogs to visit. Thanks for the compliment!
Kerri - it's surprising, but the foliage of Verbena hastata in the front garden actually looks good for once. Must be all that rain.
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