July Bloom Day in the Year of Weird

July in my Chicago-area garden is when the interest shifts from the woodland garden in back to the nanoprairie out front, and this year things are ahead of usual.

Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea) dominate the nanoprairie, with tall wands of Liatris spicata just coming into bloom, Prairie Dropseed (Sporabolus heteroleptsis) with its popcorn scented flowers in front of the wild petunia (Ruellia humilis) and the neglected Malva 'Zebrina.'

Fountain bed, across the walk from the nanoprairie

Heuchera 'Frosted Violet' and Callirhoe involucrata blooming, with tendrils of Wisteria macrostachys creeping in.

The excessive rains of May and June have all but dried up, and some plants that had become accustomed to receiving daily moisture are beginning to show the effects.

Overview of the back

That's a purple cabbage in the container on the patio.

The raised bed

Heuchera 'Citronelle' and balloon flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) showing double and single blooms.

The other end of the raised bed:

Campanula 'Samantha,' Hydrangea quercifolia (Snow Queen) nearly done blooming, and Geranium 'Gerwat' (Rozanne).

Across the path

the Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) are rather tattered, while Campanula persicifolia 'Blue-eyed Blonde' is still going strong.

Next to the Campanula

more Rozanne, with Phlox 'Laura' and Hosta 'Winfield Gold.' Lobelia 'Monet Moment' is about to begin its moment.

Moving along to the right:

Six-foot tall 'Black Beauty' Lilies, Phlox 'Starfire,' Hosta 'Candy Hearts,' Hemerocallises 'Grape Velvet,' and 'Super Purple,' and more coneflowers.

The long border looking back towards the Hellebore bed.

Heuchera 'Raspberry Ice,' Campanula 'Sarastro,' in the foreground, with more coneflowers and Campanula persicifolia 'Telham Blue' in the background.

On the south end of the long border is the big shot of color I see from the kitchen window:

Phlox 'Nicky,' hovering over Geranium 'Blogold' (Blue Sunrise), with Violas. I really don't like the yellow with those purples, and, throw in Hemerocallis 'Woodside Amethyst'

towering over it all just out of frame, and you have a sickly color mess. I'm not sure if the daylily has to go, or if replacing the yellow Violas with purple ones would fix it. But the Violas are doing so well! (whine, whimper)

Next to the daylily is one for Joseph of Greensparrow Gardens,

a groundcover Geranium, and the best performer of all, 'Bob's Blunder.' That's 'Merlot' lettuce and sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima) poking up through it. I'm not sure I like it with the daylily either. Maybe it's time to play horticultural musical chairs, and swap one of my dark daylilies in here.

Let's turn from the color mess to the right, under the Heptacodium.

Hosta 'June,' Astilbe 'Pumila,' and off in the distance, Hemerocallis 'Little Grapette,' which got banished there to be replaced by 'Woodside Amethyst' (see above).

Looking back the other way,

Aquilegia vulgaris "Heart of Gold" (I named it in Buffalo under duress), is the only Columbine still blooming, but it shows no sign of stopping. Beyond it is Hosta 'Maui Buttercups.' Behind both of them is something very special. The one, the only (literally, in my garden this year) Papaver Paeoniflorum:

the peony-flowered poppy, which is a seedling from the black one I grew last year. This one is ruby rather than dark purple. Behind that is something even more special. This is for Frances of Fairegarden:

She sent me some lily seedlings last year, and this one bloomed.

While we're on the subject of lilies, here's a closeup of the extremely staked 'Black Beauty.'

I need to design some sort of sculptural support for these, as they're nearly in the stratosphere this year.

By contrast, the vertically challenged Lilium 'Cobra' makes a good foil for Eryngium 'Jade Frost.'

I still haven't found a home for my new Eryngium 'Sunny Jackpot.'

There's not much excitement in the woodland garden now, unless you're a wildflower lover and you like white.

Aralia racemosa, which is much more showy in fruit.

The very showy, Actaea racemosa:

And now, a collage of fun things:

Top left, nodding prairie onion, Allium cernuum, which is endangered in many places, but is a bit of a pest in my garden. (I should start selling the bulbs.) Top right, a volunteer hybrid Geranium that decided to rebloom. Bottom left, Clematis 'Evisix' (Petit Faucon), just because I love the color. Bottom right, Phuopsis stylosa, sent to me by Nan Ondra from her garden Hayefield. It smells like a skunk, but that's a good thing, because the deer won't touch it.

As should be evident, I couldn't have done this post without the input of other bloggers, who have not only shared plants, but have inspired and supported me. Go support some other bloggers by visiting Carol at May Dreams Gardens and click on a link to check out a Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post on a blog you've never visited. Happy Bloom Day!

Also in bloom:

Alchemilla mollis

Allium sphaerocephalon

Aster species (mystery from Heronswood)

Astrantia 'Moulin Rouge'

Calycanthus floridus 'Athens'

Campanula persicifolia 'Grandiflora Alba'

Clematis 'Betty Corning'

Clematis 'Evipo 031' (Bonanza)

Clematis 'Mdme Julia Correvon'

Clematis 'Rhapsody'

Clematis 'Silver Moon'

Dicentra 'Bountiful'

Dicentra 'King of Hearts'

Geranium nodosum 'Svelte Lilac'

Hemerocallis 'Apollodorus'

Hemerocallis 'Evening Sea'

Hemerocallis 'Pink Lavender Appeal'

Hemerocallis 'Siloam Merle Kent'

Hosta 'Halcyon'

Hosta 'Krossa Regal'

Hydrangea arborescens (Invincibelle Spirit)

Hydrangea 'Bailmer' (Endless Summer)

Hydrangea 'Penny Mac'

Hydrangea known as Twist-n-Shout

Larkspur

Monarda 'Grand Marshall'

Penstemon 'Pike's Peak Purple'

Phlox 'Red Riding Hood'

Rose 'Carefree Beauty'

Sedum kamtschaticum