Summer ready

I rehabbed my cutting garden to prepare for summer - or most of it in any case.  The sweet peas are still in place but they're on borrowed time.  Most of the other cool season flowers in the cutting garden are gone, their spaces quickly filled with the dahlia tubers I sprouted in temporary pots.

Instead of looking like a jungle, the cutting garden looks a little thin at the moment but I trust that it'll look entirely different within two months

Bed #1:  I removed all the Nigella papillosa, all but one Minoan Lace (Orlaya grandiflora), and all but 2 foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea).  I planted 6 dahlias: 2 'Belle of Barmera', 2 'Fairway Spur', one 'French Can Can', and one 'Summer's End'.  Half of these were tubers saved from last year's "crop."  I also discovered a sprouted tuber I apparently missed when I cleaned out the bed last fall.  It might be 'La Luna', which never bloomed last year.

Bed #2:  I pulled all the larkspur (Consolida ajacis) and Minoan Lace from this bed, leaving 3 foxgloves in place.  I planted the following dahlia tubers: one 'Enchantress', one 'Iceberg', 2 'Labyrinth', one 'Lavender Ruffles', and one 'Mikayla Miranda'.  All but the 'Labyrinth' tubers were saved from last year.

Bed #3 remains a massive mess of sweet pea vines with pink and purple snapdragons still in place in one corner

The dahlia tubers I couldn't squeeze into the two available raised planters went into half-barrels.

I pulled the peach snapdragons out of this barrel and cut back the pansies surrounding them.  I added one Dahlia 'Lavender Ruffles'.

I added one Dahlia 'Calin' to mingle with Helianthus 'Sunbelievable Brown-Eyed Girl' and a noID Bacopa

The 'Peach Dalmatian' foxgloves and the pansies and Bacopa surrounding them in the this barrel received a reprieve for now

However, I made some room in 2 of the half-barrels in the front garden for more tubers.  Another Dahlia 'French Can Can' went into this one.  (The rocks are there to discourage the raccoons from digging, which they're prone to doing.)

2 Dahlia 'Catching Fire' tubers went into this barrel.  This was the only case in which I planted tubers in their "final resting place" at the outset.

5 tubers are still waiting for spots to spread their roots, although 2 of them don't appear very vigorous.  The dahlias in waiting are: one 'Break Out', 2 'Lady Darlene', and 2 'Romantique'.  'Break Out' is the only one of these that's a holdover from last year.

Last year I started my dahlia tubers in temporary pots in mid-March but they were very slow to sprout and several never did.  This year, because it's been so cool and gloomy and because my cool season flowers were especially late to bloom, I didn't even bother planting my dahlia tubers until the end of April.  Unlike last year, the dahlias were quick to sprout in their temporary pots and only one tuber failed.  But I still had nowhere to put them where their roots could spread out.  I pinched back all my dahlia sprouts once they were tucked into their raised beds and barrels, which delays flowering but generally promotes better branching.  So this year's dahlias will be late to bloom just like they were last year but I'm not overly perturbed about it (yet).

After the dahlia tubers were in place, I finally sowed Zinnia seeds (also later than usual).

The Zinnia seeds are already germinating.  Bed #1 was seeded with Zinnia elegans 'Benary's Giant Salmon Rose', 'Hidden Dragon', 'Queeny Lemon Peach', and 'Queen Lime Orange'.  Bed #2 was seeded with Zinnia 'Benary's Giant Lilac', 'Candy Mix', and 'Zinderella Purple'.  Seeds of Zinnia 'Oklahoma Ivory' and 'Pinca' were sown in temporary pots.

We've had a lot more sun this week, although our marine layer is forecast to make at least a brief return this weekend and next week.  Just a few days of sun and warmer temperatures have delivered new blooms.  I wanted to share some that might be gone by mid-July when we celebrate next month's blooms.

The noID artichokes on my back slope (left) are already blooming above my head.  Artichoke 'Purple Romanga' in my backyard border (right) isn't blooming but still looks flower-like.

I caught a second Epiphyllum 'Monastery Garden' in full bloom and there's yet another one days away from flowering

The daylilies are slowly making an appearance, usually with only one or 2 flowering at the same time.  Clockwise from the upper left are: Hemerocallis 'Elizabeth Salter', 'Russian Rhapsody', 'Spacecoast Sea Shells', and the ever-reliable 'Spanish Harlem'.

The first Hesperaloe parviflora flowers slowly opening

The shaggy Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum x superbum) are off to a later-than-usual start this year

These color-coordinated plants in a smallish bed in my back border synchronized their bloom schedule with no help from me.  From left to right are: Gazania 'Otomi' (top) and Grevillea 'Ned Kelly' (bottom), Gladiolus 'Guinea' (shown with Lantana 'Irene'), and Lilium 'Orange Planet'.  The lily and the Grevillea are partially hidden by an overgrown Arbutus 'Marina'.  The rabbits ate the lilies before they bloomed last year but luckily ignored them this year as I'd forgotten all about them and never set up protective cages around them.

That's it for this week.  Enjoy your weekend!

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party