Today I thought I would share a few photos of how things look here in June. I’ll start with the lavender, which is about ready to harvest. My wife has planted several different varieties we use for soaps, lotions and in the kitchen.They are in our Sun Garden area where they share space with a diverse group of plants including currants, hydrangeas, calendula and ornamental grasses.
lavender blooming
The white flowered lavender is called Melissa, and is our favorite for culinary use. The bees are quite fond of it too, and it was tough to get them to sit still long enough to capture a clear image!
bee on Melissa lavender
Nearby our Snow Queen oakleaf hydrangea is blooming. It’s one that can take full sun in our climate, though ours does get a bit of afternoon shade.
Snow Queen hydrangea
Down in the Shade Garden, the hostas are beginning to bloom. In the below photo you can see three of the larger ones we have planted, including Frances Williams, Sum and Substance, and Old Glory, plus the ‘reverse variegated’ one called Night Before Christmas.
hostas
Right next to those hostas we have a Lady in Red lady fern. This is my wife’s favorite fern for sun printing and other art projects. She preserves them for use when they aren’t available fresh, and you can see examples of how she uses them here and here. I think maybe I need to commission her to make me a shirt with a fern motif (hint hint).
Lady in Red Fern
The lime green leaves contrast nicely with the shiny red stems on this fern.
closeup of Lady in Red fern
The largest of ours hostas is growing at the base of our mulberry tree. It’s Big Daddy, and it is a big one indeed! It is literally growing right next to the trunk of the tree, and I wonder how big it would get if it weren’t competing with all the tree roots. Last year the deer chomped on it, though I try and keep it sprayed with deer repellent. The hostas in front of Big Daddy are Elegans and June, if my memory is correct.
Big Daddy hosta
The white flowered astilbes are in full bloom now, and they light up their area of the Shade Garden every year when they bloom. My wife planted Japanese painted ferns in front of them and I think it made for a beautiful combination.
Astilbes and Japanese Painted Ferns
Back in the Sun Garden, the red currant bush is loaded with ripe currants. They aren’t real big, but there are lots and lots of them! We’ve been enjoying them in the morning on our breakfast muesli.
Cherry Red currants
Also appearing for breakfast are fresh blueberries. That’s Chandler in the below photo, which makes the biggest berries of the ones we grow. The berries are tasty as well.
Chandler blueberries
It looks to be a good year for blackberries here. Last year was dismal, but the canes are loaded this year. We have the thornless Apache and Natchez planted. It will be a few weeks before the first ones are ripe.
Apache blackberries
I hope you have enjoyed the tour. I’ll be back soon with more happenings from Happy Acres.
It’s great to see what you have growing in your gardens – that lavender is gorgeous – what a display!!
I love hostas too & have a large assortment, although most were already here when we got here so I have no idea what they are.
Do your hostas suffer from slug damage?
Thankfully the slugs don’t do a lot of damage to the hostas, it’s the deer that love to eat on them.
Great tour, I loved seeing all those lush greens, which are something that I can only dream about here.
The lavender is beautiful, as are your hostas. I have a Frances William holding its own against a leucothoe bent on world domination. And the ferns are pretty, but around here they are weeds and grow everywhere. I mow over them when they encroach on the lawn, couldn’t imagine actually buying one and planting it.
Isn’t it nice to have a big variety of plants in your garden, so that something is always looking good? The combination of the Astilbe and Japanese Ferns is really beautiful. I had a red Astilbe once, but it didn’t last very long. I don’t think it enjoyed my light sandy soil.