Still More June Photos

Things are doing extraordinarily well for June, with the gardens accelerating right up to where they should be now that the constant rain has abated.  As always, click on any image to embiggen.

The lawn looks fantastic for late June.



And, as noted, the gardens are doing very well, too!



The very first of the dahlia, a Duet, is opening. It's extremely early for dahlia to be blooming, and the bush is young, so I expect the flower size to increase over time. The flowers, even at their current 3", are still very striking.



The rose bush is just finishing up its first bloom.  Since the Japanese beetles are going to be out and about shortly, this is as good as it'll look until August and its third bloom.  Once this finishes, I'll do a full shaping cut on the bush.



Even though it may be finishing up, the bush can still produce several hundred perfect roses:



Sometimes the Profusion zinnia surprise you.  This one is producing blossoms that are almost red:



The Vanilla Improved marigold are rapidly becoming a new favorite.  They look white in sunlight, pale yellow in overcast conditions, and almost yellow in moonlight or outdoor illumination.  They're also one of the few flowers you can see in moonlight.

More June Photos

It's been very, very hot and very, very sunny for the last several days, which is kicking the gardens along nicely but starting to cost quality on the lawn. Fortunately, rain is forecast for Friday, along with much cooler temperatures.

I'm not including the general garden shot here as I took these photos at right around 12 noon. The sun was too bright and too directly overhead for good general photographs.

The yellow Inca II marigolds are doing very well and like this weather quite a bit!



I bought a few Safari Red marigolds to round out.  They're doing extremely well:



Not to be outdone, what the Janie orange marigolds lack in multi-colors, they make up for by being very numerous and very bright.



I gave the Knockout Double Red rosebush a regeneration cut this spring, essentially shearing it back to the ground after twelve years.  It responded well and needs a shaping cut.  However, I'm not going to do that until after the first bloom finishes up.  That's going to be a while, it's loaded with buds.



A closeup of one the roses:

Photos for Early June

The weather here has finally brightened up considerably and we've had several days of sunnier weather and warmer temperatures.  That's starting to move things along a bit.

First, the standard lawn shot:



The garden has grown a little over the last week and a half:



So far, I like the "white" marigolds quite a bit.  They accent the surrounding reds very well, and they're one of the few flowers that's easily visible under moonlight and at deep twilight.



The red zinnia are what the white marigolds accent.  With the cold, wet weather, they're barely started.