Garden Bloggers Bloom Day ~ July 2016

Lily 'Honeymoon' shining under blue skies with the blue larkspar

Welcome to Havenwood! Our one-acre garden in Pennsylvania zone 5 is bursting with all the high summer favorites for July. It has been a beautiful summer around here! It has been unusually dry, but it is hard to complain as the temperatures in the 80s everyday make it perfect for pool going with the kids. :) I need to get out and do a bit more watering, but this is surely one of the most pleasant jobs in the garden.

Pruning Daylilies

Herbaceous pruning (cutting the foliage of perennial plants) has a few uses. Often, it is used to delay the bloom of a plant, or to make it have better branching instead of just one main stem. This is known across the pond as the "Chelsea Chop", because gardeners in the UK can plan on cutting their perennials around time of the Chelsea Flower Show. (The show is usually held at the end of May.)

Another good reason for pruning perennial foliage occurs later in the season. During the hot months of July and August, perennial foliage often starts to look old and tattered. For many years, I sighed and assumed that yellowing leaves meant my garden was passing into its fall foliage already.

Before: Hemerocallis waiting for their trim in the Front Woodland

July at Havenwood ~ GBBD July 2015

The Rose Garden

Hello all! Welcome to our Pennsylvania garden in July! Come take a look around...

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD July 2013

The Hill Garden this week with purple coneflowers in bloom.

Take a walk around our garden this July to see what is blooming in the heat!

It has been nearly 90 degrees (32 C) everyday this week and very dry. Watering needs to happen every other day for my veggies and containers, which gives me an opprotunity to walk (slowly!) around and appreciate the flowers that thrive during these sultry summer days.

Front Curb Planting (aka The Front Woodland)

Our daylilies are all in bloom this week in our curb strip

July has brought the daylilies (Hemerocallis). The catmint, Nepeta 'Walker's Low' is just finishing up around our corner, but still has twinges of blue and lots of attraction for pollinators.

Gardening in Pennsylvania~ June GBBD 2012

The Driveway Garden: Lavender, pink lilies, lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) and blue fescue (Festuca 'Elijah Blue').

Welcome to our small garden in Pennsylvania, zone 5. We are still quite a bit ahead for the year in our bloom cycle. Many flowers are blooming now that usually wait until July. The lilies are just getting started, as are the daylilies (Hemerocallis).  Some roses are finishing their bloom, though Rosa 'The Fairy' is just beginning. And there are Clematis vines blooming everywhere.  Here is the quick tour at Gilmore Gardens...

Clematis 'Lil' Nell' growing on the back gate, and the steps, and the banister... I love it. Such a dainty white and pink striped flower.