June blooms: we're in fragrance heaven

The most colorful spot in June - John's rock garden

Mmmmm, it really smells sweet here right now, particularly in the evenings. At the side door, the last of Palibin lilacs waft their scent and from behind the house comes the lovely perfume of the black locust trees.

Dame's rocket growing under a stand of sumacs
naturalized area around our silo

Walk to my husband John's rock garden, and there's the spicy fragrance of dianthus, mingled with that of dame's rocket, which grows wild under the sumacs nearby. Then at my four-square garden, it's the peonies, just starting to bloom. I remember well when we first moved here - 11 years ago now - there was no garden, and very little scent - just the black locusts.

A June bouquet from the 4-square garden:
peonies, lady's mantle and Siberian iris

So what else is in bloom for this garden blogger's bloom day? Well, we have rock garden plants (that garden has never looked better) - too many to mention, even if I knew what they all were.

A closer view of a part of the rock garden
with pink creeping baby's breath, dianthus, alpine alyssum

In my flowerbeds, there's beautybush, giant white fleece flower (Persicaria polymorpha), false blue indigo (Baptisia australis), lady's mantle, Siberian iris and Allium christophii, Salvia offincialis, and catmint.

Persicaria polymorpha, beautybush and false blue indigo
in my semi-circular border

Except for the rock garden, June isn't as colorful in most of my garden as July is. That's because my orientation is the prairie style, based on lots of ornamental grasses and masses of mid- to late-season perennials. Still to bloom too is our prairie meadow, which comes into its own next month.

For lots more on June Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, head on over to May Dreams Gardens.

© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener

Luscious early June

It's allium season in my four-square garden
Oh, early June, how lush and beautiful you are!

Old garden hands love to tell novices that it's easy to have a great spring garden, and early June is proof of that. Everything is growing: there are jewel-toned colors in the flower garden, the rock garden is in it's prime, the needles on the evergreens are still soft, and drought hasn't crisped the lawn yet.

My mystery peony
The name of this peony, which is now in glorious bloom, has escaped me. I lost the plant tag years ago and don't have it written down anywhere. It blooms at the end of May (last year) or beginning of June (this year because it's been so much cooler).

I do know that it is a Japanese peony. Here's what I learned about this type of peony when I researched them for an article for Canadian Gardening magazine:

Actually a double form made up of five or more petals around a centre of stamens with non-pollen bearing anthers (stamenoids), which resemble a soft mound of small petals. Sometimes called "anemone-flowered" when the stamens in the centre have been transformed into narrow petal-like petaloids.

The rock garden is at its peak of bloom
Here's a close-up of a prized Lewisia cotyledon, which John grew from seed, and has planted in the wall of the rock garden.


© Yvonne Cunnington, Country Gardener