Suddenly, there are a lot of plants blooming, Yay! It seems there are two big waves of native plant blooming seasons, June and late summer, and I don’t know which I look forward to more. In June, things are still green and vibrant, and I’m still celebrating the new growing season. In late summer, I love the hot tones of the goldenrods and other late blooms; exciting but in a different way.
I’ve been particularly enjoying the June display as I am out in the garden working. It’s easy to stop on the way to the compost pile and admire the pink rosebay or the pagoda dogwood. And I do occasionally just walk around or sit and take it all in.
Here are the native plants in bloom in my garden this June.
The small blue flowers are Blue Star (Amsonia tabernamontana). They were planted two years ago in the Glory Garden and have grown to their full size of 2 feet tall and about the same width. Although they are natives, they hail from the Texas/Arkansas area, so I don’t think they attract pollinators on Cape Cod. They are bulletproof plants that the rabbits don’t like, so I am keeping them.The white flowers are Canada anemone (Anemone canadensis). These are in the south border, and they pop up in different spots every year, interweaving with other plants like the salvia here. I recently learned that these anemones prefer neutral to alkaline soil, and if they have that they can become very aggressive. Perhaps because my soil is more acidic, they are behaving nicely. The yellow flowers are sundrops (Oenothera hybrid, either Fireworks or Lemon Drop), and they bloom for several weeks. They make a great ground cover for sun, too, as they spread a bit but not too aggressively. The white daisies are volunteers that I enjoy as much as the sundrops.These are two different types of Beardtongue. The white is the straight species Penstemon digitalis. The pink is a hybrid, Penstemon ‘Dark Towers’. Both are pollinator magnets, and both will seed around the garden a bit. With several plants, the show is pretty lush and billowy.The shrubs are still blooming, too. This is a Pagoda dogwood (Swida alternifolia), a native dogwood that seems to prefer moist areas (our outdoor shower is just behind the shrub grouping). This one is a volunteer that I decided to leave, as it looks great with the red non-native rhododendron. It will get a little bigger, but it’s almost mature now.My favorite view of all – looking from the back patio to the statue garden on the slope. This little garden is backed by a Great Rosebay (Rhododendron maximum). In shaded areas, these grow to be giants, 10-15 feet tall and at least as wide. This is in full sun, so it is not getting as leggy, which is perfect for this situation. You can see the ground covers of lamb’s ears, prairie dropseed grass (Sporobolus heterolepsis), and golden alexanders (Zizea aurea) filling in.
Goldenrod Garden 
Our sundrops are in bloom too! I never thought of it being a ground cover.
LikeLike