A hot humid heat wave is about to edge north across the Great Lakes bringing a risk of afternoon thunderstorms every day for the next week or so. Yesterday though, and the day before and the day before, it was quite fabulous outdoors. Some sun, warm but not hot, and the air whenever I stepped out was scented with by delicious smelling (and looking) Starbright mock orange – Philadelphus.
I’m joining Jim at Garden Ruminations showing six things in my garden. There’s an abundance to choose from at this time of year; for me, the choice often comes down to what makes the best picture. I mean both the content and the quality. The most gorgeous bright red, yellow or blue flower sometimes turns out all glare and no glamour when I transfer the image from my camera to my computer – my fault entirely, I know – after many years I still haven’t figured out how to quickly and accurately adjust the controls on my digital camera. (I think I need something simpler, or perhaps just use my mobile phone instead.) Case in point is this lovely pinkish magenta flower. It came from a mixed wildflower seed packet quite a few years ago, I think, but is only flowering for the first time now. I think it’s Sweet William??? It took several tries at different times of the day and a bit of post production fidgeting to make it viewable:
In any case, one thing that does photograph beautifully is the fuzzy leaves and flower stalks of Stachys byzantina, – Lamb’s ears. It can spread easily both by runner and by seed, but it’s just as easy to pull up unwanted seedlings. I love how the flower stalks form a small colony, like a mini forest:
A small shrub that I find interesting is this Weigela Date Night ‘Electric Love. It somehow escaped the notice of ravenous rabbits over this past winter and as a result it is, after many years of unwanted pruning, showing its full blooming potential. This is an interesting plant – small (won’t get to more than two feet by two feet – about 60 cm x 60 cm) with red flowers and burgundy leaves. The flowers to me never seem to open all the way. But this is normal, apparently. I hope the hummingbirds can see them!
Update on the Allium cristophii I’ve been showing the past few weeks. Most are now almost fully open and huge – softball size or larger:
And finally to the kitchen garden, where yesterday I was actually able to eat one of my strawberries. They almost always get scoffed down by birds or chipmunks before I think they’re ripe enough to harvest, as evidenced by what I spotted on the stone edging of my strawberry patch yesterday. Have a great weekend everyone!
County Gardening 
Well done for getting a strawberry. Those alliums sound giants!
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Happy Summer Solstice, Chris! Nice when you get to eat your own home grown Strawberries. I’ve picked 18 small raspberries. The Alliums are stars! Sweet William must smell wonderful. Weigelas are beautiful shrubs. Mine is ‘Wine & Roses’…pretty pink & I saw a Hummy enjoying. I don’t know of any Mock Orange around here, pretty! You have a great week and stay cool & dry.
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I never had noticed the green centers on those alliums. My goodness, that’s an attractive flower, at every stage. The lamb’s ears are just cute; I do enjoy fuzzy flowers.
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Fragrance is a rare commodity here, not because we do not try, but because of the minimal humidity. We grow plenty of fragrant flowers, but, at times, must actually smell them directly to notice their fragrance. Humid weather can make the warmth a bit warmer, but is what brings out the fragrance.
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This weigela has an amazing color! And you also say it’s a small shrub, which is really interesting. I hope you can eat more strawberries… The birds here love them, so I have to put a net over them.
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All glare and no glamour perfectly sums a depressingly large proportion of the pictures I take, especially at this time of year. It’s very tempting to use my phone, the automatic mode is usually accurate, the on board image is way better than the camera display screen. Yet I resist. I’ve been using a “real” camera too long maybe.
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Your photography lately has been fab. Of course, the subject matter does make a difference – also fab.
Sent from my Galaxy
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Delights everywhere, the photography issues can be so weird. What drives me batty is it looks great on the phone but not the blog.
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Everything seems to like strawberries, we wondered what was eating ours many years ago, then found a dormouse snoozing amongst ours! Philadelphus perfume wafting on the breeze is one of the summer delights in a garden, wouldn’t be without it!
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Not surprisingly, we have some of the same things blooming here in S. Wisconsin, including some Mock Orange shrubs blooming along the driveway. They seem like they’re having a very good year. And the Strawberries…yum…the local/fresh ones are best. Enjoy!
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