Late June blooms too pretty to ignore

Quite a number of new blooms made an appearance in my garden in late June.  As temperatures rise, it's possible that many of these won't make it to mid-July's Bloom Day so I'm showing them off today.  We can think of them as floral fireworks, which are much better than the explosive kind, especially in areas facing a high fire risk like mine.  A number of the flowers shown below meet the red, white, and blue theme set for Independence Day too, although not all.

I planted this noID Achillea millefolium in 2 areas sometime last year.  I neglected to record their purchase so I'm unsure where I got them or the name of the cultivar.  I've never had much luck with the ferny green Achilleas but this one seems to be adjusting to my dry garden.

I planted Catananche caerulea (aka cupid's dart) 10 years ago in another area.  It's reappeared at regular intervals there, although I haven't seen it this year; however, this one popped up under my Ginkgo tree.

I planted a total of 3 Eryngium planum 'Blue Glitter', purchased by mail order from Annie's Annuals & Perennials between 2022 and 2023.  They haven't bloomed reliably but one made an appearance this year.  

I planted a mix of dwarf Gladiolis nanus bulbs earlier this year, thinking they were all coordinating shades of pink like those shown in the top row but then the yellow-orange variety on the lower right showed up.  An online search identified it as 'Las Vegas'.  The pale yellow gladiola on the lower left appeared as a complete surprise in a entirely different area all by itself.

These 2 daylilies (Hemerocallis) made very brief appearances in late June.  The one on the left is 'Apollodorus' and the one on the right is 'Space Coast Behavior Pattern'.

The Orienpet lilies, hybrids of oriental and trumpet lilies (also called tree lilies), continue to slow roll it through the summer season.  This one is Lilium 'Friso' (aka 'Silk Road').

Lilium 'Pretty Woman' may be the best of the bunch, although it's not as prolific as 'Orange Planet', which is now done for the season.  A second 'Pretty Woman' stalk also has buds.  The third stalk is currently bud-less but at least the bulb hasn't been consumed by a gopher.

Lilium 'Zelmira' is new this year.  Three other lilies have yet to bloom.

The flowers of Magnolia grandiflora (aka southern magnolia) have been coming on fast and furious but they're falling apart almost as quickly.  On the positive side, the bees love the flowers.

The wispy flowers of Pelargonium schizopetalum grow from surprisingly large tubers.  I divided them last year and planted them in 2 different areas of the garden.  Only the one in the sunnier location has bloomed so far.

The Matilija poppies (Romneya coulteri, aka California tree poppies) started blooming on our back slope when I wasn't paying attention.  The stems are ridiculously tall this year, feet above my head, and nearly choking in weeds.  This isn't something one should plant without careful consideration as it takes a lot of space and it's nearly impossible to get rid of.  (I've tried.)

Salvia 'Pozo Blue' is a hybrid of S. clevelandii and S. leucophylla.  It was nearly eclipsed by the more vigorous S. canariensis next to it until I cut that plant back.

I recently bought myself a new plant that isn't a succulent.  I generally avoid planting anything other than succulents during the summer months but I couldn't help myself in this case.

This is Cuphea 'Sweet Talk Lavender Splash'.  It's supposed to be drought tolerant once established like my other Cupheas but I've planted it in a particularly dry area and have to be careful to water it regularly by hand until it gets settled.

Best wishes for a happy 4th however you may be celebrating the holiday!

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party