June Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Mysterious morning mist moves in to envelop the gardens.

Misty Mountain Laurel

Thalictrum aquilegifolium calls out through the mist to serpentine Black Cherry.

Here an earlier portrait not so disheveled with Beauty bush in the background.

Rosa Rugosa dripping wet . . .  still blooming before soggy Peonies and Thalictrum.

Peonies earlier on . . .

now shamelessly blown full open!

Lupines looking over toward Foxgloves.

A new addition to the garden Weigela Ghost.

Peonies in lower garden.

Oriental Poppy petals playing angel with a beard.

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird is enjoying Salvias that are waiting to be planted in their containers!

A Red-spotted Purple Butterfly on Garden Heliotrope with Lupines nearby.

Fading Beauty Bush leads into Japanese Tree Lilac

Tiger Swallowtail swimming in Japanese Tree Lilac's fluffy blossoms.

Mock Orange sweetens the air.

A simple single Peony unfolds revealing it's golden center.

It is nearly Midsummer and it seems as in a mist . . .  a fog of mind and time . . .  days have just fallen by. . . petals unfurl and fade in heat waves or watery showers . . . fledglings fly while one dreams of changing skies . . . the peelings of moments and hours combine . . .  to entwine a life with that of a garden. 

For now . . .  it is Bloom Day and here is my offering a day early. Visit our hostess Carol's May Dreams Gardens  to see more blooms from near and far.  

Smith College Capen Garden Seasonal Sharing With Eva and Blogging Friends

Smith College's Capen Garden is a garden of rooms to discover.

In the winter all is cold and quiet.

The Laurel and evergreen mystery hedge with a pruned archway become enlivened in spring.

I love the mysteriousness created by the hedges and lattice archway within the gazebo. Visitors are lured from room to room through these living walls.

Hundreds of Tulips are planted by Smith College botanical students in a formal way around the gazebo honoring Jill Ker Conway . . . the first woman president of the college (1975-1985.) It only took a hundred years for an all woman's college to finally have a woman president.

The old rustic pergola is lovely all through the seasons. It is hard to imagine what will come from these naked thorny stems.

When the roses begin to exhale in the spring . . . 

it is truly phenomenal!

A lovely garden to show visiting blogger friends Liisa of Green Mountain Gardener and Jean of Jean's Garden.

We could not find the names of the various varieties, but I do know who to call and ask, when I get my pergola in place at Flower Hill Farm. One must have dreams and work towards them.

We rested for awhile on these tree stools and admired the gardens. When suddenly a new visitor arrived.

The garden kitty took a liking to Liisa.

The lovely beds along the base of the pergola begin with spring bulbs and continue on till frost with perennials. There are also learning beds to the right with iris of many varieties all labeled with rather large markers. I was surprised to see the Iris and many Peonies had gone by, when we visited.

Another step back in time to see the astounding difference of the seasons.

I am enchanted with this rustic pergola and its exuberant display of climbing roses. It was so delightful sharing it with you Liisa and Jean! 

A Clematis looks gorgeous with a climbing rose in the background. Next posts will be about our visit to more gardens at Smith and Emily Dickinson's Homestead. 

Purple Hues Back Door Garden Lovely Guests!

The spiraling tubular blooms of Comfrey offer a healing nectar for the female Ruby-throated Hummingbird. I believe it must be healing nectar, as the plant has long been grown for healing purposes. I can speak to this personally, for comfrey tea cured my years old eczema. It can be toxic to the liver if overused so be careful if you try it. I just made tea from harvested leaves. Comfrey is an amazing plant . . .  to learn more you can google it or visit here .

I tend to let it grow . . .  and grow it does all over the place . . . even wins over the bishops weed! I will cut it all down after the blooms go by. It is my gift to the jewel hummers, for they love it so. I have even seen butterflies deeply delving for the sweets hidden within those bell blooms.

Comfrey seen in the foreground along with Amsonia, Lupines and my now gone by late blooming Lilac.

You might notice the Climbing Hydrangea on the Shagbark Hickory in the distance. Juxtaposed with the majestic Rock Maple it is quite striking. I will be offering a post on this vine soon.

The vanilla scent of the Garden Heliotrope floats into the downstairs living room. Looking out the windows this time of year is very colorful and there are many Tiger Swallowtails floating about too.

Looking down from the back door garden toward the north apple tree.

If you do not grow Garden Heliotrope (Valerian Officinalis), you are missing a lovely vanilla fragrance from your daily life. Butterflies love it too! Yummy! . . .  and though a bit robust, as you can see, very easy to control. This plant has been used to aid insomnia since ancient times. I must try it!! I love this Wiki description best - " Valerian has been used as a medicinal herb since at least the time of ancient Greece and Rome. Hippocrates described it's properties, and Galen later prescribed it as a remedy for insomnia. In medieval Sweden it was sometimes placed in the wedding clothes of the groom to ward off the "envy" of the elves. Valerian can be consumed as a tea." I can imagine the Lupines might envy it's sweet fragrance too.

Looking through the Lupines out towards the over exposed mountain range and down into the gardens from just behind the house.

Iris are stampeding in purple hues . . . filling the middle garden.

Oh! Look how lovely a photograph becomes with such smiling guests!

After a long drive . . . fellow garden bloggers Jean of Jean's Garden and Liisa of Green Mountain Garden were treated to a light locally grown luncheon and then off to explore other gardens and nurseries. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on this fun bloggers gathering. It was great to meet you both!

Hummingbird Hawk Moth Wordless Wednesday