July in the garden

 this is a leaf study of the tibouchina bush.  It is a tender plant and has to be taken in to the greenhouse or house in the winter in our part of the world.  What we see here is a dead leaf and the new little leaves forming.  It likes heat and so it has been recovering very slowly from being put out in cooler weather.  It did not do well in the house over winter, either.  I think I might consign its space to some other plant as it is too much trouble for me.  When it blooms it is covered with lovely purple blossoms.  I should have pruned out the light parts before shooting. 

 The lace cap hydrangea is coming into to bloom.  This one has gorgeous big fuzzy leaves.  I did not have the right light for shooting this one's leaves. 

 This is the end of the montebretia that sits on the deck.  These plants are really humming bird magnets.  They are finished blooming all over the garden, except where they are in dappled shade for part of the day,  They seem to last longer in that spot.  I might move the ones that flop over the stone path, as I have a good bunch of them farther over in this dappled shade, and they cannot flop over on the path in that spot.  For some reason, I really like this photo.  The rusted head of an old railroad spike and the aging cedar on the deck railing seem to set the stage for the dying star in red.  The backdrop of bokeh in green works well for me.

 This is the miniature yellow water lily in bud in the tub on the deck.  This lily has some tiny leaves showing, in contrast to the size of the mature leaves.  I think I will be able to divide this lovely little lily and put the extra one into the pond, where I have the old lily pots stacked up.  This should bring it close enough to the surface.  I will need to cut back more of the plum tree that overhangs the pond.  It is not producing many plums.  A few years ago an arborist told me that it has a disease, and had about 7 years left to live.  I think it must have been about 10 years ago, now, but yes, I think the tree is dying.  The purple plum tree at the front has quite a few plums this year.  I have been trying to keep it watered this year.

 This is a lupine that I bought and transplanted to a pot that sits on the vegetable garden walkway.  Its a nice color.  I had 15 of the 20 seeds I planted germinate.  One did not do well as it was too close to the side of its pot.  One of the ones I planted out has been ripped out of the ground by some creature.  So, I have 13 of them growing quite nicely.. some in pots, but most of them along the front, next to the grass strip along the front.  I had let the daisies grow there for a couple of years, but got tired of them and dug them all out this year.  I needed some where to put the lupines.  Watering them is a pain,  They mostly look well rooted into their new spots now.  They look very good with foxgloves and bloom at the same time.  The white veronica that is just behind the new lupines is in bloom now too, and the hollyhocks.  So this rectangle bed should be a good show in July, next year.  On the other side of the front rectangle areas the lychnis, pussytoes and lavender are in bloom and looking good.  They are in front of the actual rectangle area that is full of canpanulas and malvas in bloom, and the magenta geranium.  This front area should all be good in July next year, too.  The campanulas and malvas are looking good at the back also. Also the lily of the nile is good this time of year.  The yucca in the back is blooming this year.  The one at the front has 3 large stems all in bloom.  Now I need to find some plants that will bloom in August, September (besides michaelmas daisies)  Gladiola, dahlias?  Both of these plants need quite a lot of care.  More planning needed about this.

This is the jasmine that is at the back corner of the old garage.  It is perfuming the whole back garden.  Very nice.   
I have been watering at the back and it looks pretty good.  The vegetable patch is not good... not enough sun, and under the deck needs more work.  The moss garden is coming along very nicely.  I put four stepping stones across the best moss that just happens to be where I need to step to get under the deck.  The moss is spreading more under the deck and so are the ferns.  I am encouraging other plants that seem to like it in the shade.  Watering under there helps, of course. 
The figs, apples, red currants and the purple plum will be good this year.