Pee Gee Hydrangea: Four Seasons of Beauty

One of the many reasons I love hydrangeas is that they look good year-round (for a related post on year-round color, click here). Right now, their autumn colors are a highlight. See below some pictures of the pee gee hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata) in the Front Border during all four seasons.

Autumn blooms turn pale green and pink.
Winter blooms turn light brown.
Spring after pruning (for a prior post about pruning pee gee hydrangeas, click here).
Summer blooms of brilliant white.

Flowering Tobacco (Nicotiana)

Pictures of Some of This Year's Sunflowers

Heirloom Pairing for Heirloom Roses: Picture of a Pretty Pink Perennial Sweet Pea in the Cutting Garden

As a follow-up to my June 5, 2008 post on Roses Blooming, here is a picture of the perennial sweet pea that I noted. It has pretty little flowers that bloom for me from late July to late August, but no fragrance. I purchased it from Perennial Pleasures Nursery which specializes in heirloom plants. In my Cutting Garden, it grows in full sun, but can also grow in part shade. It is a natural pairing for roses given that--as part of the legume family--it fixes nitrogen in the soil. It requires no maintenance. After the frost, simply cut it to the ground. You can compost the cuttings or simply bury them in your beds.

Two New Summer Favorites: Double Tiger Lily and Excelsior Lily

My two favorite new lilies this year were the double tiger lily and the Excelsior lily both from Old House Gardens.

The double tiger lily bloomed over a four week period in part shade. The flowers are definitely interesting and far more attractive than the catalog picture is able to capture.

Since tiger lilies rapidly reproduce from the small bulblets that form along the stem, I am hoping that they will take over the open space next to the fort in the Walled Garden.

For fragrance, the Excelsior lily is phenomenal. The fragrance is rich and unlike any of the other lilies I grow. In addition, they came at a time when my other lilies were finished except for yet to bloom Rubrum Lily.

The colors are a beautiful and vibrant mix of yellow, cream, and peach. I will be ordering more of these for my cutting garden next year.

Follow-up: Heirloom Lilies for Fall Planting

More Pictures of This Year's Beautiful Hydrangeas

I'm really enjoying the hydrangeas in my garden this year. Hydrangeas are great because they take so little work and get better year after year. The blooms on hydrangeas are fascinating to watch as their colors mature and change as the blooms age. Below are some pictures of some of the hydrangea in my garden that were not in my Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day post for July.

The first two pictures are of an unnamed lace cap hydrangea at the top of Goldberry Hill. Two winters ago this hydrangea was completely killed to the ground. Last summer it grew beautifully, but did not bloom. This year, its unbelievable--loaded with blossoms from head to toe. [Related post: the same lace cap hydrangea in the dead of winter.]

This annabelle hydrangea has been in bloom since June. The blossoms started green, turned white, and recently began turning back to green again. [Related posts: in the winter when it was brown and two weeks ago when it was white.]
This beautiful variegated hydrangea was a new addition to my Front Border last summer. I bought it out of flower for the leaves. I wasn't expecting much out of the flowers and actually thought they would take away from the leaves. But, I was wrong. I love the flowers too.

The pee gee hydrangea, which I posted about pruning back in late winter, is now just starting to bloom, though it is still a week or so away from its peak.

Sweet Bay Magnolia

If you love flowering trees, why limit yourself to the spring blooming varieties? This lovely sweet bay magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) flowers in my zone (6b) in July. It blossoms over long period with fragrant, creamy white flowers. The leaves are beautiful green with grayish white underside that is wonderful in the wind.

The only thing that I haven't liked is that although it is evergreen, by the end of the winter it looks very battered until new leaves push out in late spring. If our climate were a bit warmer the leaves would come through the winter in better condition; or, if our climate was colder the sweet bay magnolia would be deciduous. This spring I moved this magnolia from a more prominent location in the Walled Garden to a less prominent whiskey barrel in the back of the children's playground.

The sweet bay is also sometimes called the swamp magnolia because as well as growing in ordinary garden soil it also grows well in wet soils or swampy areas. It also tolerates shade.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day: Hydrangeas in New Jersey (Zone 6b)

In anticipation of Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on May Dreams Gardens tomorrow, here are some of the hydrangeas blooming in my garden right now.

Pictures of More Heirloom Clematis

Picture of a Pretty Pink Breadseed Poppy and Seedhead on Lilac Hill

Pictures of the Beautiful Japanese Irises Blooming in my Long Border

Pictures of Heirloom Clematis Throughout my Garden