Colorful flowers continue to bloom in my cutting garden.
Fortunately, there are many flowering plants that blossom this time of year, including rudbeckias, phlox, balloon flowers, and nasturtiums - and my large flower garden, located just behind my main greenhouse, is filled with them. My goal for this garden was to always highlight unusual flowers from different parts of the world using seeds from trusted sources and seeds I find during my travels. I really enjoy seeing its progress from year to year.
Here are some photos - enjoy.
There’s always something to see whenever I walk through my flower cutting garden. Close to the footpath is this attractive Nasturtium. Nasturtium plants, Tropaeolum, are loved for their rich, saturated, jewel-toned colors. Planted in the spring after the threat of frost has passed, they are fast and easy to grow. Nasturtium is a genus of about 80 species of annual and perennial herbaceous flowering plants. It was named by Carl Linnaeus in his book Species Plantarum, and is the only genus in the family Tropaeolaceae.
These flowers can vary in shade, but the most popular versions are orange, yellow, pink, red, or mahogany. There are also varieties in subdued shades of butter yellow and cream. This variety has variegated leaves.
Here’s a closer look at the interesting leaves of variegated Nasturtium. Variegated Nasturtium leaves are circular, shield-shaped leaves that grow on a trailing plant. The leaves are fragrant, with a mustard-like scent.
Ageratum houstonianum, a native of Mexico, is among the most commonly planted ageratum variety. Ageratums have soft, round, fluffy flowers in various shades of blue, pink, or white.
The phlox is thriving in the garden. Phlox has superb heat and mildew resistance. Phlox is a tall and upright grower that’s great for the back of the border, or even planted at the edge of the garden among the shrubs. Phlox also comes in a range of colors from pure white to lavender to even red and grows happily in most parts of the country. If properly planted and sited, phlox is largely pest and disease free too – a perfect perennial.
This phlox is called ‘Robert Poore’. The deep green foliage is topped by large rounded clusters of fragrant magenta pink flowers from summer into early autumn.
Here’s another phlox variety. The flowers bear a mild fragrance and come in a wide range of colors. These perennials also attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Growing on the fence surrounding the flower garden is this dainty perennial Sweet Pea or Everlasting Pea. It is a herbaceous climbing vine with beautiful bright flowers that grows up to 10 feet tall. This white and light pink variety is so pretty.
Here is another one in crisp white. The perennial sweet pea blooms in summer, and blooms are on long peduncles above the foliage. It climbs by tendrils and can be trellised or used to cover a fence or other structure. It also makes a nicely mounded ground cover.
Morning glories are annual climbers with slender stems, heart-shaped leaves, and trumpet-shaped flowers of pink, purple-blue, magenta, or white. The vine grows quickly—up to 15-feet in one season.
This is a balloon flower, Platycodon grandiflorus – a species of herbaceous flowering perennial plant of the family Campanulaceae, and the only member of the genus Platycodon. It is native to East Asia and is also known as the Chinese bellflower or platycodon.
Balloon flowers get their name from the unopened buds, which swell up prior to opening and resemble little hot-air balloons.
This is a double, white, bell-shaped flowers. Balloon flowers thrive in sun or partial shade. It likes well-drained, slightly acidic soil; and although the balloon flower plant will tolerate dry conditions, it prefers plenty of moisture. This cold hardy plant also does best in cooler conditions in summer, so afternoon shade is a good idea for warmer regions.
These are the showy flower heads of rudbeckia. Rudbeckia’s bright, summer-blooming flowers give the best effect when planted in masses in a border or wildflower meadow. In general, rudbeckias are relatively drought-tolerant and disease-resistant. Flower colors include yellow and gold, and the plants grow two to six feet tall, depending on the variety.
I have many, many roses in my flower garden and in various other areas of the farm. This perfect yellow rose is just opening. In the last few years, I’ve added to my collection of roses – David Austin roses and various varieties from Northland Rosarium. A rose is a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus Rosa, in the family Rosaceae. There are more than a hundred species and thousands of cultivars.
I also grow many alliums here at the farm and they continue to bloom so beautifully. These easy-to-grow bulbs come in a broad palette of colors, heights, bloom times, and flower forms. They make excellent cut flowers for fresh or dried bouquets. These one to two inch diameter flowers are lavender or mauve and stand above the foliage.
Alliums can grow in almost any garden soil, but need full sun and good drainage.
Since most alliums multiply naturally, they can be left untouched in the same area for years. These late summer alliums will bloom through the month.
Also growing – this beautiful purple gladiola. Gladiolus is a genus of perennial flowering plants in the iris family. It is sometimes called the ‘sword lily’, but is usually called by its generic plural name, gladioli. Gladioli are grown from bulb-like structures called corms that are planted in the ground in early spring and bloom throughout most of July and August.
This plant is Aloysia citrodora, lemon verbena – a species of flowering plant in the verbena family Verbenaceae, native to South America. Other common names include lemon beebrush. It was brought to Europe by the Spanish and the Portuguese in the 17th century and cultivated for its oil.
Just outside the cutting garden is Pulmoniaria. Pulmonaria are members of the Boraginaceae family and first cousin to other well-known garden favorites such as myosotis, brunnera, symphytum, and mertensia, the Virginia Bluebell. The name Pulmonaria come from the foliage, which is often green with white spots, resembling a diseased lung. In fact, its common name is lungwort. The silver spots on Pulmonaria leaves are actually the result of foliar air pockets used for cooling the lower surface of the leaves.
And this is a metallic colored heuchera with the most attractive marbled and veined leaves. Slender stems hold sprays of tiny pink to white bells during spring. My large flower cutting garden, which measures 150-feet by 90-feet, is growing more and more lush each year, and every bed is planted with a variety of specimens, making it colorful and interesting. What are some of your favorite summer blooming plants? Share your comments below.
My long and winding pergola is full of striking orange-colored tiger lily blooms.
This pergola, located on one side of a carriage road near my Tenant House, goes through several transformations during the year. In late spring, a palette of bold purple and white alliums covers the area, followed by the delicate shades of lavender and blue from the flowering clematis vines that wrap around each of the granite posts. Now, hundreds of brightly spotted tiger lilies line the garden bed for all to see - and they are thriving.
Enjoy these photos.
Tiger lilies, Lilium lancifolium, bloom in mid to late summer, are easy to grow and come back year after year.
Native to China and Japan, these robust flowers add striking beauty to any border. I love how they look with their bright and showy orange colored blooms.
In May, this pergola garden is filled with lots of blue and purple flowers. This palette of colors is a big favorite at the farm – it grows more colorful and vibrant every spring, and then it goes through another dramatic transformation in summer.
By early July, this pergola has thousands of waist-to-shoulder-high lily stems.
As the days progress more buds appear. This pergola gets tons of light, which is great for lilies. For best growth, plant lilies in an area where they can get at least six to eight hours of sun per day.
And here is the pergola border now – bursting with gorgeous orange. This side of my long pergola is one of the first areas I see when I drive into my property.
Tiger lilies are covered with black or deep crimson spots, giving the appearance of the skin of a tiger.
They have large, down-facing flowers, each with six recurved petals. Many flowers can be up to five inches in diameter.
Lilies are well-known for having heavily pollinated stamens, which stain. Here, it is easy to see those pollen-filled anthers. When cutting, always remove the anthers to prevent a clothing disaster – just pinch them off with gloved fingers.
The blackish, round “seeds” that develop in the axils of the leaves along the main stem are called bulbils.
In front of the tiger lilies is a border of boxwood shrubs I grew from cuttings. They’ve developed and grown into nicely sized specimens. Buxus is a genus of at least 70-species in the family Buxaceae. There are more than 300 boxwood shrubs planted here.
In this garden, we also have pops of daylilies. The daylily is a low-maintenance perennial—easy to grow, virtually disease- and pest-free, and able to survive drought, uneven sunlight, and poor soil. The daylily’s botanical name, Hemerocallis, comes from Greek hemera “day” and kallos meaning “beauty”. The name is appropriate, since each flower lasts only one day. Despite their name, daylilies are not “true lilies.” Leaves grow from a crown and the flowers form on leafless stems called “scapes,” which rise above the foliage.
There are still a few clematis also. I have always loved clematis, and over the years I have grown many varieties of this wonderful plant. When well-maintained, clematis can bloom profusely over a long season, from early summer to early fall.
Climbing up a few of the granite posts are passionflower vines. The passionflower has a wide, flat petal base with five or 10 petals in a flat or reflex circle. The ovary and stamens are held atop a tall, distinctive stalk encircled by delicate filaments. The stigmas start high above the anthers and slowly bend backward for easy pollination.
On the back side of the pergola garden we planted lots of Russian Sage with its tall, airy, spike-like clusters of lavender-blue flowers above finely textured, aromatic foliage.
At one end of the pergola, in large ornamental urns, I displayed two of these philodendrons. These upright plants have giant heart-shaped leaves and a deep green color. The name derives from the Greek words philo- or “love, affection” and dendron or “tree”.
Across from the long pergola – a stand of stately bald cypress trees, now full of gorgeous soft green needle-like foliage.
The leaves are alternate and linear, with flat blades borne on the twig that are spirally arranged on the stem.
The bark of the bald cypress is brown to gray and forms long scaly, fibrous ridges on the trunk. Over time, these ridges tend to peel off the trunk in strips.
Not far from the pergola is this giant weeping copper beech tree – I love these trees with their gorgeous forms and rich color. I have several large specimens on the property.
And across the “soccer field,” where my grandson, Truman, loves to play whenever he visits, are six matched standard weeping hornbeams, Carpinus betulus ‘Pendula’. Weeping hornbeams can grow to be about 50-feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 40-feet. These are very rare and precious trees and I am so happy they continue to grow well here.
The entire pergola border and its surrounding gardens, trees, and other specimens provide a spectacular show every year.
We have lots of freshly picked garlic here at my Bedford, New York farm!
Determining when garlic is ready to harvest can be tricky. If it’s harvested too soon, the cloves are small and underdeveloped. If harvested too late, the clove heads begin to separate, making them more vulnerable to decay. The real indicator is the plant itself - when the bottom leaves have turned brown, and the top leaves are still green. Not long ago, my gardeners, Ryan McCallister and Brian O'Kelly, harvested our entire crop of garlic. All our varieties came from Keene Garlic, a family owned farm in Wisconsin.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I plant lots of garlic at my Bedford, New York farm and up at Skylands, my home in Maine. Garlic is divided into two categories – the supermarket variety, softneck, which produces long-lasting bulbs with many cloves around a soft center stem, and hardneck, which are noted for their stiff central stalk, fewer cloves, relatively short shelf life, and intriguingly complex flavors.
Our garlic comes from Keene Garlic. We always get a variety of garlic bulbs for my garden. I have been planting Keene Organics garlic for several years, and am always so pleased with their growth and taste. We got our delivery earlier last fall and planted the garlic in November – it’s always one of the last crops we plant before winter.
Here is the garlic the day we planted it – each head was carefully broken to separate all the cloves and then the cloves were grouped together and placed in berry boxes along with a proper marker. For the best results, always plant the largest cloves from each bulb and save the smaller ones for eating.
The garlic cloves were soaked in fish emulsion to give them a fertilizer boost and to rid them of possible diseases, which could have been carried by the garlic. Well spaced holes were made where the garlic was placed and then planted at least three to four inches deep.
Here’s the bed after all the garlic was planted last autumn. The garlic bed is located behind my main greenhouse not far from my berry bushes.
By April, the garlic plants are already well established and several inches tall. Garlic loves a rich fertile loam soil or a silty loam soil. It also grows best in an area that drains well – the cloves can rot if they sit in water or mud.
Here is the garlic bed in May – it’s growing great.
In early June, one can see the scapes beginning to form. Garlic scapes are the flower buds of the garlic plants. They’re ready about a month before the actual garlic bulbs. Scapes are delicious and can be used just like garlic.
Scapes can be cut when the center stalks are completely formed and curled ends are seen growing above the rest of the plants.
It is pretty easy to tell when the garlic is ready to pick – just look at the plant. Once the top of the garlic plant begins to die back, it’s time. It is important to wait for a dry day to harvest – this allows the soil to dry out, helps to prevent rot, and makes it much easier to pull the stalks and bulbs from the ground.
Garlic bulbs are several inches deep, so Ryan loosens the soil first with a pitchfork. He does this about six inches from each bulb to avoid puncturing it.
A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines at the end. It is used to lift and pitch or throw loose material. We also use it to harvest our garlic and onions.
Each garlic is pulled out carefully from the base of the leaves so that the head comes out completely. I love to experiment with the different types to see what grows best in my garden.
The whole garlic is called a ‘head’, a ‘bulb’, or a ‘knob. ‘ Each small, individual segment of a garlic head is a clove. Garlic is both delicious and nutritious. It is known to lower cholesterol, decrease the risk of coronary artery disease, and is an excellent source of minerals and vitamins, such as vitamins B6 and C.
This is Elephant garlic – our biggest variety. Jumbo sized Elephant garlic will have about eight to 11 cloves depending on the size.
Look at this pair. The garlic on the left still had a scape at the top. If the garlic scapes are not pulled from the plant, the garlic’s energy continues to go to the flower – notice how much smaller the head is compared to the one on the right.
Here is a closer look at the flower bud of the scape.
The next step is to prepare the garlic for curing. Curing is a process of letting the garlic dry in preparation for long-term storage. There’s no need to wash garlic – the point is to dry them out; however, they can be cleaned and trimmed.
Brian brushes off any debris and dirt from the bulb and the roots. On the left are two cleaned garlic heads. On the right, one fresh from the soil and ready to be cleaned.
Brian then trims all the roots at the bottom of the garlic head.
The green leaves can be left intact during the curing process. The bulb continues to draw energy from the leaves until all the moisture evaporates.
Here’s Ryan placing the garlic in my old corn crib – it has good ventilation and overhead protection from any rain.
These garlic heads are plump and healthy. All the garlic will cure here for several weeks. Once the garlic is cured, Ryan will set aside the most beautiful heads with the biggest cloves to use as garlic seeds next season. Well-cured, well-wrapped garlic bulbs will keep six to eight months or longer. The best storage temperature for garlic is between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, with low humidity at about 60-percent – and never store garlic in the refrigerator. I will soon have lots of delicious garlic to use and share.
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