So with all the rain and slugs we had our veggies set back a bit as most growers in New England but we still managed to get a decent harvest of snap peas, bowlfuls of lettuce and leafy greens along with garlic scapes, shiitake mushrooms and bountiful herbs. Somedays it seemed the season was going to spiral into the worst of my gardening life, but alas some scattered sunny days have opened and the summer onslaught of veggies is delayed but arriving as I scourer our photos to pick out some of the winning blooms that have occurred in June and July. More on veggies in an upcoming post but for now...
FLOWERS!
Variegated Yellow Sweet Iris
Edens Perfume Peony
Shasta Daisy
One of Cassis' request for this garden season was to dip our toes into the world of roses and dahlias. We picked out this variety after scouring the local nurseries and after selecting this variety we found a nice spot just in view of the kitchen sink window. That way we could keep an eye on them and also enjoy the blooms during our daily dish washing.
Lady of Shallots Rose
Camelot Rose Foxglove
Along with some stunning blooms, we have been busy filling in our landscape with many native flowers for the local pollinators and to increase the biodiversity of the homestead in general. It is a project that is very enjoyable watching the way the different plants adapt to the environment and observing the beneficial insects interacting with them.
Chocolate Chip Bugleweed
Jacobs Climb Bee Balm
Meadow Lupine
Eastern Pasqueflower
Queen Anne's Lace
Earlybird Purple Columbine
Yellow Evening Primrose
Coronation Yellow Yarrow
Himalayan Pincushion
Queen of the Prairie
Sweet Mock Orange
Marsh Mallow
Butterfly Weed Milkweed
Blue Flag Iris
California Poppy
Calendula
Orchid Cream Nasturtium
Zinnias
Horizon Sunflower
Project Dahlia is in full swing at the LocalRootz Homestead... we started a handful of tubers that we sourced from Fleur Farm in VT & Bumbleroot Farm just down the road in Windham and we are now in the end of July and early August starting to reap the benefits of the hardwork! We are taking a class on flower farming at Bumbleroot this week and are excited to expand the varieties and knowledge as we go down the rabbit hole of flower growing together.
Strawberries & Cream Dahlia
Hazel has been pretty excited about the stunning blooms as well!
Brown Sugar Dahlia
Strawberries & Cream Dahlia
Cornell Bronze Dahlia
Lindas Baby Dahlia
Its been a weekly project to fill the vases around the house and we also just grabbed a few hanging racks to work on some dried bouquets and arrangements as the season progresses!
Stay tuned for more flower fun...
Mystery Day Dahlia... never got a shot of this one in the wild as a big storm made it an urgent cut but hoping for more blooms from this variety soon!
The Lindas Baby has been my favorite and I can't help but stop and stare at them anytime I pass by.
We really enjoy making these little unassuming arrangements by just taking a early morning stroll with a pair of pruners and a bit of creative inspiration. This one was just a touch of coleus tops along with some hares foot clover that was growing along our long meandering dirty driveway accented by a rose that was smiling from the window.
