july bloom day 2013

Better late than never right?  I took these pictures on the 15th, but I'm just getting around to posting them.  I hope that still counts for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!

Because my house is almost 100% shade, summer is not my best time for blooms.  Once the leaves fill out on the trees my blooms are just about done.  I'm working on that though, and if the rain ever lets up, I'm going to try and add some more summer perennials to brighten things up.

The brightest of blooms in my yard right now are the Black-Eyed Susan's.  I am in year two in my house, and one of the surprises last summer were the wild Black-Eyed Susan's dotting the yard.  I thought they needed full sun, but filtered sun seems to work well too.  Since my plan was to plant more of what I knew would survive, I addded Black-Eyed Susan's from my mom's house last fall.  They bloomed later than the wild version, but they seem to be doing well with little care from me this year.

Black-Eyed Susan's from my mom's house.

Wild Black Eye'd Susan's

One of the other prolific wildflowers in my yard are the wild daisies.  They don't seem to like all the rain we've had, as they were more abundant last year, but they are showing their faces for me now, and it makes me happy.  I did learn my lesson last year and have kept them outside.  They make for very messy cut flowers as they shed their petals.

blurry picture of Fleabane Aster

Probably the most abundant plant on my property are the wild Huckleberries.  They are in the woods, in my yard, they are everywhere. But last year I did not see a single ripe Huckleberry.  The birds love them, and one day they were gone.  Every bush was picked clean.  This year I'm keeping a closer eye on them, and maybe I'll find out what they taste like.

Wild Huckleberries

Something I didn't pay much attention too last year was this little ground cover.  I thought it was a weed, but as I have a very loose definition of the word,  am revising my classification to ground cover.  It has cute little yellow flowers, and this year is no more than 5" tall.  In my quest for a maintenance free lawn, this little guy may have found a home, provided he stays low to the ground & I don't decide to go 100% moss.

wild ground cover with cute little yellow blooms

I hesitate to include this blurry picture this flowering shrub, as it was too windy to get a good picture of the trumpet shaped flowers.  I have at least 3 of these in my gardens, each different sizes.  I have one off my porch that appears to be young, about 5 feet tall, with thin droopy canes.  I have one in the circular section of my driveway, that even after 2 years of thinning out is at least 10 feet tall,  12-15 feet wide, with 1/2 - 1 1/2 inch canes.  I also have one at the edge of an overgrown section of woods, and I believe it is the oldest, and least attended too, as the base is much thicker than the other plants. I really like these bushes/shrubs.  They've got a great shape, and pretty leaves that provide interest even when they're not in bloom.  Best of all, I can tell they like to be left alone.

Blurry picture of spirea (?).  I have at least 3 of these.

And last but not least are the wild blackberries!  Last year, in my 'see what survives here' experiment, a row of wild blackberries showed up.  I'm not sure how they got there, and in a line, but I do know that the previous tenant didn't want to have anything to do with them, and mowed them down every year.  I let them grow, and this year mom was right, I had my first blackberries for the Fourth of July!

Wild Blackberries!!

It's been a good crop so far, and there's more to come!

I hope you have enjoyed your walk around my yard. Just so I can hold myself accountable, and remember what else I'd like to have blooming this time next year, I'm going to start adding a section called Garden Plans to the end of my bloom day posts.

Please feel free to make suggestions as to what you think would be a good addition in the comments, I'm looking forward to fall planting season!!

Garden Plans:

1. Add a Hydrangea (Oak Leaf?)
2. Add Purple Coneflowers near the Black Eye'd Susans
3. Fertalize my non blooming butterfly bush
4. Re-work Day Lily bed to spread out color, and maybe prolong bloom period. (June blooms)

As always, check out Carol's GBBD list at May Dreams Gardens to see what else is blooming around the world!